Crazy Seduction(erotica)

He wanted to laugh in her face. To punish her with the same indifference she’d displayed for his well-being. He wanted to crush that tiny ember of humanity that was finally surfacing in her after all these years.

But he couldn’t.

It would be a lie, and he wouldn’t lie to his Baba.

No matter how much she’d hurt him, a tiny part of him refused to stop loving her and never gave up hope she might one day feel the same for him.

But it didn’t matter.

“Yes, Baba. I did it for you.”

“Why?” her voice was so quiet now.

He resisted the urge to shout at her once more and felt a weight settling on his heart.

“Because I love you, Baba,” he confessed.

Silence.

It was too much to expect a response for that, so he moved on before the pain became too much.

He thought about his new ease with magic. “I guess I should thank you for your efforts to help me learn so quickly about how to use magic. It’s getting easier and easier. Thank you.”

“It’s not me.”

Henry frowned. What did she mean by that? Was she just being mean?

There was something in the tone of her voice he hadn’t heard before. Surprise and… hope?

He was confused as he hadn’t heard that from her before.

So… she was just being mean, right?

A weight pounded against his chest, and lips pressed against his mouth as they blew hair into his lungs.

Henry’s eyes flew open, and he was looking up at a stranger’s face. Was he wearing a uniform? Coast Guard!

“Move back!” Henry squeaked and pushed weakly at him. The man lurched away, and Henry sat up.

He was sitting on the boat’s rear deck, and a terrible noise came over the water. He turned his head and saw something flailing in the water, roaring in panic. Siobhan launched herself out of the water and faced Henry.

“The General! He’d changed, but I can’t tell what he is! Something’s wrong! He’s fighting the river!” she cried.

“Where’s Lorelei?” Henry asked as he tried to determine what the General had become, but the water splashed too much to make out any detail.

“She’d under the surface, trying to calm the river. The explosion seems to have confused it,” Siobhan said, looking back as well.

“The dark magic’s gone. We need to get the General back on the boat. Can you get me closer?” Henry asked.

She looked at him like he was mad. “You get anywhere near that, and you’ll be broken into pieces.”

Henry switched into his Satyr form. He looked back to the shocked Coast Guard officers. “Can I get a bunch of life jackets?

Moments later, Henry leapt off the back of the boat. He had three jackets buckled haphazardly together and wrapped around his chest. It was barely enough to keep his head above the surface. Siobhan pulled him closer to the exploding water but outside the range of the flailing limbs. Henry still couldn’t make out what the General had become. He looked at Siobhan. “Can you ask Siobhan to get the Hudson to lift the General up so I can see what he is?”

Siobhan nodded and ducked under the waves.

Henry bobbed up and down in the tormented waters as he did his best to keep facing the panicked being in the waves.

Suddenly they were lifted above the surface as the Hudson bulged upwards. Enormous wings unfurled, and a sinuous neck lifted the Dragon’s head from the water.

Deep blue iridescent scales caught the sunlight and flared red at their edges.

Henry caught his breath at how beautiful he was. He looked… regal! Far more impressive than Walter Zhao had been. Then he snapped back to focus on the wild eyes of the Dragon.

“General! KNOCK IT OFF!” he bellowed, and the massive head swung to face him.

Henry found himself grabbed and pulled from the waters in a powerful grip, the hooked claws poking his back painfully.

“Switch back to your Human form!” Henry called out.

A huge, plate-sized eye peered at him. Henry could still see fear there. “HHHHoooowwww!”

They were slowly dropping back toward the surface, so Henry had to act quickly. “Remember what you looked like as a human. Hold that in your mind. Then push with your mind. Use your will to change to-”

They hit the surface as the Hudson released them. This time however, Henry was still in the Dragon’s grip, so he was forced down deep under the surface. It wasn’t letting go, either. He saw Siobhan and Lorelei rushing closer, but he waved them back. Henry placed his hands on the big paw and forced more Wild Magic into the huge beast.

He willed calm into the large Dragon as he struggled to hold his breath in the tight squeeze. He finally felt it respond, and it went still and loosened its grip. Henry maintained contact and pictured the General in his boxers standing on the boat. He felt a brush of indignation then reality suddenly folded around them.

