Dee's Hard Limits (7 page)

She looked up to see Talhrn standing in doorway with Akaos. “It’s the only place I could keep safe,” she whispered and he nodded. Even though her heart was heavy, he’d brought some light into her dark world.

“I should have told you and I realize I was wrong. I have a lot of hurt buried deep inside, but maybe I can start working through that pain.”

“I think we both have a lot of work ahead of us, but I promise I’m not going anywhere now. I’ll be there if you need me.” Maya looked back at Hope’s picture. “I just wish...” Akaos slid in behind her and engulfed her in his embrace.

“We’ll find him.” Akaos promised the both of them.

Dee nodded and walked to Talhrn’s side. Just standing near the man, she felt safe for the first time in her life, her own personal Viking.

Smiling through the tears, Dee twined her fingers with his. “Now everyone knows about her. She’d be happy.” Looking up into Talhrn’s dark gray eyes, she sighed.

Her men knew of all of her secrets, now it was time for her mother to know as well. “I don’t live at the house, Mom.”

Turning to stare at her, Maya frowned and put her hands on her hips. “Why? What else don’t I know about you?” Maya held up her hand and took a deep breath.

“You were right.” She looked up at Akaos and he nodded. “I didn’t want to know and I’m sorry. It’s time you and I started talking. Where is your home?”

“Remember I told you I bought the properties on both sides. Well, I’ve been fixing up the old man’s place. The little log cabin. It’s small, but I don’t need a big place.” She peeked up at Talhrn who nodded, encouraging her.

“Will you show us?” Was all he asked, squeezing her hand.

“I need to go there tonight. I have animals to feed.” She released Talhrn’s hand and went to the small shelf, talking a purple candle out. She placed it on the altar above her daughter’s coffin.

“You will always be a part of me, even in heaven. I know you are with me in spirit. I love you, my little munchkin. Your grandmother is here now. She has the locket we picked out for her.” Glancing behind her, she smiled at the three men who considered her theirs. “My life is changing, but for the better.” She lit the candle.

“Forever, my Hope, sleep well.” She placed her hand on the small box, her mother’s hand covered hers and they stood there for a few moments. With a lump in her throat and tears clouding her vision, Dee turned and stepped into Talhrn’s arms.

“Come, I’ll show you my house. Mom, you coming?” Dee glanced back to see Akaos helping her mom put the locket around her neck.

“Of course I’m coming. I want to know everything about my daughter.” Maya took Akaos’ and Warden’s hands while Dee led them out of the small cavern, locking everything up once more after everyone had departed it.

She spun around. “Crap! Mom we forgot about Dan!”

***

Both women started to cuss before they shifted and ran full out towards the main house. Akaos laughed as he shifted, taking after them. His cat was much larger than theirs.

“Have you met this person that they are talking about?” Todd asked.

“No, but it looks like we’re about to,” Talhrn said before he evaporated and appeared in front of the main house. The other women all gathered around a single man. The man was yelling at the bunch of them and they just seemed to ignore him. Maya and Dee came down the hill and shifted, smiling at him as the ladies separated allowing Maya and Dee to walk into their circle.

“It’s about fucking time. Do you know how long I was sitting at the airport?” He grumbled, but welcomed Maya in a giant hug. “I missed your smart-ass mouth. I’ve talked with the big bosses and I’ve asked for a transfer down here. They’ve agreed to let us set up our camp here in this city.” He let Maya go and stared at Dee for a minute, before he took her into his arms.

“You have to be Dee. You look just like your mother. It’s an honor to meet you. I’m surprised your Maya kept you hidden so long.” He looked back and smiled. “Yep, you have your Mother’s eyes. Now, what’s going on with the family that was murdered earlier? And don’t tell me you have no clue. They found the mother three miles from the house. The FBI called me to inform me of the condition of her body.”

Stepping away from Dan, Dee peeked at him. “It’s great to meet you, too, Dan, but I want you to meet someone. I’m sure Akaos and my men can inform you about what is going on.” She turned to the three of them.

“Dan this is, Talhrn, Marquis and Todd.” She indicated each of them as they slid behind her.

