7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Emerilia met them at the door. She paused to take them all in—all seven faces, the new and the old. Unlike the last time, she was fully clothed in a long-sleeved shirt with a dress over it, but her feet were bare, her toes painted.

When she saw Rynn and Ames, the dwarven woman blushed a little. “Yes, come in. Come in. I’ve been expecting you.”

They shuffled into the shop—Softie wasn’t there, but Cousin Earl was. “Well, don’t trim my beard in the morning, that’s a whole lotta womenfolk in here. And might I say, some very fine faces. A whole bevy of beauties.”

That made Tomi snort. “Just what I wanted to top off my evening, a horny dwarf.”

Midj elbowed her. “Shush now. You might be used to getting compliments, but some of us like to get a little attention. Thank you, Mr…”

“Earl,” the dwarf said. “Earl Softgrumble. I stayed late because Emerilia was working late, and we need protection. Pit City ain’t safe. It’s why I carry my ax everywhere I go.”

Midj nodded. “And that’s why Gray loves his stick.”

“The stick,” Tomi moaned. “Again with the stick. Where can a nice beastkin girl curl up for a nap in here. No good place to sit. I supposed I could lean against armor. Because nothing says comfort like plate mail.”

Earl winced. “Not good place…”

Tomi went up to Emerilia. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Stone, but I’m going to go back out to the market. I saw an empty chair near a fire pit with my name on it.”

“I’ll join you,” Midj said. “A nice bit of frizzle twist would settle my nerves nicely. And a bit of hot milk to go along with it. I’ll sleep like a baby tonight.”

The two were about to leave when Pinch sighed. “Nothing for me in here. I’ll go along to make sure no one messes with the idiots.”

Tomi lifted her hand. “Idiot one here.”

Midj did the same. “Idiot two, present and accounted for.”

Oddly enough, Pinch laughed a little and escorted the two outside.

That left Gray, Rynn, Ames, and Lilian in the shop.

The three of them left.

Emerilia frowned and put a hand on Lilian’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, we haven’t met. I’m Emerilia Stone.”

“Lilian Everheart,” she said quietly. “I was a princess. I’m nothing now.”

The Widow squeezed her arm gently. “You’re a member of Squad 23. If you could excuse us, I’d like to talk with Gray and his wives alone. Cousin Earl can bring you black leaf, but it might be too late for that.”

“Black leaf would be fine,” Lilian said. “With honey and milk if you have it.”

“Just like how I like mine!” Cousin Earl said a little too loudly.

While the little armored dwarf helped make Lilian comfortable, Emerilia took Gray and the two women back into her work room. Flames danced in the fireplace and several mana candles glowed around the room.

The little woman patted the table in the middle of the room. “Let’s get you on the table, Gray. I’d like to check your core. If you could take off your shirt, please. It looks burned. What happened at First Field? We saw the smoke even from here. And I felt something.”

“How could you feel something?” Gray asked.

It was Ames who answered. “It’s the stars, the stars are all connected, because of the sea in the sky. There’s not just the sea filled with the dead, there’s the sky filled with the living souls. Each soul is a star and Emerilia’s burns so brightly that she can see the others. All connected. All connected whether we know it or not.”

Rynn smiled but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were bright. She’d maybe had a little too much manafied wine at the party. Or maybe it was all the time she spent dancing with Gray. Either way, even though she wasn’t saying anything, Gray could see that she was in a mood.

The Widow took Ames’s strange speech in stride. “One soul to the next to the next to the next, all connected through mana. I suppose mana is like water and we are all swimming in it. Lay down, Gray.”

Shirtless, Gray laid on the table. Looking down, he could see the pink skin of the brand above his heart.

Emerilia, though, had something to say first. “Amaranthis, Rynnanatha, let me bow to you and ask for forgiveness.”

The Widow bowed, and for a second, Gray didn’t understand why, but then he remembered that elves had a complicated set of rules when it came to etiquette. It was why when he’d first Rynn, she’d been so awkward, bowing, curtsying, and bowing more, and then offering him her hand.

Rynn and Ames looked at each other, rather surprised.

