All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
The low humming song of the dryads had changed. It seemed to Vel, as he followed Hekate's tall form through the forest, that the rhythms and murmurs had slowed. Were the dryads as satisfied as he? Maybe he could hear their sated desires in their song. Vel was now fully dressed, but the goddess had bid him carry her stola. He had it slung over his shoulder as he watched her ass ripple and flex with each step she took.
They hiked on. The birds picked up their song as the sun set. Shadows lengthened around them. As Hekate silently lifted her leg high to vault over a downed trunk, Vel caught a glimpse of her belly. It was quite round. He blinked. It hadn't been like that before, he was sure. They walked on. When Hekate turned sideways around a tree, he saw that her boobs had grown, too. Already massive, they hung out and down beyond what they had on their mossy bed. And her nipples were dark, purplish buds now. Vel scratched his head in confusion and followed her.
Hekate's belly continued to expand, until it was quite dark in the forest, and she was quite huge. Finally, she turned to Vel, six possessive hands on her three bellies and then two on one. "We are nearly returned, but first it is time for our child to enter the world."
"Our child?"
"Don't be slow, little one." Hekate's sliver of a smile mirrored the moon. "Now run along and find a secluded place for the birth. There should be a cave readied for us to the east."
"The east?" Vel looked at the stars through the canopy above. He couldn't see much of the sky, but what he could see offered no familiar constellations.
"That way." Hekate pointed a finger, which became three, to their left. Her eyes rolled in exasperation. She was dealing with a mortal after all. And a nineteen-year-old at that. She winced at the first contraction and leaned against a tree. "And hurry."
"Oh, okay." Still carrying her stola, Vel rushed off blindly into the wood. Everything was a blur of gray and black. Branches reached out and clung to him, scratching at his skin. But he moved on. He needed to find a safe place for his child. He wondered whether he was still heading in the right direction when he suddenly stopped. Dark cliffs rose up before him. At the base, not twenty feet away, there was a cave with flickering light. He staggered toward it, his brain trying to wrap itself around the situation and failing. The cave was about fifteen feet wide and ten high. It tapered gradually to a dead end at the back. Inside, a fire burned merrily in a circle of rocks.
The dryads' song rose in volume and urgency in the distance. An owl called from a nearby tree. Vel stepped into the cave. There was no sign of whoever started the fire. The sandy floor compacted under his sandals. This was the place. He turned to the forest. He had no idea how to find Hekate again. "Hekate?" he yelled into the night. "Um... Goddess? Where are you?"
"You found it. Nice work, little one." Hekate stood naked by the entrance to the cave, breathing hard, very clearly in labor now. Her pale bluish skin had the glossy sheen of sweat in the firelight. Her azure glow pulsed like a heartbeat. "It has been so long since I was a mother."
"The child is ready?" Vel rushed to her side. He helped her into the cave. It was awkward assisting one so tall. He thought that this must be what it was like for his mother when she stood next to him.
"Almost. Help me down." Her belly was enormous. Bluish milk dribbled from her breasts.
Vel spread her stola on the ground and held her shoulders as she positioned herself on her back by the fire, with her knees up. The next few minutes passed in a haze. He remembered her screaming in three harmonic voices loud enough to shake the very foundation of their cliff. He held her hand in his, which felt like the viselike grip of three starving serpents. He heard something pop near his fingers, but ignored his pain, for hers was a roaring blaze of agony next to his. He offered her encouragement, not even knowing the words that fell out of his mouth. With one final scream, it was over. Hekate sat up. Her belly was no longer large, and her breasts were back to their original size. She regarded him with keen, bright eyes.
"Congratulations, Vel. I am happy to have given you your first child." She released his hand.
Vel sat back in the sand, rubbing what had to be broken knuckles. In bewilderment, he looked around the cave. "Where is the child?"
"Did you not see?" Hekate smiled. "She was as swift as the wind and as beautiful as an approaching tempest. Now, she is off in the world." She noticed his hand. "I am sorry about your injury. Here." She touched him and an azure light settled around him.
"I... don't understand." The pain in his hand disappeared. But confusion reigned.
"I cannot follow where you go." Hekate stood, picked up her stola, and wriggled into it. It hung off her like falling water. "But one who is made of you and me may follow. She has much growing to do, but I think she will be a woman grown in no more than a day. You saw how precocious she was in my belly."
"Oh," was all Vel could say. He had no idea what was happening or what Hekate was talking about.
"I am pleased to be the first of many to bear you a child, little mortal." She walked to the mouth of the cave. Her body gave no hint of the birth she'd just experienced. "Now, we return to the others and see about saving your world from the greed of a few."
"Wait... wait... where is our daughter now?" Vel followed her out into a clearing and into the wood. She set a fast pace, and he struggled to keep up with her long strides.
"Growing, Vel. She is becoming one that might help you." Hekate waved a dismissive hand. Clearly, she thought she'd explained the matter well enough already.
~~
"Oh, I am sorry you didn't arrive a few minutes sooner. Your father just left." Day Star leaned back in his royally upholstered chair. A red can of Coke rested precariously on the chair's right wing. He steepled his hands and smiled at the goddess and Vel.
"Oh, Vel." Cassia ran to her son and hugged him tightly around the middle. "Are you hurt?"
Hekate cast a sardonic glance at Cassia and returned to her seat opposite Day Star.
"He was dreadful, Vel." Naevia moved over to Vel and hugged him after her mother was done. Normally she'd be the one to rush into her brother's arms, but she didn't want to cut in. It was strange the things mother and daughter knew about each other. "Father could not accept... how things are. I've never seen him so angry."
"We've seen him plenty angry." Vel looked down into her lovely face and pushed some of her copper hair aside.
"That's my point." Naevia calmed a little at the heat of his touch.
"Did he... did he find out what we'd done?" Vel looked to his mother.
"He did." She looked into the fire.
"I thought I might have to restrain the once and former duke, but I was not needed. There is no violence here." Dellia rolled her eyes.
"There is violence here only if I wish it," Day Star corrected. He sipped his soda.
"So why couldn't I throttle him?" Dellia turned toward the angel.
"He is needed as the man to secure Ostia Novus." Hekate's trio of voices filled the room. "Not everyone will go to the palace."
"Are we it then? Is this the invading force?" Naevia looked at her brother, mother, and cousin. They had little chance of even breaking into the palace, let alone destroying the wicked tower. "Tell me you've sent for reinforcements."
"We have help on the way. Another will arrive here soon. And one is learning of the world so that she might help you." Hekate smiled at Vel. "As we wait for your
reinforcements
, I suggest you retire for some rest." She looked over at Day Star. "Will you open the door to their chamber, little godling?"
"I was thinking it might be good practice if they did it." Day Star narrowed his eyes and pointed to a bookcase near the everchanging Discordia. "We have a day to rest, you will find all the luxury you require through that door." He waved a hand at them. "Go on. Open it."
"Maybe one of these books unlocks it?" Vel walked over to the bookcase and started tipping books and putting them back, one by one. He couldn't see the outline of a door anywhere.
"No more games,
angel
. I'm hungry and tired. Open the door." Cassia furrowed her brow.