Vegas Rules Read online

  Ted nodded, and Sean watched as Ted, his sister Ryla, Bill, Davy, and Carlos all started to do resource planning. Sean had to admit he was surprised at how many of his people Davy was volunteering. Apparently, some horses were a lot braver than he'd been led to believe.

  Meanwhile, Cali's squirming in his lap was having a definite effect on Sean. Keeping his hands wrapped around Cali, Sean stood up, holding her against him.

  "If you'll excuse me for a little while," Sean purred and turning he walked out the door to quite a few snickers and one heavy sigh that he guessed came from Ryla.

  Sean made a beeline for the women's room, as Cali had one hand up behind his neck and the other was working its way down into his pants.

  The moment they got into the bathroom, Sean pushed her down over the sink and grabbing her shorts he sunk his claws into the leather and just ripped them off of her body, the scent of needy elf suddenly filling his nostrils as with a loud moan, Cali spread her legs, rising up on her toes and arching her back.

  Sean unbuttoned his trousers, and as they fell, he took hold of his shaft and guided himself into Cali's fire, giving a deep growl of pleasure as he pushed into her. He was surprised at how excited she was, she hadn't been this turned on since he'd first claimed her.

  "Somebody excited?" Sean growled, looking down into the reflection of her eyes in the mirror.

  "Yes, my Husband," Cali panted. "Planning to kill and main your enemies while you show the others how much you love me is always exciting! Now, take me, my Husband, my Lion! Fill me with your love!"

  Grabbing Cali's hips tightly as she braced one hand against the wall, and reached up with the other to stroke the side of his head, Sean did just that, driving into her hard and fast.

  "I love you, Cali," Sean whispered panting heavily as he stared into her eyes the whole time he was pounding his hips against hers. It was primal, and it was wonderful, and when he finally came into her, she joined him, crying out in bliss as he roared his delight into the room.

  Dropping down to his elbows, Sean rested his head against the mirror as he wrapped his arms around his wife.

  "I love you, Cali," Sean sighed again as he caught his breath.

  "And I love you too, Sean. The gods smiled on me when you made me yours."

  Pulling out, he lifted Cali up so she could turn around and sit on the edge of the counter, and then leaned down and kissed her, purring loudly as she ran her fingers up through his mane. Lifting her legs up and putting them around his waist, Cali pulled him closer until he was inside her once more.

  This time, they went slowly and savored the moment, taking their time with each other. When they finally built to a second release, they clung to each other and shared their love again as Sean wondered, as always, how he'd ever become such a lucky man to have so many talented and loving women in his life.

  "I guess we should head back and see how the planning is going," Sean finally said when they'd both caught their breath.

  "You destroyed my pants, remember?" Cali giggled.

  Sean looked down at the shredded leather on the floor, embarrassed. "Well, they're all lycans; they're used to seeing naked females."

  "Un-uh," Cali chuckled and lightly tapped him on the nose. "Go fetch me some pants. It's not the nudity that worries me; it's the blatant signs of what we were doing that I'd rather not share."

  Looking down at her, Sean purred. "Don't go away, I'll be right back."

  Warning Signs

  Sean grumbled as he woke up and grabbed his phone. The ringer was off, he never used that anymore, but it did vibrate, and that was annoying enough, especially when he was in his hybrid form with his improved hearing. He looked at the caller ID, it was Chad. Sighing he pressed the green button and put the phone by his ear as he stretched in bed. It was after eight, all the girls were up already, otherwise there would be no getting him out of bed until he got hungry.

  Actually, he kind of liked the idea of dragging a few of them back up here for a while. It was supposed to be a vacation after all ....

  "You there, Sean?" Chad's voice came from the phone.

  "Yeah, I'm here," Sean yawned. "What is so important that you have to get me up at this ungodly hour of the morning?"

  "It's almost eight thirty, I'd hardly call that ungodly, Sean!" Chad laughed.

  "I'm on vacation, and the girls had ideas last night. It's ungodly," Sean rumbled.

  "This from the guy who used to show up at my house at seven in the morning to game!"

  "That was different."

