Beneath a Burning Heart

Honolulu airport greeted them in several expected ways.

First was the weather. It was exactly as one would dream of it. It was the early afternoon, courtesy of them having left early in the day in Oregon and having flown against the rotation of the planet. This subjected them to gorgeous temperatures near 30 degrees with a decent bit of wind to counter the high humidity.

Second was the business. The airport was bustling. As far as John knew, January was the second busiest month of the year for Hawaii, trumped only by December. Americans and Canadians were fleeing the cold weather and the tourism industry welcomed them with open arms and horrendously overpriced flower necklaces.

Third was the mundanity. As much as the colourful decorations tried to paint over it, Honolulu was ultimately a city like any other, with apartment complexes, office buildings and supermarkets. Perhaps the biggest problem, all things considered, was the traffic.

A problem for those that insisted on taxis. With only a single suitcase as luggage between all of them, they were perfectly capable of just walking.

John wanted to get out of the crowd as quickly as possible. The chance that an unlucky bump or mischievously minded child would open up the suitcase was miniscule, but it was not zero. The quicker he eliminated that chance, the better.

Luckily, most tourists were at the beach at this hour, plastering the sand with towels and human bodies. As an ultra-rich man, he would not have to mingle with all of that. Their destination lay in one of the flight services that brought people from one island of the archipelago to another.

John had paid someone known for being discrete. Many people in the transportation business were the chatty sort, which John wasn’t fundamentally opposed to, but he did not feel like answering questions about their relationship that day. Shifting time zones and climates three times in two days put him in a bit of an antisocial mood.

Travel between islands primarily happened by plane and this was no exception. Having never been to Hawaii before, John had initially assumed that ferries were the way to get around, but nope. The islands were relatively close to each other, but even under optimal circumstances the boat ride was over two hours. The plane got them there in less than an hour

The ride was very interesting. They sat in the back of the private plane. They were just five people, one of which was stuck in the cargo area. These private inter-island planes were designed for somewhere between 10 to 20 at the utmost. Four fit in there comfortably.

What made the ride interesting was watching Layla keep it together.

To her credit, she did succeed. The clothes she had changed into before landing became a bit sweaty, but she didn’t soil the seat with any lustful secretions. Several times, she got close to climax, but each time she evened her breathing and backed off from that edge.

“Not mu-“

“I love you, but don’t talk to me right now,” Layla interrupted him mid-assurance. “I’m concentrating!”

The rebuttal made John smile a bit. He liked the display of will and the seeking of propriety over the cascade of orgasms she could have had instead. It was gradually drifting from ‘impressive development’ to ‘expected behaviour’, but it hadn’t quite gotten there yet.

After landing, they got into a semi-truck that had been prepared for them. Aclysia drove them to the private property that John had acquired several months ago… or maybe Aclysia had or maybe another maid had. Truthfully, John had simply started acquiring land at one point, wishing to have a place to stay in practically every corner of North America and the USA territories. He had a vague idea of all the places he owned around the world, but only bothered to actually look into it when he needed them.

The compound he had bought was in the range of the tens of millions. There was a small but very lucrative market for property of that kind on this island. It was a walled garden in every meaningful sense. 10 acres with an out perimeter marked by ‘No Trespassing’ signs. The actual compound was then surrounded by a tall wall. An unmanned security gate only opened when Aclysia presented a key card to a scanner. The car rolled down the unused road that parted the elaborate garden.

Aclysia pulled into the garage. It opened automatically just as the gate closed. Once they got out of the car, John stepped out into the green area and took in the entirety of the compound.

It was luxurious and it was boring. It had that sterile ‘sell this to someone with more money than God’ look. The hedges, the flowers, even the stones used for the walkways were all oozing a total lack of personality. Same went for the main residence, an aesthetic assembly of rectangles fashioned from beige stone and glass panels, made a little more bearable by black trims. The guest houses, three of them, were built in that same style. There were pools, three of them in total, each of a different size and purpose, an outdoor sauna, and…

John stopped scanning the property at that point. It was a billionaire’s vacation home, capable of hosting a family of thirty every bit as much as shady orgies and rituals to Baal. He would be in the former category before long. ‘I am already very close without any children,’ he thought.

