Three Square Meals Ch. 097

"You need to get us ready for tonight," she said in a hushed voice.

The events with Faye had changed her mood and John nodded, sensing the difference. Dana led him into the bathroom and they undressed then walked into the shower together, joined moments later by the rest of the crew. Faye was last and she waited by the door, still fully dressed and with a look of longing in her eyes.

"You've waited a long time to join us like this," Alyssa said with an encouraging smile. "But now you don't have to miss out any more."

She blushed at John shyly, then slipped the strap of her dress over her shoulder. It fell to the floor, pooling at her feet, revealing her tantalising nude body. Faye was like a smaller version of the rest of the girls, but perfectly proportioned, with b-cup breasts on her petite frame topped by mouth-watering dark-purple nipples. Like the other girls on the crew, she had no body hair below her long eyelashes, her skin smooth and glowing with health.

Stepping into the shower with everyone, she giggled self-consciously, then felt the water splash over her skin for the first time and gasped. The gasp turned into a moan of pleasure as the girls drew her into the group, caressing and massaging her water-slicked body. As much as John wanted to touch her too, he limited himself to brushing his fingers against her cheek, respecting her wishes to take their physical relationship slowly. He could see the indecision in her eyes, caution warring with desire as she was sorely tempted to ask for more.

"You were right, let's take our time," he said, her answering blush confirming that he'd accurately read her mind.

They spent a long time in the shower, the girls taking it in turns to hug John or Faye. For John, it was the first time he'd had this much contact with his crewwomen since being with the Maliri and he could immediately tell how much they'd missed him. When he put his arms around them and gazed into their eyes, he could see the smouldering arousal burning within each girl; a different, far more intense kind of hunger than normal.

Alyssa was last and she crossed her wrists behind his neck as she kissed him, her cerulean orbs piercing his soul. *Dana first, she really needs it,* she reminded him, delighted to be sensing his yearning desire for her. *I'll make sure we get some time alone together soon...*

They dried off and returned to the bedroom, Dana wasting no time in lying down in the middle of the bed. Faye went to the chair to watch as she always did and when John glanced her way to invite her onto the bed, she gave him a grateful smile but shook her head demurely. The rest of the girls fanned out around Dana and the redhead rolled onto her back, slowly spreading her slender legs. She held out her hand towards John, giving him a come-hither gesture which was as urgent as it was alluring.

"Too eager for foreplay?" he asked, as he knelt between her thighs, running his hands over her satiny skin.

She groaned and glanced down at her glistening pussy. "I've been gagging for it for hours! Please don't make me wait any longer!"

Ever the gentleman, John did as she asked, seeing her desperate need to be filled with him. He nudged the head of his cock against her soft folds, feeling her tight passage yield to the pressure as he pushed forward. She stretched around him like a second skin, warm, wet, and very snug, her well-trained muscles rippling along his length as he slid home. As she accepted all of him into her tight embrace he realised that's exactly what it felt like... coming home.

"You had fun getting all that blue pussy, but you missed your regular girls, didn't you?" Alyssa purred, stroking his shoulder.

John cradled Dana's head in his hands, relishing the look of bliss on her beautiful face as she was completely filled by him. His connection with the loveable redhead was so strong, that being inside her again felt almost spiritual. He gazed deeply into her eyes, seeing her love and devotion shining back at him.

"The Young Matriarchs are all really lovely girls, but it just wasn't the same," he said softly, leaning in to give Dana a tender kiss. "I really missed you..."

Rachel caressed his back, a mischievous sparkle in her grey eyes. "Like pulling on a comfy pair of old slippers..."

Dana jerked back from John's lips and glared indignantly at her girlfriend. "Old slippers?! I'll get you back for that one, you minx!"

John's deep laughter harmonised with the musical giggling from the girls and Dana groaned as she felt his cock jerking deep inside her.

"Alright, you're forgiven. That felt really fucking good!" she gasped, shifting her hips and grinding against his pelvis.

John stroked her luxuriously soft hair, watching her look of rapture as she savoured being fully impaled and waiting until she focused on him again. "What do you want? Gentle and loving, or fast and furious?"

"Whatever you want, just don't pull out!" Dana replied with a moan, arching her back and rubbing her erect nipples against his chest.