Talhrn leaned down, nibbled the side of her neck, while Todd squeezed her butt cheek. Marquis took her left hand, lifted it and kissed her palm.

“We would be happy to inform you of what we know, but do you really think your human forces will be able to catch this man when we are having such a difficult time?” He straightened up and shook the man’s hand.

“Good to see you, Edwards. I’m sure our women are glad to see you to.” Akaos slapped the man on the back.

The cop glared at Akaos. “Of course they’re going to see me, they work for me. Talhrn, we might be mortal, but we can still do our job. You would be surprised at what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it.”

“Okay! Enough male posturing please,” Maya snarled and hooked her arm into his arm. “Come, I’ll show you to your room. It’s hot and I’m hungry. It’s time for lunch and I’m sure you’re tired. We can discuss what we’ve found out over lunch when you are ready.” She looked back at Dee.

“Why don’t you take your men to your home and show them around. We can all meet at your house for breakfast, if that’s okay? It will give you time with them without all of us around.”

His woman took a deep breath and smiled. “Thank you Mom.” She turned facing the three of them. “Ready?”

“Lead the way,
meru.
We will follow you anywhere,” Talhrn said as Dee showed them where she wanted to go in their heads. The four of them disappeared as soon as the cop was led into the house, leaving them alone.

Talhrn scanned the area before they materialized and was surprised with what he saw. Dee was not kidding when she said small, but then again, the castle-like structure her mother lived in could hold over 40 families easily in the main building.

Giant redwoods, Douglas firs and many other trees surrounded the house, while the barn was about a quarter mile away from her dwelling. Chickens and roosters roamed around the yard, along with a few cats.

The front door to the house opened and two of what appeared to be dogs ran out of the house heading straight for Dee. She knelt and laughed as both of the mammals started licking and whimpering. “Down you two.”

Talhrn held out his hand and Dee smiled as he helped her stand. “They hate being left alone. The small one is Missy and the other is Boo. I’ve had them since they were pups. Come, I’ll show you the barn and the animals while we feed them.” Before she stepped away from him, Talhrn lifted her up and kissed her lips.

“Umm, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.” He teased and put her down swatting her ass. “Show us your animals.” Dee laughed and stuck her tongue at him.

“Little Kitten, I can think of many things to do with that tongue.” Not warning her, Talhrn stripped her of the sweater and coat she wore, baring her breasts to their view.

She screeched and covered them with her arms. “Talhrn, what if someone stops by?”

“Drop your arms, Dee. Never cover your body from us,” Marquis ordered as they moved towards the barn. “There is no one around. If you scanned the area, you would know this.”

Stopping, Dee put her hands on her hips and glared at Marquis. “Excuse me, I did scan. I do every time I come here to make sure dear old dad isn’t here. So don’t give me that attitude and, for your information, when I’m home some of the pack does drop by to play cards every so often.” Dee started towards the barn, but Marquis circled his arm around her and stopped her.

“I didn’t mean to offend you.” He bent his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

“God, you have to stop. I need to...” Dee moaned and grabbed a handful of his hair and tried to yank his head back, which only increased Marquis’s need to dominate her.

“Wrong move, Little Kitten.” He stared at the barn and worked his magic. The animals were now fed, but what he found in the barn had him smiling. “Tell me, Kitten, what is that little room off to the left, in the barn?”

Dipping down, Marquis flipped her over his shoulder, the rest of her clothes disappearing as he grabbed onto her ass cheek and squeezed. “Answer the question, Dee.” He slapped her butt, bringing a yelp out of her.

She lifted herself up and stared into his face. “I’d rather go into the house. We can always play later.”

He nodded and all three of them moved back towards her house. Once inside, Marquis slid her down his body, but held onto to her, kissing her lips softly. “Show us your home.”

“Come. I want to show you something.” She grabbed Marquis’ hand and reached out for Talhrn. Automatically he took it and held onto it as they stepped into an open area. “I hate having rooms all closed up, so I’ve had contractors over the years take out as many walls as possible. Of course, I kept the bedrooms closed, but they too are larger than they were.” She released their hands and went to a thin closet.

