Laura did a great job at rattling Denver with the news of a fake pregnancy then Robert swooped in with a friend in the IRS who put his firm's books through the wringer. The audit made the front page of several newspapers and I cherished the picture of him being led away in handcuffs. I rather vindictively hoped that he got introduced to his 'feminine side' in jail.

However, the man or men behind him were still lurking. That would have ordinarily upset me but between Robert and Solomon, they were having troubles of their own. A surreptitious phone call or two had McCarthy's hounds baying after a right-wing Communist conspiracy with surprising tentacles. They were going to be too busy back-pedaling to come after us again.

Solomon also took care of the reporter, Phil Green. It seemed that he had a little business on the side and his photos were really black-mail material. The editors of the Gazette quickly fired him and one of his former victims sued him for civil damages so he wouldn't ever be able to resurrect either of his careers.

Laura and Connie were thick as thieves and I always smiled when I saw them. They reminded me of a younger-me and George when we were just figuring out that we loved each other. I was hoping that Connie would heal the wounds left by the nasty Denver and they would become a committed couple like we were. All in all, our lives had gotten back on track and were better than ever.

I was the luckiest woman on earth to have my lovers and our children safe and protected. But I was still waiting for my dream-self to take care of Lord Phaisel. I was feeling very protective of my charges in that universe.

***

I oversaw the packing of the carriages myself. I would allow nothing on board unless one of my sister-selves could verify it. We had three carriages to watch over while the Hawk Lord only had two so the six of us had banded together to make sure that we were all safe. We gathered to one side of the vast courtyard while we loaded up. On the far side, Lord Phaisel had just arrived to browbeat his slaves.

He had two carriages also and he cast dark glares across the space between us. Lord Carthenal folded his arms around Nephrites and ignored him completely. With another hateful glance at Lord Roylant and his Chosen, he stepped up into the low slung carriage and continued glaring in our direction through the window. I kept a careful eye on the young acolyte of the House of Eternal Bliss who was blessing each carriage for a safe journey.

As he usually did, Lord Phaisel waved him away with a snort of irritation. My smile grew cold and I nodded to her. She walked slowly towards the next carriage after first bending to re-tie her sandal. The crocodile lord's carriage started off. I started counting slowly and made sure that our lords were inside the sturdy carriage walls. They were still talking through the open windows when the explosion occurred.

Cries of dismay echoed back to us and I ran for the road outside this walled enclosure. There on the banks of the Tigret River was the merrily burning carriage of Lord Phaisel. I was the first to reach the wreck and when I found him blackened but still twitching on the river wall, I calmly tipped him into the water. He would have no repeal from this judgment and the suddenly churning river told me that he was providing a feast for his crocodiles.

I bowed to the King's Guard who arrived on horseback. I gave them the story that my sisters had prepared. They nodded respectfully before examining the wreck. The driver was also dead, blown completely over the river to the other side. I felt no remorse since he had been the one to deliver his master's threats. All in all, it had been a good day and I looked forward to watching over my new family with great anticipation.

********* Hannah/Laital *********

I was feeling extremely sassy and younger to boot. Solomon was a most considerate lover and I walked on air for the next week or two. The threats were gone, Laura was a sweet girl and she and Connie were good together. Carson had offered the young lawyer a position in his firm and she'd accepted. She and Jimmie worked well together and Carson was mentoring them with great satisfaction.

Solomon and I had talked about where we were going from here. He wanted to move to River Heights and I wanted him nearby but I also wanted a grace period where we decided if we wanted more. Living in sin wasn't the example that I wanted for the babies. But we were both old enough not to need chaperones. My suite in the new house was large but we'd be combining my things and his.

We talked to Carson about it and he came up with the perfect solution. If at the end of six months, we were still together and ready to take the next step of marriage then Ned would design and build us a house. An acre of land would be his wedding present to us, between the old farmhouse and the new estate. He joked about becoming a feudal lord and we laughed with him.

