FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Huge thankies to Michael on BD for the edit. Sorry it's late all, but it is a biggun!!

Chapter 20.

The day of the family meeting dawned heavy and cold. The first real chills of autumn were penetrating the open grassy spaces of Regent's park, the green leaves of the trees shivering in portent for the frosts that were still a month or so away. The wind rattled the shutters on the lodge house's windows. Gertrude stretched in her freshly starched and crisped white linen sheets, the 'rat-a-tat tatting' of the loose wooden frames waking her earlier than she wished.

The lodge showed all the signs of a quick clean and polish through; the slight scents of mothballs in the air, freshly tugged pulls and snags on the heavy velvet curtains of the four poster bed she lay in, the dust under the furniture if you bumped into pieces and moved them. She was obviously the first to use it for a long time and it showed. None of her guest suites ever fell into disuse or dirtiness. She wasn't going to say anything though as it was a miracle that only two full time servants could keep up the surface appearances on the monstrosity of the main manor's living areas, never mind the lodge-house. She assumed that the black ghost that had met her when she rang the gate's bell the previous evening at eleven must help out as well when not performing his other duties for Lance.

Her bones ached. Despite keeping up appearances with age defying feats, the long flights were starting to take it out of her. The booze amongst her Sib's at the pub hadn't helped either. A light ache could be felt behind her eyes that couldn't be ignored. "Should have expelled it rather than absorbed it," she muttered to herself as she peeled back the duvet, exposing her still shapely legs and naked scales to the bedrooms air. She hadn't bothered with the beds curtains last night, nor had she taken Elizabeth up on the offer to send Heather over to see her to bed or to rise. The poor woman must have had enough to deal with caring for Beth and the house, without another body to answer to.

Lance wasn't even up when she had arrived, having not shown the courtesy to meet and greet her, just leaving it to Malaprop and Elizabeth to take that duty. Elizabeth was actually not looking too bad considering. Some stress creases had appeared in her scales around the eyes, but all in all her colour was mellowing well with her increasing years. Times were obviously lean as she had kept her figure, rather than going to paunch like so many of her contemporaries did with fine dining and tea parties. It was only Gertrude's rigorous regime of exercise and a refusal to stop that prevented her from suffering a similar fate. Dragon's may naturally live into their eighties or nineties on average, but their bodies started to fail them much earlier than that...their fertility being the first thing to go. The furs didn't realise how lucky they were being able to bear children until they were fifty or older in some cases...

Her thoughts trailed off as she shook her head to clear the fuzz. Would she have had a few more eggs given time? The thought had occurred to her when she had born no children of true colours, but had been curtailed by Phillipe. It was too late now of course. She would have to look forward to a disgraceful old age alone, or partying in the social circles she kept herself involved in in the Med. Phillipe had only a few months left in him now and they both knew it, but they had decided to keep the extent of his illness to themselves until it was no longer possible. She had almost let that slip when she had been at Jools' the afternoon before, catching herself just in time. He didn't want the two kids or his extended family fawning over him at his bedside like an invalided old cripple. Sixty was too young to die, but the doctors and specialists had done everything they could, the cancer on his pancreas and bowels was now terminal.

She had considered not telling him about the meeting so she could ignore the summons and stay with him, savouring their remaining time together by the pool and on the terrace. Their staff all knew of course, as did Leona, the full time nurse they had employed to keep him as comfortable as possible. She couldn't just abandon the idea of saving her own family tree though. Phillipe had been adamant about her going to this meeting when she had told him. He had gone straight to the computer in his office after he had taken his pain medication and called up their joint accounts, telling her exactly what they could place on the table. He had even joked that if this had happened after he had gone, she would have had more to offer as his policies would pay out handsomely when that happened.

A few tears crept into her eyes as she remembered the happier times, his smile and his physique that had captured her attention at a soiree in Cannes...his violently green eyes that had been drawn to her ample and well displayed décolletage...That first night. She had been out to capture a mate of enough status to keep her as she was used to, species notwithstanding. She had instead gained a partner of the heart as well to share her bed with. She would miss him greatly... He joked with her all the time about how she would mourn for him for a month or so before she found someone who could keep up with her in bed. A younger model who could afford to spread his seed around a little with no complications.