  "How?"

  "I wasn't a lion then, obviously," Sean chuckled. "Or married. So, why are you calling me? Other than to get me out of bed?"

  "A bunch of Ascendants showed up last night."

  "Define 'a bunch,'" Sean asked sitting up and swinging his legs off the bed, putting his feet on the floor.

  "About forty. Two-thirds of them are adults, the rest are family members."

  "How many lycans did they bring?"

  "They didn't bring any."

  "Yet," Sean added.

  "Exactly, yet." Chad agreed. "They've started rebuilding the kennels. I think they're going to start shipping them in soon."

  "What about Gradatim and Vestibulum? What are they up to?"

  "The Vesti's are still fortifying, Gradatim has been keeping a low profile. They at least seem to suspect that we're watching them."

  "What's Sawyer got to say?"

  "Not much. He said something's up, but they're all being really quiet. The Vesti's think that the Ascendants are still planning to attack them, the Ascendants are still paranoid because there's so few of them. That Sorother guy who's now in charge of the Grad's is still consolidating his hold. Sawyer thinks he's still proving himself to the national leaders. So I think that he's the least of our problems."

  "But?" Sean said, "Why do I feel that there's a 'but' at the end of that sentence?"

  "Something's up in Sacramento."

  "Sawyer told you that?"

  "No, Art told me that."

  "Art? Isn't he the lead wolf from Sacramento?"

  "Yup, his girlfriend showed up the night before last. He finally broke free long enough last night to tell me what she told him while they were catching up."

  "Girlfriend? I thought you freed all the wolves in Sacramento? You're not slipping on me now, are you?" Sean teased.

  "She's a human."

  "A human?"

  "And the wife of one of the more important members of the Sacramento Ascendance Council, one Kurt Reese."

  "What?!" Sean laughed loudly at that.

  "Apparently good old Art has been putting it to Kurt's wife for a good long time now. She married Kurt for the power, and well, when Art left, she just said 'screw it' and went to be with her boyfriend."

  "Will wonders never cease."

  "Oh, it gets better! Get this, that Stewart kid?"

  Sean laughed, "Don't tell me! She got her hands on one of those collars the sorceress guild uses!"

  "Got it in one, all of her kids were fathered by Art. Turns out she's been stepping out on her husband for a long time now."

  Sean snickered and shook his head, "So, what did she tell him was up in Sacramento?"

  "That they're pretty pissed off at you, and that they're looking to come up here and do something about it. Just without all of their now former slaves, they don't know what, yet."

  "Well, I guess that's yet another thing to keep an eye on. What's Claudia have to say about things right now?"

  "That she's still waiting for you to replace her lost helicopter?" Chad snorted, "We're suffering from a definite lack of mobility, which combined with our current lack of intelligence, could be deadly. We've got those quick reaction teams set up, to stop the councils if they try to ship in more lycans or attack us, but we really do need that helicopter back. I agree with her that one just isn't enough if things hit the fan in a big way.

  "Especially when you consider that we'll probably only have minutes to act, h
ours at best, because we don't have any really good intel and we're still shaking down our new organization."

  "What about the people we have watching all of the weight stations and truck stops?"

  "That only works until they get wise to it," Chad sighed.

  "Okay. Let me make some phone calls, and I'll see what I can do."

  "When are you coming back? Any idea yet?"

  "Probably this Saturday, I don't like being away from home and to be honest, compared to what's going on there, a lot of this looks pretty simple. I'm going to be administering a very large wakeup call to the magical and mythical community here late tomorrow night."

  "Un-oh, should I be watching the news?"

  "Nah, it'll all be over by the morning, you can read about it afterwards though, I'm sure. Later, Chad."

  "Bye!"

  Sean hit the red button to end the call, then opening up his contact list he scrolled down until he came to Terri, Steve's girlfriend.

  "Sean?" Terri said answering the phone, "I'm about to meet a client, can I call you back?"

  "No. But this won't take long. I need a few Huey's, say three, and I need them right now. How soon can you get them?"

  "What?" Terri said, surprised. "You want three Bell UH ones? Sean, you can't be serious!"