Henry popped up to the surface, gasping and coughing. Siobhan was immediately next to him. Lorelei rose from the water with the general next to her. They found themselves resting on a firm surface that moved toward the Coast Guard vessel. Henry switched back to his human form before they reached the boat. The two Coast Guard officers reached down, pulled the General from the water, and wrapped a blanket around him as they moved him into the cabin.

Henry was helped aboard by Lorelei and Siobhan, both of whom were dry once more. The latter brought the General his borrowed clothes as Henry leaned back against the side of the boat, which was rushing back to the pier.

Normally, Henry wouldn’t feel the cold, but he was soaking wet from the frigid water in January. That strained his usual resistance to the freezing temperature. He activated his heating spell and felt it slowly push back the chill.

Lorelei knelt before him. “May I assume it worked?”

Henry grinned and nodded wearily. “Yes, the spell broke. Thank you so much for your assistance, and thank the Hudson for me too.”

She smiled at him. “The river doesn’t really have a consciousness, but I’ll accept the thanks in its stead.”

He reached out to take her hand. “No, I sincerely mean this. Without you, there would have been no way to save the General and me. We have a chance now to eliminate the presence of the dark ones from Earth. Maybe permanently. That’s what you did.”

Lorelei’s eyes were becoming glassy, and she couldn’t stop smiling. She leaned forward, and their lips met. He kissed her tenderly until the boat thumped against the dock. They pulled back and shared a smile.

Henry pushed himself to his feet and turned to see two anxious silver faces. Mick and Feinberg were standing on the pier looking for the General. They looked at him.

“It worked. He’s free of the evil aura,” Henry said and snorted at how stupid he felt saying that. He, Siobhan, and Lorelei were assisted off the boat by the two Silver Soldiers then Mick looked into Henry’s eyes.

“Did-did we see a Dragon?” Mick asked.

“Yes,” Crane grumbled as the Coast Guard led him to the boat’s edge. He was dressed once more in the sweatsuit. He handed the blanket back to Lieutenant Jeffreys. “Thank you for your assistance. You might want to keep what you witnessed to yourselves. The world is undergoing tremendous changes, and many aren’t too keen on getting reminders of how bizarre it’s becoming.”

“Yes, sir,” the Lieutenant said but looked confused. “What-what exactly were we involved with out there?” The sailor pointed to one of the reinforced windows on their boat, severely cracked from the shockwave.

Henry turned to face the Lieutenant. “Nothing short of protecting the Earth from forces hostile to it and all life upon it. Thank you for helping us successfully complete this part of the mission.”

The man’s eyes went wide, then wider still as the General saluted the boat crew. All of them snapped to attention and returned the General’s salute. Ensign Bailey pushed forward. “Sir, the Selkie?”

When General Crane looked uncomfortably toward Siobhan, she turned to face the eager young woman.

“You want to become a Selkie?” she asked the ensign.

“More than anything! I’ve heard tales about them from my granny my whole life!” she gushed.

Siobhan looked at Henry beseechingly.

“Perhaps when there’s less attention on us?” Henry suggested gesturing to the crowd gathering at the end of the pier. Several more Silver Soldiers had arrived to block access to the dock. The Sergeant must have called for them.

“Give me your cell,” Siobhan told the Ensign. The young woman immediately pulled it from a pocket and unlocked it for her. Siobhan quickly punched in her number. “It’s in your contacts under Siobhan. Call me tonight. We’ll talk.”

“We have to go, General. Too many people are arriving,” the Sergeant warned.

“Back to Henry’s but not directly,” Crane suggested.

“I need an unlocked door-with no glass!” Henry said.

Feinberg nodded and raced away. Moments later, he was back. “There’s a door on a nearby building that is open. It’s metal with no window.”

“Perfect. Let’s go,” Henry said, and they waved to the Coast Guard once more before heading toward the crowd.

Henry reached into his head for a spell to make people look the other way and immediately discarded ninety-five percent of them as they led to the death of the observers. As they walked closer, he found one that wasn’t so dire. He flexed a little magic muscle to make the spell include his group and the Silver Soldiers. Then he launched it.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

An invisible wave pulsed outward around him.

“What was that?” the General asked.

“Just a go-away spell. To help clear the crowd. It was the least harmful spell Baba had,” Henry answered.