She didn't think so... Could she be the merry widow or the boytoy hunter? She could without it affecting her image...after all it was her society parties that the circle never turned down her invites for. There were many occasions that the CCTV footage covering their villa's pool, grotto and terrace could have been sold for millions. And more than a few societal figures, including politicians and Royalty, would have had their lives destroyed if it had ever leaked out. The villa was well screened and planted for just that purpose. Telephoto lenses can't penetrate trees, and avians couldn't get within a mile with Jack and his squad consisting of retired ex-pat coppers guarding the skies when one was being held. She grinned a little at the thoughts. It seemed that Jessica and her mate would fit in very well at her soirees.

All this retrospection wasn't getting her anywhere though. Life had dealt its cards, and fate had come up with the one that no-one wanted for Phillipe. Just as it had with her parents that night many years ago. She didn't bother with the provided dressing gown; she just stood and walked naked to the en-suite to perform her toilette, first expelling the alcoholic paste that was still sitting heavily in her fuel stomach. The shower was a tight fit, but she couldn't be arsed to go and see if the main suite was ready for her use. It was clean at least, the tiles free of the mildew of neglect. She relaxed in the scalding water, allowing it to run freely across her shoulder and neck muscles, easing some of the aches and discomforts.

She grinned naughtily to herself as she rubbed the water into her slightly sagging breasts and then released her bladder like disobedient hatchling, her urine splashing all over her feet to mingle with the water running down the drain. She had always pissed in the shower when alone, and sometimes when not. She grinned again; there was something primal about it, something slightly sexual. Maybe it was the allure of the forbidden, but it did no harm in the long run. Her belly gurgled and reminded her as her stream trickled off that maybe a visit to the appliance would be needed as well. She would not do that in the shower, it would be unfair to Heather...

She shut the water off and stretched as she climbed out of the cubicle. Her belly rumbled again so she took a seat and let nature take its other course, her ass firing gas propelled salvoes into the bowl below her while the water ran freely from her scales. She would have given her kids a right bollocking for using the toilet while wet. There was nothing worse than sitting on a cold wet seat. Wiping herself of residue, she flushed and then dried the remaining water from her scales with a thick towel that had been freshly warmed on the rack. The under floor heating was on and the tiles underfoot were already steaming slightly as her spilt water was evaporated and sucked into the extractor, silently humming overhead.

She checked herself over in the mirror in the main bedroom as the one in the en-suite had steamed up. There were a few blemishes and chewed edge scales evident now, but all in all she could still, 'cut the mustard.' Glancing at the clock she noted it was nearly nine. Malaprop had told her to just pick up the intercom and he would bring her breakfast over when she was ready. "Let's see if what Jools hinted at is true," she said to herself and picked up the receiver from its cradle.

"Yes Lady Gertrude?" The black dragon's voice queried a few seconds later when he picked up.

"I am ready for breakfast if you will please Malaprop," she said.

"Very well ma'am, I will be with you in ten. Did you sleep well?"

"Quite satisfactorily, thank you. I will take it up here in the bedroom to avoid creating more work for Heather and Owen in the dining suite."

"I will bring it straight up before leaving you and rousing the master. Do you need Heather's aid in dressing for the meeting?" Malaprop asked.

"No Malaprop. Let her do her duties for Elizabeth. I can cope quite well on my own for one morning. I have only brought a smart casual outfit with me." Gertrude answered before placing the receiver back in its cradle.

She drew the curtains on the windows and frowned at the change in weather conditions. The wind could be a threat to her flying back if it was in the wrong direction and the clouds looked none to healthy. A well dressed and suited fox glanced up at the movement in the window as he passed and did a double take, raising his bowler hat in a salute with a large grin on his face for her brightening up his walk to work. She changed her frown to a smile and did a mock curtsy, blowing him a kiss before turning away from the glass and flashing her ass and vents at him by raising her tail as she walked, still naked back to the bed. I was nice to think that she could still create a problem for males that would need solving before they arrived at their destinations.

