The Succubae Seduction Bk. 02: The Twins Ch. 15

"Eldon Lance, you drop him right this instant!"

The voice was so commanding and something deep inside Eldon knew that he had to obey it, that he opened his hand without thinking. The man tumbled down his naked belly before hitting the ground, running for his life. Eldon frowned, unsure why he'd let his meal get away.

"You change back right now, Eldon," that voice ordered him. He looked around for it and saw a woman with long black hair and gray streaks. He knew this woman was in charge, though he couldn't remember why he should listen to someone that should have been food. "Go on! Change. Or do I need to get your father? What would he think about this kind of behavior?"

He knew he didn't want that. He wasn't afraid of his father, so much as afraid of disappointing him. Somehow, he found the mental fortitude to remember that he could change forms. With a bit of effort, he felt his body shrink down into a puny... no this was his normal form.

"Mom... What—what are you doing here?" He could almost feel his IQ rising into triple digits, but he didn't know why she was there.

"Cover yourself up and we'll talk somewhere a lot more private," she told him and handed him a blanket.

She guided him past the cops and agents surrounding what remained of the White House, but he didn't miss their comments. "Are you sure that thing is safe?" "Should have put it down when we had the chance." "Heard he saved the president on more than one occasion. Glad he's on our side." And, "Did you see the size of it? I swear it was bigger in his current form than when he was an ogre. Glad my wife wasn't here, or she would have been on her knees, begging...."

Eldon blocked out everything besides putting one foot in front of the other. When Sheila stopped him, he looked up to see they were at the back of an ambulance.

"I'm not hurt, Mom," he complained. "I can't be permanently hurt, remember?"

"What I remember is that you're not supposed to be able to change forms anymore, either. Remember?" she snapped in a tone that told him to shut up and listen. "Now sit still and let them check you out. Oh, good, looks like someone thought to bring you some clothes."

Eldon looked up to see Mandy and Shlee walking up to them. Shlee had a bundle of clothes in her arms, while Mandy carried a pair of shoes. The thought struck him that Mandy could have carried it all with her four arms, and wondered if they'd decided to split the load between them. That thought led to memories in the Orange Bubble of them licking his load out of each other. No matter what else they may mean to him, he was glad that they got along with each other.

"Thank you, ladies," Sheila said as she stood and took the clothing.

Eldon tried to stand up and tell them he didn't want them there and to go, but the EMT held him down, and his words came out very different. "They ate my cum out of each other." Sheila grimaced at his words, the EMTs choked for a couple moments, his two girlfriends turned deep crimson, and Eldon wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Of all the truths he could have said in Mandy's presence and his mom right there, why did he have to spill that one? Just because the memory was in his head? He wanted to glare at Mandy and blame her, but he knew she couldn't help it. "Sorry, Mom. That's not what I meant to say."

"I know, Son," she replied and dumped his clothes in his lap. "You've been through a traumatic experience. Such things can mess with your head. It's not like I haven't enjoyed eating my master's spunk from—"

"Anyway!" Mandy interrupted. "If we could change the subject, it might help alleviate a whole lot of embarrassment."

"Where's Dad and Shelly?" he asked, following Mandy's advice. His heart dropped when he saw the look on their faces. "What? What happened?"

"Your dad is... okay," Shlee told him. "Your sister was hurt pretty bad from the bomb. Your dad is already at the hospital with her."

"So it was an explosion," he said, avoiding thinking about his sister being hurt.

"Nope," Sonia said as she approached them. "The president farted and the whole place went up in flames."

Eldon's jaw dropped as he stared at the damaged android. Had she just made a joke? Her synthetic skin still hung from her in places, but she was in full Secret Service battle regalia. A black bulletproof vest with plenty of pockets, a pistol holstered on each side, and black baggy pants completed the ensemble.

"Sorry," she apologized a moment later. "That blast must have damaged some of my neural circuits. I haven't been acting normally, since.... But when I run internal diagnostics, only my outside is damaged. All my internal wiring and neural pathways are intact."

"I thought you left with Shelly," Mandy spoke up.

"I just got back and saw our hero over here. I thought I should come check him out. By check him out, I mean his health, not that canon between his legs." Sonia grimaced, which looked quite scary with her tattered flesh. "I need to figure out these glitches. I don't feel quite right."