“I collect dragons and anything to do with Vikings. You could say I have a thing for them.” The skin on her face brightened a little as she carefully pulled out a metal sword. For a minute Dee sat on the floor, running her hand over the blade.

“My Hope found this actually.” Dee looked up into his eyes as she stood dragging it. The thing was almost as long as she was and he could tell it was heavy as she dragged the tip behind her. “She said, ‘Mom you have to buy it. He needs it to save you.’“

He stepped up to her and cupped her cheek. “When I first met you, I knew Hope was thinking of you somehow.”

Reaching for the grip, Talhrn took the sword into his hand and lifted it up to look at it. Down the middle of the blade was an etched pattern he’d only seen a few times while in the care of the
Tetraheros.
“He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy, who is not, will be victorious.”

“I’ve heard of that saying before. The man who made these weapons was a bit weird but big like you. This is just one of the things he had hanging in his shop.” She shrugged. “Who knows, maybe it was fate.”

Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “Thank you. This is beautiful and I will treasure it always. It’s even more special because your daughter helped pick it out.” Lifting her chin up, Talhrn kissed her lips softly, tracing them with his tongue, before slipping into her warm haven.

With her tiny delicate hands, Dee slid them up his chest and around his neck. Her whimper only hardened his cock to the point where he swore it was ready to explode, but now was not the time for that. Lifting his head up, he nipped her nose.

“Todd, why don’t you go and start some breakfast for us, Marquis, maybe tonight we should introduce our
meru
to our family?”

“What?” Dee jumped back, almost tripping over her own feet. “I never said anything about meeting your family. I’m not ready for that. The last time I went to your planet, Mom was almost attacked by some psycho.” She waved her hands and moved away from all three of them, but stopped all of a sudden.

Her eyes got big and Dee glanced down at her stomach, before running to the bathroom not making it.

“It hurts!” She screamed and was lifted into the air before either of them could reach her.

“Todd, meat and anything with lots of protein. Our
meru
is going through the second phase. Marquis start a nice cool bath,” Talhrn ordered as he hovered next to Dee while her body went through the change. He’d hope with her carrying their blood, she would have skipped this part in the bonding, but that didn’t happen.

“Don’t worry, Little Kitten, I’m here.” He watched in horror as her body convulsed. Every muscle, bone and tissue was changing in her body.

“Remind me to kill my mom!” she screamed as her body slammed into a wall. “Make it stop, please. I’ll go to the family dinner, I promise,” Dee cried and begged as another wave of tremors racked her body.

This time Talhrn grabbed onto her and held her so she wouldn’t hit the wall. “I’ve got you. I’m sorry, Dee. I’d hoped you wouldn’t have to go through this.” He buried his head into her hair, holding her tight as she cried.

Both Marquis and Todd kept checking with them while they did what was ordered, looking absolutely helpless as he felt. Their
sora
had been right, their hearts were bound to her and right now each one of them was aching something fierce.

For over an hour, Talhrn held her as her body adjusted to its new form. “I’m so sorry, Little Kitten.” He finally sunk to the floor with her in his arms as the end was close. “I didn’t think you would experience this and such a horrid amount of pain.” He buried his face into the crook of her neck and held her tight as the seizures slowly started to dissipate.

His own body shook at how much this upset him. It wasn’t enough that his
meru
was tormented night and day by her psychotic father, but now he and his
weru
had brought the
Metasis’s Fury
down upon her.

At his distress, both Marquis and Todd surrounded both of them in their arms, holding him and Dee.

“Talhrn?” Dee’s voice was a whisper. “I’ll be okay. My mother did inform me.” She reached under him and cupped both sides of his face, trying to lift his head.

Slowly, Talhrn turned to her and she gasped. “Oh, Talhrn please don’t cry for me...” She leaned in and kissed each of his cheeks.

He’d never cried, but yet here his Little Kitten was kissing away the evidence. “You shouldn’t have gone through the passage. If I’d known...” The anger he’d kept inside hissed out in the last part of that sentence.

A small snort had him staring at her. “Please.” Dee tried to sit up, but Marquis and Todd still held onto them tight. “Um, guys could you let me go? I really would like to sit up...Maybe a nice hot bath too.”