I was hoping that we'd be able to take him up on his offer.

***

My lord cuddled me on his lap and stroked my hair soothingly. He'd been grimly satisfied at the end of Lord Phaisel and I was glad his dark presence was gone, too. I'd met him twice and his hot eyes had stripped me bare both times. I'd never been more glad when my old lord had stopped parading me in front of him.

"We're almost home, sweet Laital." He kissed my temple and I tingled just from that. "I hope you like it. Remember that we can change anything that you don't like."

I laughed and shook my head, daring to tease him. "It will be wonderful, my lord. I am not used to many rooms so perhaps you should keep me in your room for a week or so?"

He kissed my lips hard and I reveled in the growing cock beneath me. "I shall have to keep you in my bed for a month, sweet one. Not even that length of time would suffice to sate my need for you."

I blinked back sudden tears. "Nor would it suffice for me, my lord. I crave you like the air we breathe."

Shouts came from up ahead and Roylant brought up the window shades that had protected us from the heat and dust. "In a few moments, my people shall be introduced to their new lord and our daughter. Look there, Laital, they are waiting for us."

There looked to be a hundred people in the grand courtyard of my new home and I froze in sudden fear. What if they disliked me or thought that I wasn't good enough for their lord? Ro chuckled and kissed me again before moving me off his lap. "They will love you, sweet one. And little Jasmine will enchant them with her sweetness."

The next hour felt like a day while Ro introduced me to his household staff. There weren't a hundred after all but only thirty. I'd never remember all their names but the Sisters would help me. They were new to the people of the hawk also and they took some of the eyes off of me. Lord Roylant's old nana welcomed me with open arms and immediately asked to hold Jasmine.

She looked kindly at me then said that it was about time Lord Roylant gave her babies to take care of. I looked healthy and strong. Blushing, I nodded while Ro laughingly chided her about rushing us. Once inside the great hall, he showed me the dining room, the library where he kept his ancestors books but he saved his rooms for last. They were so big that I thought I'd be lost in them.

But he held me close and walked me through a beaded curtain into a room done in greens and blues. "Laital, this is your room now. If ever you need to be private or if you're not feeling well or for any reason at all, this room is yours to do with as you will."

I burst into tears at the beauty of the room and its furnishings. He held me close and let me wet his chest, stroking my hair and murmuring soft endearments in my ear. Sniffing hard, I finally looked up into his beautiful eyes. "Thank you, Ro. They are beautiful and so big that I can hardly imagine such luxury."

He kissed me sweetly and let me go. "Then explore them now while I make sure that everything is all right with our people. Ari will answer any questions you may have and I will return shortly."

I kissed him again and let him go. He left through another doorway and Ari appeared almost instantly with little Jasmine. She was hungry again and I sat on the softest divan that I'd ever felt. The cushions were brightly colored silk in every shade of green imaginable. Jasmine suckled quite content while Ari watched me with inquisitive eyes. So, I asked her about Ro.

She told me stories about his birth, his youth and his coming to power after the accident that killed both his parents. Gently she questioned me about how I came to be bonded to her lord and I told her everything. She would be my ally in the coming days and deserved to know the truth even if it was painful. When I told of my dead babies, she cried with me and gathered me into her arms, rocking me tenderly.

We were so entwined when Roylant returned and he smiled at us both. Ari told him that the nursery was set up in the rooms across the hall and she would put Jasmine down for her nap while he took care of me. Tartly she kissed his cheek and bade him to feed me up. "He's too skinny, Lord Roylant. Put some meat on those slender bones."

"I promise, Nana." His eyes were so fond when he brushed a caress over Jasmine's cheek and then over Ari's. "Lord Laital will soon be completely healed but for now, I think we shall take a bath to wash away the journey then a nap to rest up for dinner."