  "Of course I can. How soon, how much?"

  "Well, we have one here at the field, but it's seven hundred thousand dollars!"

  "Awesome, I'll have someone there later today to pick it up. You take cash, or will a check do?"

  "Sean! This is no time to be joking around," Terri said hotly. "This is my job!"

  "I'll have Steve call you, he'll vouch, and I'll tell them to bring cash. Now, how about the other two? I need them as soon as possible, this weekend would be perfect."

  "Sean!" Terri warned, "If you're messing with me, even Steve won't be able to protect you! This is my family's business we're talking about!"

  "Just tell me how much, Terri. Please?"

  "One point five million, and I can have one here Monday, a second by Wednesday."

  "Great! I'll have the money to you by Sunday night at the latest. Thanks, Terri!"

  "You better not be messing with me, Mister!" Terri growled and hung up.

  Sean dialed Steve next, who didn't pick up until the third ring.

  "Sean! What in the world did you do to piss off my fiancée?"

  "Bought three helicopters. Please tell her I'm good for the money."

  "Hold on a sec."

  It was more like thirty seconds before Steve got back to him.

  "Okay, I told her, she doesn't believe me. She wants to know where you came up with over two million dollars."

  "Well, I'm pretty sure I have a million sitting in reserves right now, but I'll have to call Deidre and check. As for the rest, hmm. Hey, how much would you pay me to turn Terri into a cat girl?"

  Sean head Steve sigh, "Seriously? Is that your plan?" he said in a tone that made it clear he wasn't all that sold on the idea.

  "Well, it was a thought," Sean chuckled, "of course, if you want kids I'd have to turn you into a cat boy as well. So that may not be a great idea."

  "Umm, yeah, I think I'll pass right now."

  "Your loss," Sean laughed. "Just tell her I'll have the money and to order the damn helicopters. I'll come over with the wives for dinner Sunday after we get back."

  "Uhh, that just might be more of a shock to her than you having the money," Steve laughed. "I'll calm her down."

  "Okay, thanks. Bye!"

  Next Sean called Deidre; they had the money for the first helicopter, just barely. He told her to call Claudia and work it all out to pick it up today.

  "And just when will I get to see you again, Master Sean?" Deidre whispered huskily into the phone as Sean was getting ready to end the call.

  "Soon," Sean purred, "very soon. I miss you too, Dee."

  Hanging up the phone he set it down on Roxy's old desk and standing up and stretching, he yawned again and headed out of the bedroom. His stomach had decided that as long as he was up, he should be filling it, and the smell of bacon was definitely drifting up from downstairs.

  "Hey, put some clothes on!" Roxy growled at him as he padded into the kitchen.

  "Maybe later," Sean grinned and grabbing her, he kissed her, "besides, I'm covered in fur, isn't that good enough?"

  "Damn, he is bigger than dad, isn't he?"

  Sean looked over at the guy sitting at the table; he could definitely see the family resemblance.

  "That's Pat, my brother."

  "The dancer?"

  "Yup."

  "Ah, so Roxy told you?" Pat smiled and got up.

  Sean smiled and shook hands with him, "I'd feel jealous of you being able to pick up sexy women all day and get paid for it if I didn't already have a bunch of my own."

  Pat laughed, "Yeah, Rob told me, so I had to come by and see for myself."

  "So, girls," Sean said looking around the room. "We need one and a half million dollars by Sunday night. Got any ideas?"

  "Why not just make some more collars and sell them?" Roberta asked.

  "Cause my lab is back in Reno, and that would take time."

  Peg reached over and pinched Sean on the ass, making him wince.

  "What the hell was that for?" Sean asked, rubbing his butt.

  "Because I'm too lazy to climb up the side of you and smack you on the back of the head, dummy," Peg laughed. "You're about to burn a casino to the ground, and you didn't even consider robbing it first before you did?"

  "Ummm," Sean's tail curled around his leg as his facial fur stood up in a 'blush,' his ears going down.

  "He's still young," Cali giggled, "he wasn't raised to a life of larceny and crime."