"How is Shelly?" Sheila and Eldon spoke at the same moment, ignoring the robot's strange behavior. Eldon would have blamed Mandy for it, but her first statement when coming up to them had been a lie, even if it was a joke. As far as he knew, Mandy's ability to force truths didn't affect electronics.

"She'll recover completely," Sonia responded with what Eldon would have thought was a proud smile, if he hadn't suspected she was incapable of pride.

"Thank goodness," Eldon sighed, and then noticed Shlee's and Mandy's frowns. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't respond to you two being okay sooner. I'm not being a very good boyfriend."

The two women exchanged a glance before plastering their faces with smiles that Eldon could see were forced.

"She's your sister," Mandy said, her teeth clenched.

"Shelly is your blood," Shlee added, and Eldon could see the pain on her eyes.

"Yes, but—" Eldon tried to explain, but didn't get the chance.

"But you could see that we were okay, and couldn't do the same for her," Mandy cut him off. The other two women exchanged glances and a nod that Eldon couldn't read before Mandy continued. "We love you Eldon. I'm sorry if we seemed callous about your sister, but we already knew about her condition. We knew you would be all right also, but...."

"But it would have been nice to see you worry about us also," Shlee finished.

Eldon nodded, knowing they were right, but also feeling overwhelmed. Everything had happened so fast, and now he was in trouble for not thinking of everyone's feelings. He didn't think it was fair because he could see that they were okay, but was wise enough not to argue. "Forgive me?" He asked, holding out his arms.

The two women didn't look at each other before they stepped into his embrace. They held the hug for a few seconds before stepping back.

"So you and Gloria really are done?" his mom asked.

Eldon ground his teeth together as his anger skyrocketed once again. "Yes, mother, we are! She claimed to love me more than anyone else, ever, and then saddled me with these two. One of which is already engaged. I'd have to say we're pretty done."

He didn't see Sheila's hand coming at him until he felt her slap across his face. "I don't care how heartbroken you might be; you don't treat women like that. Now apologize to these two!"

"Saddled you with us?" Mandy demanded.

"I liked you well enough before," Shlee told him, her voice filled with seething heat and her eyes turning golden in her fury. "But I didn't exactly have a choice in falling in love with you either. I can't help the way I feel, but if you keep acting like a hurt little child, you won't have to worry about me hanging around much longer."

He stared in shock at the three women for a moment, trying to find words to speak. He wanted to say he hadn't meant it like that, but he knew that wasn't the truth. There was a part of him that felt Gloria had dumped these two lovely women on him. While he knew a lot of men wouldn't complain about having two wonderful women loving them, he felt guilty. Mandy claimed she still loved him from when they dated before, but Shlee had her emotions twisted by Gloria's magic.

"I..." he tried to say as he searched his feelings. Because of Gloria's meddling, he cared strongly for both women. He would even go so far as to say he loved them. But it wasn't fair to them what'd happened. "I don't want to hurt either one of you. Neither one of you asked to be forced to love me. I... I love you both, but... but maybe it would be best if—" He had to stop and swallow the lump that was forming in his throat. "—If you both just left. Apparently I can't treat you the way you deserve, and you Shlee... You should go back to your fiancée and forget about me."

Eldon thought he knew what pain was. He'd been blown up, lost body parts, been stabbed, crushed, and shot, but that was nothing compared to the agony he saw in the two women's eyes, or the powerful slaps that they delivered to his still-stinging cheeks, knocking him to the ground and making the EMT shout at them. Shlee's slap was strong enough by itself, but Mandy brought her two right hands into hers, and she was plenty strong in her own right.

"You must still have some ogre brains in your head," Mandy spat at him. "Didn't you listen to me tell you before that I never stopped loving you? I know you can be a great man, and an even greater boyfriend if you quit being so afraid. Stop worrying about hurting me. I'm a grown woman and can take care of my own damned heart. Trust me to do so."