The look he sent me was heated and I blushed all the way down to my toes. I could feel myself dampen with sudden need for him. Ari laughed and pinched his cheek before leaving. I arose from the divan in time to meet him and we kissed as if it had been days instead of hours since we'd last touched. Lifting me into his arms, he carried me back through the curtain into his room then on into a beautiful bath of blue and green marble.

The water was already filling the tub and we undressed each other slowly, pausing to kiss and touch each new patch of skin. The bath was deep and wide and he carried me down into the faintly steaming water. The soap was scented with Laras and we languidly washed each other before the heat in his eyes lit a different kind of fire inside of me.

"My beautiful Laital," he drew me up into his lap with my legs on either side of his. "You are so wonderful to touch that I find I need you again. Are you too sore from this morning?"

I smiled at him, sliding my arms around his neck and pressing my chest to his. "I am not sore at all. There is just a little ache to remind me of your prowess, my lord. But I was hoping that you would use my female sheath this time."

"It's too soon, sweet one." He kissed me softly and ran his big hands down my back to cup my cheeks. "You're not yet recovered from Jasmine's birth and I don't want to risk getting you pregnant so quickly."

"Thank you, Ro," I kissed his bristly chin then nibbled my way down his throat to the hollow that made him shiver. "But I was thinking that you could start in my female sheath then move to my male." Pausing, I looked him straight in the eye. "I wish to have only memories of you pleasuring me." Would he understand what I was asking?

His eyes cleared and one of his hands slid over my hip, beneath my shaft and teased the folds of my female sheath. "I understand, my love. Perhaps we should leave our bath for now and stretch out on our bed. Once we have loved completely, we can return and wash up for dinner."

I nodded eagerly and he arose from the underwater bench with me clinging to him. Pausing only to collect a rose colored urn from a shelf, he carried me to his large bed and lovingly laid me upon the soft cushions. I was already tingling everywhere but he lavished heated caresses over every inch of my skin. The jar held a sweet smelling unguent that he used inside both of my sheaths.

I begged him to come inside of me and he tenderly set his big shaft at my melting folds and slowly surged within. I'd never known just joy and my whole body blushed for him. He leaned down and gently tongued my nipples so they leaked milk for him to lick from my skin. I was shivering everywhere when he began to stroke in and out of my female sheath. With a muffled shriek, I came hard, clenching around him with all my might.

He groaned and stilled while I quivered again and again. Slowly, he withdrew from me and I moaned at the emptiness. But he kissed me, filling my mouth with his tasty tongue. I barely realized that he was moving a pillow under my hips so lost was I until I felt two fingers stretching my other sheath. I'd grown more accustomed to this caress and I tried to relax those tense muscles that didn't want him to come inside.

"My sweet Laital, are you sure that you're not too sore?" He asked me tenderly.

I smiled up at him and wiggled just a little, reminding his rampant cock of where he wanted to be. "I am very sure, my Ro. Fill me with your flesh until I know nothing but your warmth."

His eyes flared and he stretched me a moment more before his impatient cock thrust surely through my tight muscle. I was filled with him all the way up to my heart, my hands holding his arms to keep him close to me. He bent back my legs almost to my chest and each thrust felt deeper than the last. Nephrites was right, there was pleasure to be had from both sheathes.

And one of these days, my lord would come deep inside my other sheath so we could create another child. I could hardly wait.

********* Ned/Nephrites *********

The next six months went by so quickly that I could hardly believe it. Hannah and Solomon took their wedding vows in front of the living room fireplace with the Methodist minister officiating. Since it was almost Christmas again, I'd designed their house for a wedding present but we wouldn't be breaking ground until the spring. For now, they were living in Hannah's suite.

Solomon had moved his private investigating practice to River Heights and Carson used him increasingly as more and more business came his way. Jimmy Lane was now a full partner and Laura was an associate. But she was really good on the estate side of the law so Carson thought it wouldn't be long before she became a partner, too. Connie and she were so nice together that I thought they had a chance to be a real couple.