"Anything I like?" John asked, easing back slowly before reversing direction and stuffing her full of his cock again.

She nodded, biting her lip as she felt him nudge against the back of her womb. "Anything!"

He kept the same languid pace and gazed into her eyes. "I spent a lot of time resting in bed over the last couple of days and it gave me lots of time to think. One time, when Tsarra was fast asleep and I was stroking her pregnant belly, my mind kept drifting back to you." He glanced up at his hushed audience. "All of you."

"What were you thinking about?" Dana murmured, listening spellbound.

"About what it'll be like when I'm stroking your pregnant tummies; wondering which of your beautiful features our babies will have, which of your wonderful personality traits..." He had a self-conscious smile on his face as he continued, "I've honestly never been happier."

"Oh, John..." Dana whispered, her expression softening.

He kissed her again, then said, "Just imagine us together like that, Dana. Me holding you in my arms, keeping you and your baby bump safe, both of us thinking about what kind of future our children will have..."

She groaned as he began to pick up the pace, the golden coronas around her pupils flaring as her body responded to that ancient instinctive rhythm. Her expression was part wonder, part delight, with a heady mix of arousal sprinkled over the top. As the broody daze began to migrate into lust, she moved with him, her thighs lifting higher to give him even deeper access to her toned belly.

Normally Dana would have already been cumming around him, but instead she held John close, murmuring loving words in his ear as he stroked her with long, deep thrusts. When his release built to a climax, John gazed into Dana's eyes and she let out a wordless cry of pleasure as she joined him, her pussy constricting around his shaft as he filled her womb with his cum. He lifted his weight off her slim tummy, giving her plenty of room to swell with the huge load he was pumping into her.

"Fill me!" the redhead cried, her hands cradling her belly as it curved outwards.

John did exactly that, emptying every last drop into her nubile young body until his quad was drained dry. Easing out of her, he flopped onto his back, panting for breath after such an intense climax. He was suddenly surrounded by breathless girls, as Calara and Sakura showered him with kisses, while Rachel inhaled his cock, hungry for a taste of him and her girlfriend. He hugged the Latina and Asian girl to him, then glanced to his left, where Dana was being cuddled by Alyssa and Jade, while the twins were caressing her huge tummy.

Dana turned to face him, a blissful smile on her beautiful face, looking more serene and content than he'd ever seen her before. "That was everything I wanted and so much more," she said with a happy sigh.

"Just a few months, then we'll be doing that for real," he said, reaching out to clasp her hand.

She gave him a wistful look, then let out a moan, her eyelashes fluttering. John heard the familiar sound of a lapping tongue and he closed his eyes for a second, studying the mental compartments in his mind. Focusing on Alyssa and her wards, he watched Tashana's body light up with a radiant white glow as she sucked his cum out of Dana, filling her stomach. One after the other the girls took their turn, sharing mouthfuls with Dana too, until they were all shining brightly in his mind.

He sat up and looked at the girls sitting in a semi-circle around him. Being psychically connected with each of them felt different today, the link more powerful than it had been before, echoing with that same feeling of oneness that they'd glimpsed in the group hug with the Maliri. It only took a single glance at their startled faces to see that the girls all felt it too.

"Why does it feel so different to before?" Calara asked in amazement, reaching out to hold John's left hand. "I feel so close to you, and not just to you, to everybody..."

Rachel glanced quizzically around at her adoptive sisters. "We haven't done anything different to instigate this change, so it can't be coming from us..." Her stormy grey eyes darted to John. "I think this is all coming from you."

Dana rubbed her slender cum-filled stomach and grinned. "Literally!"

"I haven't made any conscious changes to anyone," John replied in surprise, shaking his head.

"You didn't need to; you've bred four of your mates," Jade said, looking at him with soulful eyes. "That changes everything... I can feel how much you long to do that with each of us."

Alyssa slipped her hand into John's, interlacing their fingers. "I think Jade's partly right. This definitely seems like an after-effect of your time with the Maliri." She glanced across the circle at Sakura. "Can you take a quick look at our psychic connections?"