Shlee stepped up to him, bent down and helped him up. Her eyes were still golden, so he knew she was angry, making him wary of her kindness. As soon as he was upright, she brushed him off, picked up the clothes that he still hadn't donned, and then proved his fears right by grabbing his ears and pulling his face close to hers. "Now you listen, and listen well," she told him through clenched fangs. What would happen if a werewolf bit him? Would he be safe because of Areth's sacrifice, or would he still be infected with lycanthropy? He realized he wasn't doing as he was told, and focused on her. "I may not have chosen to love you, but that doesn't change the fact that I do. Do you think I'm any less confused because I still love Dimitri? My head and heart are a jumbled mess, but don't you dare go pushing me away. I love you, Eldon, and there's not a damned thing either of us can do about it. I haven't known you long, but I have learned that you're a strong man. Show me that strength. Make me your bitch, or I'm going to make you mine."

She paused for the briefest moment, and Eldon decided to follow his instincts and do as she ordered. He dropped his clothes and grabbed her ears, pulling her face to his in a powerful kiss. Her thin lips melted against his, and when she opened up, her teeth were back to human.

"Apparently I need to take some lessons on how to manage him," Mandy joked when Shlee pulled away and gave his face a quick lick.

"You remind me so much of your father," Sheila told him.

Eldon sighed, knowing he wasn't done arguing this point, but also knowing there was no point in arguing any more at this point. Their point had been made. He decided to stop thinking about points and move on. Shlee's fiancée still bothered him, but he would deal with that later.

Eldon reached over and grabbed the front of Mandy's shirt, pulling her into a kiss for a moment before letting her go.

"I'll work on it," he told them. "I still have issues, but I'm willing to work through them with you both. Sorry for what I said, and how I said it. I love you both, and it doesn't matter how it came to be. You were right about that, Shlee. I just don't want to hurt either of you, and since I have to be completely honest, I don't want to be hurt either."

"Then you're done being an ogre-brained idiot?" Mandy laughed.

"Until next time," he agreed with a smile.

"That's just so sweet!" Sonia pined and wiped at her eyes. She looked at her hand with the tear on it with confusion. "My emotions are out of control. I need to go get checked out." She turned and walked away from them, heading to what Eldon had to assume was a command tent.

"If you people will leave the patient alone, maybe I can finish checking him out?" the EMT groused.

"No need," Shlee gave her wolfish grin. "It looks to me like everything is working fine!"

Eldon followed her gaze and realized his blanket had fallen from him at some point, and his perma-boner was pointing to the sky. He grabbed his clothes and quickly got dressed, while his mother turned her back, and his girlfriends teased him about covering up such a beautiful sight.

Once dressed, he allowed his blood pressure and temperature to be taken, before the EMT let him go.

"Where is everyone else?" Eldon asked as he took his first good look at the burning White House. Smoke billowed up from the windows, but the fire crews had everything under control by this point. The only real damage to the outside was where he'd come clobbering through, with Mac on his back. "I mean, I know Dad and Shelly are at the hospital, but what about Brock, Brooke, and Becky? Are they all right?"

A frown spread like a malignant disease on their faces, and his heart sank.

It was his mom that finally answered. "Brock and Oberon are fine. If it weren't for them, the fires would have done a lot more damage."

Eldon had completely forgotten about Oberon. While he was glad to hear that they were okay, he couldn't help notice that Brooke and Becky were left out. He knew it wasn't a jealousy issue with his mother and his dad's other wives.

"Maybe you ought to sit down," Shlee gestured to the green and trampled lawn.

Eldon's heart sank even deeper. "Just... just tell me. It's like ripping off a Band-Aid. Better to just get it over with."

The three women glanced at each other before Mandy took his arms in all four of her hands, meeting his eyes. "Brooke is... Well, she's hurt, but it was Becky that saved her and your dad. She took the worst of the blast and shielded the others with her magic. Her human body couldn't handle the strain of holding back... She didn't... The blast was too strong."

"N-not Becky," he said as the lump returned to his throat. "She was always so kind. Never hurt anyone. Why... Why her?"

"Your dad told me she was pregnant," Sheila said as new tears leaked from her eyes. "She was finally going to have a child of her own. She would have... would have been so happy." She broke down in sobs as emotion overwhelmed her.

"Why would you tell me that?" Eldon demanded, tears forming but not yet falling from his eyes. "That only makes it worse."

"I didn't mean to," she replied and buried her face against his chest. It felt odd, having his stern mother using him for comfort, but he held her as tears finally dripped from his cheeks onto her hair. Becky dead? It didn't seem real. Becky was only human, like his mom, but she had magic at her beck and call. How could she have died? It didn't seem possible.