George and Nancy were mentoring them so they were in good hands. The babies were sleeping the night through now and that was a blessed relief. All in all, this Christmas was going to be even better than the last. Stretching, I left my drafting table and headed for the study to see what my Carson was doing. If I was lucky, maybe he'd do me.

***

I was growing bigger every day, or so it seemed. Little Sar kept patting my swollen tummy and singing to his sister. She always calmed down when he did that and stopped kicking me so I encouraged him. The Solar Festival was in two days and Lord Roylant and Laital were coming to our home to celebrate. The servants were busy getting their rooms ready and the cooks were baking up a storm.

Sar was so excited that he could hardly stand to wait for his gifts. Car started taking him with him on his rounds of our lands but only for short trips since even at three years old he still needed an afternoon nap. I was trying to get off the divan to go and get a drink when they returned to me. Sar rushed over and hugged me tight, telling me all the exciting things he'd seen.

I patted his back and listened carefully so I could ask him questions. He was growing up so fast, I thought. Then Car brought me over a cool drink and kissed my cheek. Sometimes I think he can read my mind. He'd left too early this morn to pleasure me and I decided to make up for lost time once Lasira came for Sarpendon.

Drinking down the cool nectar, I fluttered my eyelashes just a little at my lord and he chuckled. "Off you go, Sar, I saw Lasira looking for you. I think the catalaba is ripe and she's hoping that you'll help her harvest some of our dinner."

"Yes, Papa," he kissed my cheek again then my stomach. "Be good to Mama, Kalador, and don't kick too much."

He was such a good boy, I thought fondly and kissed his soft cheek. "Remember that Lord Roylant and Lord Laital will be coming soon. Keep watch so you can greet them the moment they arrive."

"I will, Mama." He dashed out into the hall and I heard him chattering to Lasira. He had so much energy, it was a pity that we couldn't harness it to power the harvest machines.

"How is she, today?" Car nuzzled my tummy, laying soft kisses over our hidden child.

"Active, very active," I admitted. "But now that you're here, I think you could help quiet her down." I linked my hands around his neck and pulled him up to my lips. Our kiss was wonderful the way it always was. He'd been eating dates again and his tongue shared their sweetness with me.

He pulled far enough away to look into my eyes. "It didn't hurt when I took you last night?"

"Not at all," I pouted. "You didn't stay in long enough though."

"Sweetheart, I will not risk you and our baby." He admonished me and I looked contrite for a moment.

But since I drank something, of course I had to go to the bathroom again. He chuckled and lifted me up off the too soft divan. Waddling to the privy, I peed away the liquid while he kissed the back of my neck, under the sensitive hairline. Shivering, I suddenly needed him desperately and he caught my desire.

He carried me back to bed and tenderly laid me on the cool covers before reaching for the oil we kept handy. I was on my side because the healer had insisted that was easier on me and the baby. Car stretched me carefully until I was begging him to come inside. His shaft slid very slowly inside my tight sheath. He went no further than the hidden magic spot.

His arms came around me and those big, callused hands of his stroked the mound that swelled out from my body. She liked that and so did I. His hips moved gently, stroking in then pulling back before stroking back in again. We could last a long time this way and we did. Finally, one of his hands fondled my hard cock while the other rubbed the magic spot in my female fold and I came with a voluptuous sigh.

His seed flooded into my body and I wondered if Kala could feel it.

"Beloved, you are the king of Chosens." He kissed my shoulder and carefully eased out of my body. "Let me wash you then you can nap for a bit until the evening meal."

I hummed my approval, too tired to do anything but let him wash and cover me up. I was asleep before I really knew it.

Stretching, I felt a little ripple that was my daughter saying hello. Chuckling, I opened my eyes to see the sun very low on the horizon. I'd slept for almost three hours and I scooted over to the side of the bed so I could pull myself to a sitting position. Getting out of bed was so awkward now that once again I decided that I was going to invent a new kind of bed.