  Sean smiled, embarrassed, "I guess this means I need to talk to Ted and Bill about a small change in our plans for tomorrow night, doesn't it?"

  "He'd be hopelessly lost without us," Roxy said to her brother, smiling.

  "Yeah, I can see that!" Pat chuckled. "So, who's the lucky casino owner?"

  "I'm sure it'll be on the news soon enough," Roxy told him.

  "Got it, can't talk about what I don't know."

  "Exactly!"

  Sean went around to each of his wives and gave them a hug and a kiss, finishing up at the stove where Jolene, of all people, was cooking this morning.

  "Is that mine?" He asked, putting his arms around her.

  "Yes, now stop drooling on my shoulder and sit down," she said and bopped him on the nose with the back of the spatula.

  "After you finish eating, my father wanted to talk to you about putting the same enchantment that's on his badge on all of the other metro badges," Roxy told Sean as he sat down.

  "They're not enchanted?"

  "No, just the county sheriff's badges are."

  Sean nodded and remembered then that Bill had told him that yesterday.

  "How many badges are we talking about here?"

  "Oh, somewhere between two and three thousand?" Roxy said.

  "I can't enchant that many badges," Sean said, shaking his head, "It would take weeks. And just what do we tell the cops? 'Oh, let me hold your badge for a moment while I cast spells onto it?'"

  "Why not just make one of your machines?" Roberta said. "They could just place their badge on the machine, get it enchanted, and then pick it up?"

  Sean thought about that, he hadn't made any of his machines yet, other than a couple of test devices back in his lab at Reno, to prove the concept of designing them with the virtual emulator in his classroom. The first machine he was going to make, was going to be to create the scry proof and mind protection amulets. That was pretty simple as spells went, and he understood it intimately. That should work for the badges, as he gathered that something like that was already on the county badges.

  "Hmm," Sean said taking a bite of the omelet Jolene had set in front of him with a huge stack of bacon and pancakes on the side. Last night Bill had mentioned that they had several hundred
lycans on the police force, and when Sean had later asked how many had silver tags, the number had been distressingly low. But he could see how much more important something like this could be in a town where magic users were notorious for misbehaving. Even Atticus had tried something yesterday, and there'd been two of them.

  Swallowing his food Sean nodded, "I think I can make something that he can set up in the station. How he'll get the officers to set their badges on it though, that's beyond me."

  "Oh, you let my dad worry about that," Roxy grinned. "So how soon do you think you can make it?"

  Sean shrugged, "I could probably design it in six or eight hours. The problem is going to be actually making one. My lab is back in Reno, so there's no real point in starting on it until we're back home."

  "Well, after you finish eating, you can get started on that, and I'll see what we can do about a lab, okay?"

  Sean looked at Roxy, "Now? Today?"

  "Dad and I got talking last night while you were entertaining Cali upstairs," Roxy snickered.

  "And Daelyn, and Roberta, and Jolene," Peg teased.

  "What? I didn't leave anybody out!" Sean grinned back at Peg.

  Roxy sighed and poked Peg, "Quit distracting him. Anyway, after we got finished going over the plans for tomorrow night, they started to worry about what the response will be next. Well after we got home, dad and I got to talking and dad figures that it's going to be hard to keep the peace if all of his officers are constantly being hit with spells from magic users."

  "But what about changing the plan for tomorrow night?" Sean asked between bites.

  "You leave that up to the experts," Peg grinned.

  "Dae, can you get your hands on a couple of four-inch gold platters, some big metal slugs like the ones I use for the batteries, and some gold wire or foil? It'll look a lot like that last test bed I made, but with a second plate mounted about four inches above the first one."

  "I'll call up my aunt Tess, she's a local. I'll have something before you get done, don't worry," Daelyn smiled.

  "Great!" Sean smiled and leaned over and gave Daelyn a hug, then went back to eating his breakfast. He talked a bit with Pat, who was curious about his new brother-in-law, and surprisingly didn't seem to care in the slightest just how many wives Sean had. That made Sean just a little curious as to just what dancers got up to when they weren't dancing.