The Asian girl took a deep breath, then seemed to be looking at everyone with fresh eyes, a warm glow illuminating her dark-brown eyes. "Oh wow!" she gasped when she got to John, blinking rapidly and turning away to shield her eyes. Her brow furrowed in concentration and she looked at him again. "The connection between you and Edraele is so much stronger! I can see this massive cable of psychic energy snaking off through the wall!"

*You were so loving with all of us,* Edraele said softly. *The Young Matriarchs absolutely adore you, as do my bodyguards. I must also confess to being more than a little smitten with you myself, my darling fiancé.*

*I love you too, Edraele,* he said, sending her a telepathic kiss.

John closed his eyes and examined the psychic connections to his Maliri Matriarch. What had been a fairly faint link now blazed like a supernova and he was forced to muffle the glare, just as he had done with Alyssa. With that kind of dampening filter in place, Edraele's link to him had been barely visible before, but now he was able to directly compare hers with Alyssa's. He could see that Edraele's psychic connection to him was still fainter than the one with Alyssa, but it was no longer quite so dwarfed by the energy pouring off the blonde.

His blonde Matriarch nodded. "And that's all going to you, John." She smiled affectionately at the girls. "You're not sharing it with all these hungry little psychic sponges..."

"But it's not like I've asked Edraele to give me any energy yet..." John said in confusion. "She has loads more power she can tap into, but I've not actually started using any of it."

"Athena says it doesn't matter," Alyssa said, suddenly looking at him in surprise. "Just expanding your pool of potential eldritch energy makes you more powerful. That's one of the reasons why Progenitors are always trying to recruit more and more women into their armies."

"Have you felt yourself getting stronger?" Rachel asked, studying him in fascination.

He was about to shake his head, then hesitated. "I haven't tried doing anything dramatic, but I didn't think twice about deca-shaping new weapons for the assassins."

"And what about the little bird you made for Valani?" Sakura asked him with a fond smile. "She showed it to us afterwards; the colours were so vivid and lifelike, I thought it was going to fly from her hand!"

"I tried doing that myself," Alyssa said, her voice quiet and thoughtful. "I've no idea how you did it... I couldn't get crystal Alyssium to change colour like that."

Dana frowned and raised her hands. "Hang on, I'm confused. We know John gets stronger every time he adds more girls to the group or when we get closer to him. We've not added anyone new for a while, but we've all got a lot closer recently. Despite that, he's not really had any big jumps in power; at least not as far as I'm aware."

"Yeah, that's true," John admitted.

"I know our relationship has gone from strength-to-strength over these past few weeks," Sakura said, giving him a loving smile. "It's been the same for lots of us."

The twins, Calara, and Jade all nodded emphatically.

"It's all because of us!" Tashana exclaimed her eyes widening. "Instead of growing stronger yourself, you've been focused on making each of us much more powerful instead!"

John frowned in confusion. "But why would that make any difference?"

Rachel nodded, eyes narrowing as she mulled it over. "I think she's right. We know that the bulk of your psychic power comes from us via Alyssa, but you've also recently started giving us our own reserves of energy for us to use on our new psychic powers." She hesitated for a second, her brow furrowing. "Perhaps by gifting each of us our own set of abilities, you've been stunting your own personal power growth?"

"Which would also explain why Progenitors hoard their own power so much!" Irillith exclaimed. "Sharing with their Matriarch or Thralls must weaken them!"

All the girls looked at John in consternation, appalled at the thought that they might somehow be inhibiting him from reaching his full strength.

John shrugged and gave them a reassuring smile. "If given the same choice again, I wouldn't change a thing. You're all incredible and I know I couldn't do a fraction of the things that you're each capable of."

Tashana's expression hadn't changed and was still fraught with worry. "It's a lovely sentiment, but it means you're going to be considerably weaker than this other Progenitor. He'll be hoarding all his power for himself!"

"Even if that's true, John won't be facing him alone," Alyssa said, her voice strong and determined as she squeezed his hand.

John stroked her hand with his thumb, finding tremendous reassurance in the firm grip of her slender fingers. They shared an intimate glance before he turned to look at the girls. "We can discuss the other Progenitor later, but we've got something more pressing to deal with first. We need to focus on the upcoming dream and the Astral monsters."

"Are we still going with the same plan?" Irillith asked, her angular eyes darting around the group.

