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This chapter is part of a series. Please read the preceding chapters before starting this one.
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"We have some errands to run," I told my new in-laws. "We'll be back after breakfast in the morning. Leedra should have some down-time over the next week or so - and then she and I will need to sit down with the prophetess and figure out how we're going to lay out the city as we tear it apart and rebuild it again."
I had started to turn towards the portal that Rebekah had formed on the wall of the living room - once more leading to the campsite we'd visited. I thought of something else I wanted to mention and turned back to face Leedra's father.
"I can try to heal your legs," I told him. "The last time I rebuilt missing body parts, I was much weaker. I will warn you, though - I don't have anything for pain mitigation."
He shook his head and said, "I am happy. Worry about more important things."
I nodded and said, "We'll be rebuilding your home. It would be no problem to move you closer to where we ..."
I turned and looked at my wives. We'd only stayed in that house one night - and we'd just ripped everything out of it because it was soiled or stained. I inherently knew they wouldn't care if I decided to abandon the place. I turned back to look at Leedra's parents.
"Give this a thought," I suggested. "I realize that you barely know us ..."
My new mother-in-law stood to her feet, walked over to stand in front of me, wrapped her hands around my neck (cupping my head in her palms), and gave me a predatory smile.
"Build our room on the opposite side of the house - so that you don't hear the two of us having wild sex," she said seductively, "and I would be happy to manage your household while the four of you turn Hera's Rest into a paradise."
I smiled and said, "Thank you, sweet lady."
"You shall call me 'mother'," she demanded, "or I will drag you off to my bed and have myself a second husband."
I heard a snort of laughter behind me but couldn't figure out which of my wives it had been. I was pretty sure it wasn't Leedra.
"Yes, honored mother," I said.
She gave me a very unmotherly kiss and then turned me around and shoved me towards my wives.
"See that you keep your husband out of my bed, daughter," she called out to my new wife.
Leedra blushed but shot back, "You just keep your faithless hands to yourself and there won't be a problem."
Rebekah and Myrna were already stepping through the portal. I watched them appear in the roadside clearing. Leedra took my hand and dragged me through with her.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect but - other than the higher temperature and the humidity change - traveling through the portal was almost a non-event.
"That was smooth!" I said.
Rebekah laughed and said, "I'm level 375, sweet husband. If I can't manage a near-flawless transition between the two places, I'm not trying hard enough."
"'Husband'," I snickered. "Are we done with all of the 'master' bullshit, finally?"
Myrna stepped close, hugging both Leedra and me in her arms, and whispered, "Only until we get to the bedroom, master."
Leedra snorted out a laugh.
I grinned at her and leaned down to offer her a kiss. She cupped my face in her hands and kissed me softly. When our lips parted, she pulled back a little and looked at my lips.
"Husband," she whispered, thoughtfully.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I have a husband," she whispered again, almost to herself.
Myrna stepped to the side of the path, stretched out her hand, and spread her fingers apart.
A shaded alcove - with a seat large enough for two - grew up in an instant.
"Come, sister," Myrna told Leedra. "Cuddle with your husband while I gather a few seeds and sprouts."
I took Leedra over to the bench that Myrna had made, and we sat together. I put my arm around her. She leaned against me. I kissed her forehead.
The two of us watched as Myrna started grabbing saplings, bushes, pine cones, acorns, and all sorts of other things. Rebekah was creating portals and the wood mage was pushing the stuff she gathered through the portals that the brunette kept making.
"Good thing the house was nearly empty," I told Leedra. "There won't be any room for us to stand, by the time they're finished."
She snorted out another laugh and looked up at me.
I kissed her softly and said, "So .. I used to live on another world. I died when I was struck by lightning. Hera brought me here and it's been a little crazy since then. When I left my world - called Earth - I knew as little about sex as you do. I promise you that we'll take things slow and you can tell me if you need to stop or slow things down."
Leedra pulled my face down and ... well ... I'm really not sure how long we were making out before Rebekah cleared her throat to get my attention - but Leedra was straddling my lap - and we were practically dry-humping each other.
Leedra curled against my chest and took a huge breath. I wondered, for a moment, if she'd given up breathing altogether as we'd made out.
Myrna snickered and told Leedra, "He has that effect on us too."
"Can we stop and call on my mom?" Rebekah asked.