"Let me help, love." Car came over and pulled me up with one strong pull. He kissed me lingeringly before setting me back on my feet. "Our guests have arrived. They are settling in down the hall so take your time getting ready."

"My lord, I will help you dress." Sepira spoke from the doorway and I smiled at her.

"I'll need it, Sister." I rubbed my back. "For some reason Kala feels like she's got a ball in there and she's kicking it good and hard."

We all chuckled and Car left us to talk with Roylant. I was re-dressed in no time at all and I waddled out into the hall to go and talk to Laital. He was wearing the most beautiful robe of crimson and gold stripes and he kissed me on each cheek while exclaiming at how beautiful I looked.

Jasmine was crawling on the multi-colored rug and came right over to me when Sepira helped me down onto the divan. She'd grown so much and she looked just like her mother, thankfully. I petted her sweet face and she patted my swollen tummy saying, 'ba-ba-ba-ba'.

Laital laughed out loud. "One of the Sisters, Karel, is with child so Jasmine is already aware of where babies come from. I keep hoping that Ro will finally give me another child. I'm healed and stronger than I've ever been. Seeing you makes me yearn all the more."

"I would gladly have this baby born." I said frankly and brushed my hands over the active kicker. "I waddle everywhere I go. I can't go more than twenty dokars without having to pee. And Car is so careful of me that I could scream."

He smiled at me and kissed my cheek. "You are the second luckiest Chosen in the world to have such a caring and concerned bonded. But then, I think that I'm the luckiest. He loves me and Jasmine, too. You and I are very, very blessed."

Another ripple delayed my answer and I had a sudden thought. Could it be that our daughter was ready to be born? I tried to remember what Sar had felt like when he was born. Ripples and sharp pains were all I really could dredge up from those old memories. I looked at my friend with a little frown. "Laital, how did you know when you were going into labor?"

His eyes went wide and he laid a gentle hand over my navel. "Ripples that spread out from here was usually the first sign. Oh, did you feel that?"

Yes, I had. "Dear goddess, I think she's coming at a most auspicious time. I'm glad you're here."

He kissed my cheek again. "You helped me with Jasmine. I will be glad to help you with little Kala. Let us walk a bit in the garden to see if she is really ready."

I agreed wholeheartedly and he helped me up, calling to Simbal to watch Jasmine. The guest rooms opened onto a small walled garden where we could walk without our veils and have some privacy. She exclaimed on the beautiful Solar Sitals that bloomed every year for the Festival. This year they'd come up a dark shade of blue with silver streaks. Last year they'd been green and gold.

We visited for an hour and the ripples were coming ten dokars apart when we went back in to find Roylant waiting for us. Laital went to his side immediately and they kissed. That was good to see and I beamed at the joy on their faces, right before a searing pain ripped through me and I fell to my knees.

********* Solomon/Roylant *********

I'd never been so satisfied in my life. Hannah was a rare treasure and our life together just kept getting better. Ned had designed a beautiful home where we could live out our remaining years. We were adopted grandparents of the most beautiful babies in New York and I had a family again after decades of having none.

The dreams that Hannah and I were sharing were erotic to the extreme and we often woke up to make love while we described what we had dreamed to each other. It was like something out of the Arabian Nights but with an odd twist with the hermaphrodite Chosen. I have to say that it gave me an extra thrill in our dream world when I made love to him as a man.

***

I helped Nephrites up from the floor and sent Sister Simbal to find Carthenal. Laital had an arm around his fellow Chosen and he told me briskly that Nephrites needed to keep walking to speed the process. I felt rather helpless in the face of such a confident decree and watched them head for the hall with me trailing in their wake.

Car appeared almost instantly and kissed his bonded heartily before asking him what he needed. Nephrites told him to get the bathing chamber ready because he thought their daughter would come soon. Sister Sepira joined us then and disappeared into their suite with the two Chosen to check privately how far along he might be.

Car took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, we didn't plan this, Ro but I'm glad that you're here. Having Laital with him will help a lot. You can help me get the tub ready for the birth."