Emerilia straightened. “There was kissing and some touching the last time your bonded was here, with your captain, when I was looking at his core, the energy inside of it, and how it might react to another bonding. Of course, there was no danger to me, since for me such bonds are impossible. However, when dealing with a lust resonance it can result in some inappropriate—”

Ames unbuttoned her coat and let it drop. She then unbuttoned her shirt and started dropping clothes. Before long, she was standing topless in the room. “Rynnanatha says that lust is more enjoyable than envy. I would like you to look at my core as well because I share spells with Gray and our wife. We understand how this can be awkward, but it doesn’t need to be. There is enough love and sex in the world for everyone.”

Rynn giggled and took off her coat. “I’d like for you to look at my core as well. Your touch is so soothing, Mrs. Stone. And Ames is right. There is nothing to forgive. We know our value to Gray, and we trust him. Just like we trust you. You’re a type of doctor, and so we can see it as being more on the clinical side.”

She unbuttoned her blouse and stripped it off.

The two women stood with their arms at their sides, waiting to be examined. Their skins color was so different, as was the size of their breasts and nipples. Ames had her brand over her heart—the skin there was gray. her mana marks were around her belly button—two on each side with her third mark lower, disappearing into her pants. Rynn’s first mana mark was above her heart, exactly where both Gray’s and Ames’s marks were. Her second mark was above that and her third mark was on top of her shoulder, slowly filling in with black ink.

Gray couldn’t help but feel his cock stiffen.

The Widow laughed a little. “Well, here I was feeling bad for no reason. And yes, I would like to see all of your cores together.” Her cheeks were rosy and it wasn’t from the fire. “Stand up, Gray. There should be some kissing, but this time, I don’t think I need to be the one to do it. I can just watch…and touch. Would it be all right with you three if I touched you?”

“As long as you are kind,” Ames said.

Rynn was a bright red. “Your touch is very soothing, Mrs. Stone. I didn’t expect this to be happening tonight, but I have been curious. I felt Gray with you before, and it was very, um, arousing.”

Emerilia laughed. “Yes, very arousing indeed. Thank you for making this less awkward than it otherwise could’ve been. Now, yes, let’s, um, get to it.”

Rynn pulled Ames into a kiss, their breasts pushing up against one another.

Emerilia touched both of their backs. She was feeling for their resonances, feeling their cores, to see if they were getting mana. But neither Rynn nor Ames had lust resonances. Gray did, and seeing the three women together was filling him with magic.

The dwarven woman turned to him and reached out for his hand. He touched it her, and he felt the electricity of the touch. He remembered touching Emerilia before, her heavy breast and the wet slit between her legs.

He was breathing hard now, and he was so very hard.

Emerilia’s eyes flickered. “Oh, my, it is something isn’t it? The power of that core and the mana you all three share. It’s a connection that I envy. Before, when Settie was with us, when you…”

Rynn broke the kiss from Ames to smile at him. “When he reached the crescendo of his pleasure?”

The Widow nodded. “Yes, the explosion of mana could’ve destroyed the shop. I stopped that from happening. It was the interplay between your captain’s and Gray’s core. It was so very explosive. I’m just curious…”

Ames finished Emerilia’s thought. “What would happen if it was the three of us in this room? With you?” Ames asked. “We could make that happen, Emerilia. It would be a simple matter as long as it’s okay with Gray.”

He found himself grinning. “I actually had questions about enchanted items. Now that we’re seeing actual kill squads, I can see how many magic items they have. I’m wondering if my ability to see mana can identify what they do. Most of the time the mana inside the items matches the core of the person who has them but not always. Does that matter?”

Rynn crossed over to him, took him in her arms. “Read the room, Gray. It’s clear to me that the Widow wants to see what would happen if you were to reach your crescendo again with the three of us. Well, four, since her core would be here as well.”

Ames bent and kissed Emerilia’s cheek. “But your core doesn’t have a lust resonance, Mrs. Stone, does it? But it’s something else…something we don’t have to talk about, since it would be very impolite.”

Ames went and grabbed Rynn by the hair, causing the elf girl to gasp.

Gray looked and Ames was getting mana from the little bit of cruelty. She shoved Rynn down, and she immediately began to undo Gray’s pants.

Ames’s hand on his chest, on the brand there, which felt like it was burning. The mana mark on his back was equally on fire. His core was so swollen with mana. He didn’t want to hurt anyone or destroy the Widow’s shop but it wasn’t like they were going to stop.

His pants were pulled down to the top of boots. There was his stiff sex, out in the open, for all to see.

But only for a moment. And then, Rynn’s mouth was on him.

Ames had her fingers in her hair, and she gently pulled his face to hers. Oen of her hands continued to massage his chest while the other caressed the top of his legs, his ass, and his lower back.