Using this entire place with just nine of them was like living alone in a two family home. No, it was even more ****, considering this was just the central compound. There was a lot of support structure to this, including a private power generator and small beach. He even had a helicopter pad. Ironically, it was easier to get one of those than a pier on Hawaii.

And they were on Hawaii – Hawaii, Hawaii – the biggest island of the chain. Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, formed the spine of the island. From a distance, it was not particularly impressive to behold. Its scale was objectively massive, but the sight was a bit marred by being stretched over the length of the island. It was a rather flat ridge, obscured by its own size.

“Gorgeous,” Nathalia purred all the same. The goddess of volcanoes saw in the distant mountain many things John did not. “The caldera will be sufficient for our ceremony.”

“Something to look forward to.” John placed a kiss on Nathalia’s cheek, then moved into the main residence. Getting into the main living room was as simple as sliding a glass pane on the veranda aside. None of the doors inside the compound were locked. If someone was determined enough to get past the magnetically sealed front gate, they had plans for everything else anyhow.

Plus, John had nothing in this location he was attached to. It wouldn’t surprise him if the keepers of this place had swiped some items, like flowerpots. They would have thought he didn’t care. They would be correct.

“Is there no one else around?” Layla asked, following them into the main residence without a second’s hesitation. “No security, no gardeners, not servant staff?”

“All of those are only around here when we aren’t,” John responded.

“I have arranged for this,” Aclysia continued the explanation. As head maid, her duties extended beyond just keeping their main residence clean, she also had assumed and/or distributed the responsibilities on his other properties. “Most of our tertiary residences are looked after by local companies. They check once a month, assuring a minimal standard of cleanliness and order is kept, and pursue any criminal events that may have occurred. They are paid handsomely and even allowed to use the property for private gatherings on occasion. In return, it is expected that they are nowhere to be seen when we occupy the area.”

As she spoke, the head maid made her way to the kitchen. She opened the fridge, scanning the contents. It had been fully stocked just before their arrival and, together with the additional, long-lasting foods kept in the underground pantry, would easily last them for the duration of their stay.

“Alright then,” John plopped down on the couch. Sylph immediately manifested from her incorporeal state, putting her in the way of Nahoa. The two shorties collided on top of his lap.

“You’re in the way!” the demigoddess complained.

“Nuh-uh, I was here first, yes, I was, hovering invisibly in place for the moment that he sat down and I could hop on his dick! Blame your lack of going all swoooosh and bodyless!” the air spirit blabbered back, all while wrestling with the axolotl maid – though neither of them currently displayed their animal features.

The trees on the property had been carefully planted to make an aerial view of the compound effectively useless. That being said, the Gamer wasn’t going to risk it, especially not in the era of hobby drones.

“If you two are busy, can I…?” Layla carefully suggested.

“Know your place,” Nathalia shot the obsessed woman down with a harsh glare. “You are no part of this harem.”

“Yet.”

The two glared at each other for a bit. Had it not been for John clearing his throat, they likely would have continued forever. “You will have plenty of time to fight later,” he informed them over the sounds of his fingers gliding in and out of both of the women nuzzling against him. He had ended their fight over who got to pleasure him by pleasuring them instead.

His dick could wait.

“Nathalia, could you unpack Lee?” he requested.

“Sure,” the dragoness responded, her annoyance with being interrupted in disciplining the undisciplinable diminished by the task given.

Lee had to be helped to stand after all of the bindings were removed. She had been in that confinement for the better part of eight hours and she looked the part. The end of the objectification manifested on her face as a slowly growing smirk. “That was grrrrrrrreat,” she trilled. “I came like… I don’t even know?”

“A fountain?” Layla suggested, inspecting the inside of the now empty trolley. She leaned in, taking in the scent with no respect for personal boundaries. Even with the naked Fateweaver and the orgasming duo of Sylph and Nahoa in the room, watching the reforming stalker sniff was a bit off. Like so many other things, John was split between finding it hot and concerning. “Honest question, is there something about getting to a high level that makes your pussy juice just… smell delicious?”