She piled her pillows up high to support her back and neck as the door to the lodge opened and shut, the sound of clawed feet heavily climbing the stairs following immediately afterwards. Lying down on the mattress, her back against the pillows, she didn't cover up and just waited, spread legged and on full display for Malaprop to knock and enter the room with her acquiescence.

Malaprop smiled as he entered the room, he had seen the fox on the path outside salute and shuffle off as he had approached the lodge, so he was expecting something unusual to greet him. "Morning Lady Gertrude. I took the liberty of bringing it in a bed tray for you," he said, greeting the naked dragoness on the bed as if it was a perfectly normal sight.

"Morning Malaprop. That was thoughtful of you. I have positioned myself so that I can receive your offerings," she smiled saucily and flexed her muscles in her mid-rift, making her vent gape slightly to show pink.

Malaprop smiled internally, ignoring the blatant invite. He knew she was teasing, and should he have been inclined she wouldn't stand a chance if he had chosen to take her implied offer. "I would suggest that you at least have a towel though. It would be awkward if you should spill something hot on yourself after you have so recently taken a shower."

"Mmm, very well. Place it on the table and fetch me one then," she suggested, daring to find out if the bodyguard come butler would accept her menial orders. She turned herself slightly to the side and placed a hand a few inches above her vent, circling a claw gently as if to highlight her receptiveness.

Malaprop nodded and did as requested, thanking himself that he had not sent Owen over on the errand. He was not sure what had provoked the response from the supposedly happily mated female, but anyone of 'red blood' like the passing fox would have been lucky to escape if she was not just teasing. He walked over to the bed and its honey trap with a fresh towel pulled from the linen cupboard, opening it with a flick of his wrist and placing it across her breasts and stomach. He froze as her hand migrated from her crotch to his. "Ma'am?" he queried, not pulling away as she explored his vent under his trousers.

"It seems that what was said at Jools' house last night is true. How have you hidden it from my tyrannical brother while working so closely with him?" Gertrude said, pulling away from the totally flat and unexcited vent area of the black dragon. "Either that or I really am losing my attractiveness."

"As to the first Lady Gertrude, I have been very discreet in my liaisons. It became apparent within the first few months of landing on these shores just what a bigoted and occasionally misguided dragon I had signed up to serve. I did not want to go back to Mexico, so I ensured that he did not even suspect; I was used to hiding it when I was serving in the army. I had no choice but to reveal my sexuality last week if I were to protect Master Jools. I am now indispensable and Master Lance knows it. Therefore short of 'trying' to terminate my life, I will be here as long as he is." Malaprop said seriously as he retrieved the tray and set it down on the now semi decent dragoness. "As for your second query, do you wish me fly after and call back the fox that shuffled off across the park to answer it?"

Gertrude laughed, "That won't be necessary Malaprop. It was good of you to sacrifice your secret to protect my blue brother. I know that it was a risk and that your ultimate loyalty lies with the one that resides here and employs you."

"My loyalty, Lady Gertrude lies firmly with who I believe it should and that is the Giles family as a whole. Do not question me on that statement, but I have been a little concerned over Master Lance's state of mind and being over the last few years. I could have followed his orders to evict Master Jools from the premises, but I chose at that point to say no for the first time to my orders. For you and your sibling's interests...he is no longer abusing Lady Elizabeth sexually or physically at present. That is one of the reasons I choose to stay in his employment." Malaprop stated firmly.

"Ah I see...Am I free to clue the others in?" Gertrude asked as she nibbled on one of the steaming sausage sandwiches.

"You are if you wish. One thing I will ask of you and your brothers though...Make sure that I am not asked to harm Lady Jessica or her mate. That, I will not comply with. Things will be presented to you at the meeting by Lady Elizabeth that will swing the pendulum in their favour in Master Lance's eyes we hope. I have performed some research that has been revealing..."