The Widow came and put a hand on Rynn’s head, touching her ears, while at the same time rubbing Ames’s back. He could hear all three women struggling to breath. Their hearts were so loud, and their cores were equally as thunderous.

Emerilia went from looking at Rynn sucking on him to staring him full in the face. He could see the desire in the Widow’s eyes. She was getting mana—not from the sex but from denying herself sex. She had a chastity resonance, he was sure of it. Like before, he could see that her core was pulled into itself. The mana wasn’t radiating out but stayed trapped inside. And there was a crack there, a darkness, from her severed bond.

He wondered how she could live with such brokenness. But then, she had found relief in her work, in her family, and in him—he had brought something special to her life, a newness and a healing. Her interactions with Captain Settie had put to rest any number of resentments and fears.

Ames saw them looking at each other, and she pulled Emerilia over.

“Kiss her,” Ames whispered. “Kiss her while dirty Rynnanatha sucks the cum out of you.”

“We don’t have to,” Emerilia said in a breathy voice. “It’s not necessary.”

Ames smiled wickedly. “But it will push Gray over the edge. Your sweet mouth. Your big tits. The tingle between your legs.”

The quelling elf grabbed Rynn’s head and forced her mouth deep onto Gray, making her gag a little.

Again, Ames received mana from the cruelty.

And Rynn moaned—there was a part of her that liked being treated so roughly.

Gray put a hand on Emerilia’s neck and pulled her forward. He didn’t kiss her. He let her choose.

And she growled and soon, their mouths were connected, and not just lips, but their tongues.

Kissing the little dwarven woman pushed Gray over the edge.

The pleasure ripped through him, making him gasp into Emerilia’s mouth. His core didn’t reach out to her, it washed over, and Emerilia’s blinked. She pushed her sweaty face against his chest, against his brand, and she started to whimper a little.

He felt her core pulsating, matching the waves of his own bit of heaven.

Their cores were close, not bonding, but something was happening in that room, a mingling of souls with Gray, his wives, and the Widow Stone. There was a connection there.

A vase fell off a shelf, shattering on the ground, as the fire flared up in the fireplace.

But there wasn’t the explosion from before though the walls did a bit of shaking.

“What was that?” Lilian asked in a loud voice in the other room.

Cousin Earl only chuckled. “Oh, Miss Everheart, with all the mana enchantment’s the Widow Stone has to deal with, there is any number of mysterious explosions and a great deal of cursing. Never with other people around.”

Emerilia staggered backwards, laughing. “Well, that was unexpected. Did we talk about how arousing it might?”

Rynn stood up, wiping her mouth off on the back of her hand. “Very arousing.” She was still very topless.

Ames went and held Rynn’s hand and kissing the side of her neck. “Thank you for letting me pull and push you.”

Rynn laughed a little, turning a bit shy. “You are welcome. I can feel how much you like it and it makes me like it too.”

Gray pulled up his pants and reached for his shirt. “I’m assuming I can get dressed.”

Emerilia nodded and grabbed a glass of wine in a trembling hand. She drained half of it. “Yes, yes of course.”

Ames was putting on her top when she asked, “Well, Mrs. Stone, did you see anything…interesting?”

“Any number of things,” the Widow said. “While I thought that explosion of mana might be destructive, I now see it might be captured with the right magic. It is a primal force…the vastness of it. You mentioned an ocean, didn’t you, Miss Amaranthis?”

The quelling elf nodded, eyes bright. “It’s Gray. He’s the boy with the sea and stars inside of him.”

“He is indeed,” Emerilia said. “One other thing, you three will continue to share spells, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you started to share resonances as well the longer you’re together. Your souls have bonded almost completely. While I love that for you, there is a certain…”

“Danger,” Ames said. “If one of us died, it might destroy the others.”

Rynn had finished putting on her jacket as she listened. At Ames’s words, the elf girl growled, “Good. We live and die together. It is as it should be.”

“Inseparable,” Gray said with a smile, a little taken back by the power of Rynn’s growl.

The elf girl nodded. “Unstoppable.”

Emerilia wiped the sweat off her face with a lacey red handkerchief. “Now, you’ve brought another woman around, Grayson Fade. Let’s see about her. If you have an ocean inside of you, I’m curious to see what’s inside her.”

“Fire,” Ames whispered. “So much fire.”