“Yes, actually,” John answered. “Unpleasant odours diminish with rising Charisma and once you reach superhuman, it ups pleasant tastes instead.”

“Oooh, interesting.” Layla picked up the suitcase to hand it over to Aclysia. “Should I help you with the cleaning?”

“Appreciated, but no, this is my duty,” the weaponized maid responded.

“Sit down,” John gave the reforming stalker another order, one she swiftly followed. It first drew her towards Lee, but she gathered enough presence of mind to go for the armchair instead. A relieved sigh left her once she was seated, immediately followed by an orgasmic cry.

“S-sorry,” she stammered, the first climax quickly flowing into a second. “I’ll have it… under control in… Ah!” Her eyes fell on John’s fingers for a moment. Her hips bucked up into the air. A fresh wet line appeared where her tight hot pants covered her crotch.

“You did well, you deserve this,” John assured her.

The wet spot expanded instantly into a drenched spot. Pussy juices squirted through the fabric, wave after wave of her climax making her rise out of the armchair. She was clawing at the armrests, pressing her shoulders against the back, and altogether formed an arch that seemed like it had to snap at any moment.

John refused to let the sight be an inspiration to whip out his cock and get off. To do so, he knew, would weaken his resolve. As platonically as possible, he analysed the trajectory of her multiple climaxes. Nathalia stood behind her, doing the same with a critical eye.

The reforming stalker continued to squirm and spasm for five full minutes. Aclysia prepared refreshments for them all in that time. Gnome and Salamander manifested. Fianna stepped out of one of the backrooms, saluting before taking her seat next to John.

“Okay… okay…” Layla gasped and sighed, swallowing as she **** herself to settle on the leather seat. “Okay… I’m… ah…” One last, weak orgasm made it past her mounting self-control. Ten more seconds passed, then her laboured breathing began to slow. She reached for the glass of cold water in front of her, gulping half of it down to replenish the fluids that had utterly soaked her bottoms. “I did need that.”

“I can see… but just 5 minutes before you’re back to coherency is a massive step forwards,” he pointed out.

“It’s all been a lot easier since that horrid moment where I walked away from you,” Layla responded. “That was so mean!” She shuddered in disgust at the memory, then continued speaking in a hurry, “Sorry, I’ve been delaying you enough, you have to do a strategy meeting or something so you can turn our stupid enemies into a fine paste, right?”

“Not our enemies,” Nathalia stated.

“Our enemies,” Layla insisted. “You can call me not a haremette if you have to, being technically accurate and all that insulting reality, but I am still a part of Fusion. John’s enemies are my enemies.”

To that, the redheaded goddess begrudgingly acquiesced. She walked on over to John, sitting down to his left. With all of the certainty of an empress, she pulled Nahoa away from John and pushed her onto the floor. Immediately understanding the assignment, the axolotl woman pulled the pants off the curvy woman. Sylph did the same for John and both were soon at the receiving end of oral favours.

“Alright, here is the strategy for the takeover,” John began the meeting. “It’s fairly straightforward. We will visit the 8 islands one after another, starting with the northernmost one, Niihau, and ending back here. Because of travel times, scanning each individual island for any inhabitants will take a while, but we have no other choice…?”

Fianna understood her cue. “I have not managed to find any guild to contact, Sir.”

“Yeah, then we have ****,” John sighed, mostly because of the blowjob. “God, yes, Sylph, right there:” He put a hand on her head to keep her in place, while her tongue caressed a specific spot that felt just perfect at that moment. “It’ll be time consuming, but I have hope that our presence will get noticed and halfway through the process the locals will either surrender or try to put on a united front that makes crushing them that much easier.”

“Question.” Gnome raised her hand. “So, are we all going? Including Nathalia?”

“For the most part, that is the plan,” John responded, then got ahead of the follow-up question. “The Concord has already pledged opposition to us, there is nothing lost from annoying them further by skirting the rules of divine non-engagement a bit.”

Violating international law could be quite advantageous. As with everything else, there was a trade-off to be had and sometimes it was better to break with the establishment in order to build something new. This was not quite so drastic, but the idea applied.

“I will not miss my mate conquering in my name,” Nathalia stated.