John nodded. "I can't stack multiple shields on top of each other, so I've already dropped the warding shield I was using to keep me hidden. When we're ready, I'll create another one of those hex domes like the first time. That ought to protect us for a few minutes and give us some time to prepare ourselves before we're in danger."

"And you're sure everyone's abilities will work in this monster's sub-plane?" Calara asked, biting her lower lip anxiously.

John hesitated before nodding. "They worked for Alyssa and me, it shouldn't be any different for all of you. I was able to create a sword and Alyssa was able to blast that creature with her massive energy beam."

"So we go in there and everyone with combat-type powers starts attacking the mist monsters, then Alyssa goes to town with her beam laser thingy?" Dana asked, before sharing a nervous glance with the Latina, who she knew shared her concerns. "I'd feel a lot happier if there was something I could do in this fight..."

Calara nodded, a rueful frown on her face. "I can't exactly bring the Invictus with me, and I don't think getting into a fist-fight with those creatures is a sensible plan. That doesn't leave me much I can do to meaningfully contribute either."

"Perhaps it might be sensible for you both to sit this one out?" John suggested, looking at each of them in turn.

"Absolutely not!" the Latina protested.

"No fucking chance!" Dana agreed, narrowing her eyes.

He sighed and said, "I think you're right though; your abilities aren't really suited to this kind of fight. I don't want to expose you to this much danger unnecessarily."

The two girls shared a look of alarm, then shook their heads defiantly.

"You got trapped in there last time," Calara pointed out to him. "So if we get separated and you get stuck, Alyssa might not be able to tap us for psychic energy."

Dana nodded, her frown and tightly-folded arms indicating that her mind was made up. "Even if we're just standing around with our thumbs up our butts, at least we'll be useful as energy batteries!"

Holding up his hands in defeat, John said, "Okay, I just wanted to give you the option." He glanced around at the girls, his expression pensive. "That goes for the rest of you too. The Astral Plane is terrifying and if you don't want to go, I understand completely; just let me know if any of you have changed your mind about coming. Does anyone want to stay behind?"

He saw the hurt looks on their faces and Alyssa glared at him in disapproval. "How can you ask that? We're a team, you know we'd follow you anywhere!"

John paused, feeling deeply chagrined. "I'm sorry... I'm just really worried about all of you." He faltered, looking at them in turn. "I don't feel strong there, I feel weak and vulnerable... I hate not being able to protect you from that thing!"

Alyssa and Calara hugged him tightly and he clung to them too, desperately worried about exposing the girls to this much danger. He bitterly regretted having fed Tsarra a third time, wishing he'd just put it off and avoided exposing them to such a terrible threat. Dimly aware of the rest of the girls joining the group hug, his fears began to subside as he experienced that glorious feeling of closeness once again.

"We're all in this together," Alyssa whispered in his ear. "The girls and I might have started off weak and vulnerable, but that feels like a lifetime ago now. You made us strong, so we can protect ourselves and each other... but now we can help protect you too."

John gave her a grateful smile, which he shared with the rest of the girls. "Thank you and I'm very sorry."

"You're forgiven, you lunkhead!" Dana said with a grin.

The ensuing laughter helped lighten the mood and John relaxed as the group hug broke up. He studied the bed for a moment, then nodded decisively. "I better get started on that hex-dome. You girls better make whatever final preparations you need to."

Alyssa held court, speaking quietly to the girls, Tashana and Sakura in particular. John could have eavesdropped, but he was too focused on the latticework of hexagons he was creating to build his dome. He took great care forging each glowing hex, the soft blue light creating a soothing ambience over the bed as he built up more of the curved shield. After mentally shaping each interlocking piece of the dome, he inscribed it with Progenitor runes that he knew would make the hexes tougher and hopefully able to withstand a battering from the behemoths lurking in the mists.

"You know you can make it much stronger than that, right...?" Dana said in a strangely distracted voice, placing her hand on his shoulder.

The soft warmth of her skin drew John out of his tightly-controlled focus. "Hmm, what was that, honey?" he asked glancing at the redhead beside him.

"The Progenitor runes... they're more powerful in sentences," the redhead murmured, moving towards the psychic shield. "You've written, 'Tough and hard'. Let me see if I can fix that up for you..."