"Alan explained about that last night," Gertrude said interrupting him. "That aunt of Ruth's has a lot to answer for if she is still alive. It has been agreed amongst us that no loans or grants will be bestowed, even at the expense of the family name unless Lancelot consents to the return of Jessica and her current mate."

"That is something of a relief to know Ma'am," Malaprop replied bowing. "I must leave you now to get Master Lance ready for the arrival of your brothers."

He started to walk towards the door, pausing as Gertrude called after him, "Malaprop?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"What would you do in our situation if Jessica refuses to come back into the fold?" she asked.

"I would save the family name Lady. That will give her the option should she change her mind and leave her something to come back to. I have never known Master Lance to break his word on anything, so I would say that his consent should be enough for you to grant the bailout." The black dragon replied earnestly.

"Thank you for your honesty Malaprop, I will advise my siblings of that as well. Should you wish to leave, or are forced to leave at any point, you can retire to my estate and join Jack on his team of avians who protect my skies. Phillipe and I suffer no prejudices amongst our staff and guests."

"It is something that I will bear in mind Ma'am. Thank you." He bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Gertrude waited until the lodge door downstairs closed and she picked up the heavy tread of the black dragon on the gravel path outside. She sighed and finished the breakfast, smiling at its simple and yet perfectly cooked contents. Things were definitely going to be changing in the family hierarchy, and she was not entirely sure it would be for the better.

~~~~

Ruth opened his eyes slowly, frowning as he became aware of an ache in his mid-rift. It was still four AM, but the discomfort was enough to have broken his slumber. Alice had not been as kind and gentle to him as she had promised and he was now regretting it. He ran a hand down his belly, fingering gently at his slit to part the scales in order to tend to the ache in his balls.

Jessica stirred next to him in the ruined bed, "What's up love?" she asked, placing her hand to cover his questing one gently.

"Mmm, nothing dear, just aching a little after last night. I should not have instigated that second session in the shower," Ruth replied ruefully.

Jessica frowned and stilled his hand, "Let me take a look, you could have trapped or twisted something and I want more eggs from your loins you know when these have hatched," She rubbed her as yet un-swollen belly, sitting up and flicking on the rooms main light with the switch next to her side of the headboard.

"You really want more kids when the triplets hatch?" Ruth asked kissing her as she turned to kneel on the mattress next to him.

"I want as many as you are happy to give me. We have started a little late you know. I think that unless we want to risk having infertile kids like my brother James is, we must take the opportunity when I become fertile again. It will after all be around a year after I lay the ones I carry now." She stared into his eyes looking for any sign of possible doubt.

"I would be happy to oblige love. Sometimes I wish that I had had siblings to fall back on when I was fighting to educate myself. An aunt who couldn't give a stuff, and cousins that treated me as the inferior member of the household until I escaped made my childhood miserable at times."

"I promise you now that all our children will be treated equally. None will be treated as superior to the others. I even extend my wings of motherhood to the poor bastard you have fathered in Australia if they are carried to term. That is of course if you are forced to save them from that disturbed bitch of a mother, I will treat them as my own, appearance notwithstanding. I will not make the same mistakes my grandparents made and raise the eldest child at the expense of the others. At least we will have three the same age as our eldest."

Ruth kissed her, pulling her into a hug, "What did I do to deserve you?" he asked nuzzling her cheek.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe I was just attracted to the lure of the exotic," she fingered one of his larger scales, lifting it slightly from his body and making his twinge, "Maybe I just thought that white would go well with my green?"

Ruth grinned, "Well I am glad it was that. I sure as hell was useless as a lover that first night we spent together."

"Oh you were pretty useless for a few months love..." she grinned, pulling back as Ruth tried to swat her, "But that was part of your charm. I was able to train you to fulfil my every desire. I was responsible for taking the virginity of many males before I met you, but you were the one that I felt just right with. We clicked that night and I was determined that I would keep you, no matter what."

Ruth kissed her again, "Not every desire, your customers fill some of the gaps I can't..."