“I wish John conquered me and gave me his name…” Layla muttered. She immediately noticed she had said that aloud. “Not sorry about having said that, sorry about derailing the conversation.”

“Is it that hard to keep your thoughts inside your head?” Nathalia asked.

“You have no idea what I am holding back here!”

“Give me an example,” the dragoness challenged.

“I want to run my hands through their hair so badly!” Layla immediately burst out, the emotions just having needed an excuse to rise to the surface. “John’s and yours and Aclysia’s and everyone’s! I want to study the texture of each strand. I want to kiss that mark on your wombs so much, oh, it’s so sexy, fuck!” Panting, the crazy woman put her hands on her face, as if the obsessed smile on her face would break the confines of her lips if she didn’t hold it together. “Why is this stupid island chain even wasting his time? All of the locals should just row up and bow down already. None of them are worthy of taking up John’s time when he could spend that with us instead!”

“Hmph,” Nathalia grunted approvingly. “At least you have some common sense.”

“Don’t call that common sense!” Salamander protested. “You can call it the logical fucking way to behave around us, but you can’t call it common sense, come on!”

“Fine,” Nathalia relented with a moan. “At least Layla has some understanding of proper manners. Now, if only she was acting with them herself.”

“You want me to throw myself down before you and beg to be let into the harem?” Layla asked, her tone regressed to that crazy, unstable up and down that had been so prominent in their first conversations. “Because I will! But you better not block me from getting into the harem if I do!”

Nathalia dismissively tilted her head. “Then do not, because I give you no guarantee.”

Layla pulled her lips back into an animalistic scowl, then suddenly went rigid. Sitting all too straight in her armchair, she blinked a couple of times. “I am trying really hard to pretend to be normal, okay?!” she exclaimed, now sounding, almost, like a regularly outraged person. “So don’t toy with me!”

‘No threat of ****, that’s good,’ John thought.

“I will toy with you however much I want, mortal,” Nathalia returned haughtily.

The sounds of heavy, agitated breathing filled the room as Layla’s rage peaked and then, slowly, rescinded. “You know,” she spoke calmly, “for someone stuffed to the brim with mistakes, you sure are entitling yourself to a lot – testing my justified love for John and his harem like I’m committing some great crime.”

Nathalia’s eyes darkened. She gestured for Nahoa to back away, which the axolotl maid swiftly did. “You are right,” the dragoness said. “I am entitling myself to a lot. If the positions were reversed, if you had met John two years ago and were testing me for my worthiness, your past would cast a much shorter shadow than mine.”

“Right, so-“

“But the positions are not reversed, little mouse,” Nathalia growled. “Through luck and the patience of those that love me, I have found myself here, and through your choices of obsession and madness, you have found yourself there.” The redhead pointed at the reforming stalker. “You have invaded our home and been ever insistent that you are special. You are not. You are simply deranged in a manner that only those I love can cure and in their deep grace they take care of you like they have tolerated me.”

“Yeah and-“ Layla would not have let another interruption pass, but Nathalia’s hand sealed her mouth before the brunette could continue.

“You listen,” the dragoness hissed. “You are broken. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. I, too, am broken. I am a violent, selfish beast that craves pleasure and respect, though fear will make due.”

Everyone watched carefully as Nathalia raised the brunette up from the chair, holding her so high that her feet hovered above her former seat. Layla glared with raw conviction, keeping her limbs still despite the tremors of rage.

“I am trying to be better,” Nathalia hissed quietly and with intent. “To do good by what are now my people, to nourish more than I destroy. They have brought about this change with their kindness. I will not see that beautiful kindness wasted nor tarnished. That is why I am judging you harshly…” Nathalia suddenly stopped talking, her voice breaking as she glanced over her shoulder. “…My John and my Lee have lost enough.”

The room was deadly silent as tears rolled down the goddess’ face. Strength drained from her arm, until she gently put Layla back down in the chair. Stunned, the brunette sat there.

“Can you understand this?” Nathalia’s voice was thin as a whisper. “That I will protect that kindness with all I have?”

When Layla responded, she did so with a calm voice resonating with only the deepest respect.

“You have never been more beautiful.”