"Why the tub? Surely he can't give birth in water?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You have a lot to learn, my friend."

The next hour was so frantic that I could hardly believe how fast the baby came. Within an hour, Nephrites was pushing out the screaming little girl into Sister Sepira's hands in the warm water of the bath. Laital and I witnessed the pain and joy on the Chosen's face and I felt as if I'd attended a blessed event.

We left them alone then to bond with their new daughter and I hugged Laital tightly to me. He was glowing with happiness and his kiss was heartfelt. Pulling just a little bit away from me, he pulled me towards our bed chamber with a teasing look. "It's been long enough, my lord. I'm fully healed and it's been eight months since Jasmine was born. I want another child. Your child and I want you to give him to me now."

"There will be pain, beloved. I never realized how much pain in a birth." I didn't ever want him to go through that even though I did think about having a son.

He was stripping off his robes and revealing his beautiful body to me. I will be dead before that stops making my cock harden. Smiling at me, he had me naked in a heartbeat. His hand grasped my shaft and pulled me towards the bed. Twisting in the air, he pulled us both down onto the soft cushions.

"I will take the pain, my love because the joy is all the greater when a healthy child is born." He was nose to nose with me and his hands were caressing my cock when he rolled onto his back and stroked his own shaft. "I want you, Ro. I want you inside of me. I want you to make love to me over and over until I carry your child."

Suddenly I wanted that, too. Rolling on top of him, I spread his legs with mine and pulled a pillow over for under his hips. "You are my very own, Laital." I teased his entrance with my crown and he shuddered under me. "I am coming so deep inside of you that my seed will find one of your eggs." I slowly nudged through the damp folds while he stilled and panted at my size. "Then I will come inside every day until we know that our child is growing safe inside of your womb."

His silken walls were so tight around me that I was afraid I'd come before I could get totally inside. He was making little mewling sounds of pleasure that I drank from his lips. Finally, I was completely held fast and our eyes met with the sudden knowledge of what we were doing. He would be pregnant before we arose from this bed.

His smile was slow and sultry while he rippled his muscles around my bulk. "My beautiful . . . wonderful . . . master, make me scream."

I shivered all over and started the slow pullout before thrusting back inside. His cock was hard between our stomachs and it steadily leaked while he was writhing with pleasure beneath me. It would be hard and fast this time because we needed it too much. With a small shriek, he came and made me release, too. I propped myself up on my elbows while he shuddered in my arms.

"I can feel your seed swimming to my womb, Ro." He sounded so sated that I just had to kiss his sweaty face. "Stay like this for a while so they all have a chance to find their mate."

"You would carry twins or triplets, sweet Laital?" I teased him and he stuck out his tongue at me. I took full advantage of that and sucked it into my mouth to suckle upon.

He groaned a little and I felt his nipples leak a little milk. He was weaning Jasmine but he still had spurts when it fell from his breasts. Moving down a little, I licked the sweet milk from his chest, first from one then the other. His hands stroked through my hair and held me to his breast. He loved it when I nursed from him.

"My sweet lord, I would carry as many babies as you wished me to carry. I love having them now that I know you want them, too." His voice was a bit dreamy and I looked into those beautiful blue eyes of his. "They will be loved just as Jasmine is loved."

"Indeed they will, my love." I felt myself beginning to harden again. He felt it also and grinned up at me. "We shall miss dinner because of my insatiable appetites."

"That's all right, Ro. The Sisters will bring us food to fuel your desires and help me keep up my strength." He rippled his inner muscles around my cock and I rocked in and out slowly while I hardened completely.

Somehow I knew that Laital would conceive my child before we left these guest rooms. This Solar Fest would be like no other of my experience. New life was always a blessing and this time we'd have much to celebrate. Rocking tenderly, I made love to my beautiful bonded. The new year would see many changes for the hawk and lion peoples.

I was finally ready for them all.

*********************
The end of part18