"Last I checked," I said, stroking my fingers through Leedra's dark silky locks, "you were driving this bus."
"Bus?" she asked.
"A wagon with several seats - for transporting lots of passengers at the same time," I explained.
She nodded. A portal opened behind her - leading to somewhere I had never been.
We stepped through and appeared in front of what looked like a modest three-bedroom home. Rebekah pounded on the heavy wooden-planked door.
It opened a moment later and a young mother appeared. If I had to guess, this was not who Rebekah had been expecting. My wife asked a few questions, got some information - and directions - and then the door closed.
We followed Rebekah as she strode purposefully down the street. We came to a busier thoroughfare and paused to try to figure out when to cut across without causing a collision. Rebekah waited only a moment before growing frustrated with the delay. She waved her hand and two portals appeared. We entered on the closer side of the street and reappeared on the other side. The two portals disappeared and we continued on our way.
We took a shortcut down a questionable alley. About halfway along, a cutpurse ran past me, grabbing something from my belt as they brushed by. I called out a warning to the others. A portal appeared in front of the thief. He was moving too fast to avoid it. The man reappeared beside me and smashed face-first into a stone lamppost that didn't budge when he hit it. He collapsed to the ground. Rebekah made another portal, this one less than a foot square, reached through it, grabbed my coin purse from the thief, pulled her hand (and the purse) back through, made a fist-sized portal, and stuck the coins back into my belt. She turned and headed off again. The rest of us hurried after her.
"That was amazing, Bekah," Myrna called out to her.
I could hear the giddiness in Rebekah's voice as she yelled back, "I fucking love this!"
Leedra snickered and we hurried to catch back up to the others.
"Don't be picking up any bad habits from these two," I warned her jokingly.
"I would NEVER, master ...," she said, all too sweetly, grinning broadly.
"I'll 'master' your ass," I growled at her.
"My ass, master?" she said, chortling.
"... and, here, I thought you'd be the nice one," I snarled at her.
"Poor master," Myrna snickered from just ahead of us.
We crossed another busy thoroughfare (once again using Rebekah's new abilities to skip straight through the congestion) and moved to a part of town that had homes more like the one that Jasper and Norah lived in.
Rebekah walked up to a small mansion. The front door did not open onto the street. There was a gate in the shoulder-height wall. My first wife pulled a cord, and I heard a bell ring within the house. After a moment, a doorman of some kind appeared.
He glanced at me, but I was standing back far enough to make it obvious that he needed to talk to Rebekah - who was standing closest to the gate.
She told the man who she was - and asked after her mother. He explained that Rebekah's mom - as well as the master of the house - were not at home - and weren't expected to return for a day or two.
"I'll be back," Rebekah told him. "Please tell her that I will be coming to introduce her to my husband and our bond-mates."
The man nodded.
I watched his eyes nearly explode from his head as my lusty portal mage opened a doorway from where we were to the street in front of Jasper's house.
"Beloved?" I asked.
"Yes, husband?" she inquired.
"Could we surprise Tessa first?"
She spun on me, grinned like crazy, and waved her hand at the portal. The image beyond shifted - and now showed two geese searching the grass for bugs.
I grabbed Leedra's hand and stepped through.
The door to the kitchen opened and Tessa came bounding out, screeching with glee.
When Rebekah appeared, she asked, "How did you do that?!"
I turned towards my first wife and asked, "Just what did you do?"
"Rebekah's head appeared from the bar in the inn," the little girl said excitedly, her hands clasped against her adorable little cheeks. "She turned, found me, and told me to come to the courtyard."
Seconds later, Burl and Greta were tumbling out of the doorway.
"By the seven hells!" Burl exclaimed. "You scared the fucking shit out of me!"
Rebekah wasn't able to apologize. She was rolling in the grass, holding her sides, and laughing harder than I had ever heard her.
Myrna reached down, picked Tessa up, and asked, "Want to see what my magic can do?"
"Yes!" Tessa squealed excitedly.
She carried the girl to the corner of the courtyard, where a flowering tree - maybe a myrtle - was growing. She snatched one piece off of each of four branches. She walked over to the worktable and handed the branch-tips to Tessa.
"Set the first here," she said, pointing to a place on the ground.
She guided the little blonde to where she wanted the other three and then picked her up again and stepped back.