For long minutes he stood there, holding his bawling mother while he failed to fight back tears of his own. He didn't want to believe it, but knew it had to be the truth. One of his step-moms was dead, and he hadn't been able to do anything to save her. Maybe if he hadn't hit that senator and been arrested, he might have been close enough to do something after the blast, but he'd let his anger get the best of him. Anger that should have been directed at Gloria or the Paladonic Knights. He wanted to blame himself for Becky's death, for not being there for her, but could he have done anything?

"Did... did they figure out what happened?" he asked when he was sure his voice wouldn't break.

"I overheard someone say that it looked like the blast came from Sonia's control room," Shlee stated, tapping her right ear with a finger to indicate she'd eavesdropped. "I think Mihale's son knew we were onto him, and detonated it as a last-ditch attempt to kill the president."

"Oh, crap!" Eldon started. He'd completely forgotten about the comely president. "Is Martha okay?"

"That's twice you've called her by her first name," his mom pulled away and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"We're friends," he told her, somehow holding back, 'with benefits,' while Mandy was next to him. "How's she doing?"

"She's a strong president," Sheila pointed at the command tent. "As soon as she woke up, she refused anything but the most basic of medical care, and took charge of everything. She's smart, too. Knew what she could do, and what she needed others for. A strong, smart woman."

"Seems to be a lot of those around at the moment," he said without really thinking about it.

"Love you too," Shlee quipped and licked his ear.

"You know how to compliment a woman without even trying," Mandy gave his cheek a light peck.

"We should probably see if we can do anything to help," he said, feeling warm inside from their affections, though his heart still hurt from loss. Would he ever stop losing people he cared about?

"Hey, buddy!" a man stepped out from the tent with his right arm in a sling and waved to him. "I see you're back to normal, and finally decided to put away your third arm."

"Hey, Mac," Eldon grimaced. "I wish people would stop talking about my privates like it was every day conversation! Shouldn't you be going to the hospital with that arm?"

"Headed there now," he grunted as he shifted the injured arm. "Damned medics say I'll probably lose my girlfriend here, but at least I still have my left hand. Maybe I'll get a prosthetic with a kung fu grip, huh? Listen, I'm glad I saw you before they forced me away. I know you're always travelling and stuff, but if you're ever in this part of town again, look me up. I owe you big time, and I never let a debt go."

"I thought you hated 'freaks' like me, or did I mishear you in there?" Eldon frowned at the man. How could he be so chipper with the prospect of losing his arm?

"Hey man, I'm sorry about that. I'd like to blame the pain and smoke inhalation, but the truth is, I was an idiot. I see now that you're a good person. You could have left me in there after the way I behaved, and no one would have ever known. You went a little ogre-board with that escape, but I'm alive and it's all thanks to you. I don't even mind that you tried to eat me at the end. Look, I don't care about the propaganda, but I want you to know, I was wrong. You're all right in my book, and I figure I have some vacation time coming. I could use a guide to visit your world, if you were willing?"

"He's already taken," Shlee gripped his arm and offered him a feral smile.

"Doubly so," Mandy gripped his other arm possessively.

"Whoa, ladies! I think you're getting the wrong idea," he held up his good hand and took a step back. "I know what it might have looked like riding on the back of a naked ogre, but this agent only offers rides to the ladies. I'm not trying to steal your man. I just want to offer my thanks for saving my life, and an apology for the bigoted way I acted before that."

Eldon considered the man for a moment before holding out his left hand to shake. "You annoyed the hell out of me in there, but I'm glad I saved you. It takes a big man to admit he was wrong. I acted like an ass-hat myself—ow!—don't hit me, Mom. I'll watch my language."

Everyone but Eldon and Sheila chuckled for a moment before Mac shook Eldon's hand with his good one.

"Hey, I heard what happened to one of your moms. You have my deepest condolences." His voice carried true compassion in it, renewing Eldon's grief for Becky and clogging his throat with another lump. "I also heard you helped capture Mihale Maztaim, and it was his son who caused the blast. Don't know how that bastard made it into the Secret Service. No doubt the work of those senators that didn't make it out. Serves the bastards right, in any case. Now listen, I happen to know a few of the guys that will be watching over him. Say the word, and he'll have an accident, if you catch my meaning. He'll never make it to trial."