"You my dear do not have my drive. No male I have ever come across could fulfil me when I was younger without me having to resort to my toys as well. I am slowing now and could probably quite happily give my franchise over to another, but we need the income and it is so much a part of me now that I would be bored without it."

"I would never ask you to. Your latest idea of getting me to play around was against my will as you well know..."

"Do you not enjoy it?" Jess interrupted, cupping his chin in her hand.

"Well yes, but I was quite happy as things were," Ruth replied honestly. "There would not have been the accident in Australia..."

"That was not an accident. That was the actions of a selfish, mentally disturbed bitch that should not have been out in public, never mind in charge of passengers on an aircraft. If it were up to me she would not have had a second chance. If I was there she would have been granted her wish of oblivion, regardless of the consequences to me."

"That would have made you similar to your father you know...from what little you have told me of him and from what was implied in London a few days ago..."

A funny look passed across Jessica's face for a second. A sort of cross between anger and worry before she pulled her lips into a smile again. "Never ever let that happen. Should I ever raise my voice when it is not needed? Should I ever raise my hand to you or our children without proper provocation? Should I ever force you again into an act or a course of action that you do not wish participate in, you are to stop me. I will never ever become my father. I would rather break my wings and throw myself off a high building than allow that to happen to me. He is evil through and through and I could never forgive him for his actions!" Her voice had been steadily getting louder as she spoke, her conviction increasing with every word.

"Shh love, we are not at home," Ruth cautioned her, quietening her with a kiss to her lips, "I am too gentle to stop you, but I promise I will remind you if I think you are stepping over the line."

"I will have to settle for that then. I want a large family Ruth...I want our children to have all the privileges and benefits that a circle of siblings bring. My uncles and aunt were all still friends and still socialised with each other when they could before I was forced to leave for you. My father was the bad apple in the barrel and I am convinced it is because he was raised as such..."

"Would you go back if you got conformation it was safe from Jools?" Ruth asked, making her pause.

"I don't know Ruth. I really don't. The Giles family name can still open many doors in the right places. It could help with the children..."

"Let us cross that bridge when and if it comes up then..." he twinged noticeably.

"What's up?" Jess asked concerned.

"I really need to find out what is up love, that hurt," he gestured at his slit.

Jessica became all serious again, "Yes we must, or the question of further children may become moot." She parted his scales and gently eased his flaccid length from its home carefully. I seemed alright to her sight as she manipulated it gently. There were no contusions or blemishes that she could see in the micro-scales.

"It is not my shaft love, it is my balls that are aching," Ruth said quietly. He was not becoming erect which was worrying both her and him. Usually when she handled or played with him, it was impossible not to...

"Something must be trapped, can you invert love? You are not showing any sign of an erection and I can't manipulate them when they are still in your cavity," she asked, voicing her concern from his lack of reaction to her digits.

"I will try love. I can't actually feel you there much. I don't want to end up at the A+E and have to explain away my predicament!"

Jessica laughed, "That would be rather difficult!" She was pleased he was taking what could be a serious situation lightly. If a tube had been damaged...

Ruth squeezed his mid-drift with his hands, just above his hips while straining as if to pass waste. He farted which caused him to blush, "Sorry..."

"No need love, do you want to try this in the shower room just in case..."

"No, I am not full. That is the trouble I think..." He strained again, more gas escaping before finally his cavity inverted under the pressure. His nuts rolled out to rest on his pulsing ring as his body adjusted to being exposed without being erect for the first time in his life. He was breathing heavily as it was far from comfortable and the ache had increased tenfold.

Jessica carefully picked each one up in turn, gently feeling around the sack that was holding them and manipulating them gently. He felt something give as his left one was rolled in her hand, and his cock began swelling in earnest, pins and needles flooding it as the sensation came back with a vengeance. "You got something love," Ruth said gritting his teeth against the pain.

"I don't know what; you must have trapped a nerve or a vein when you retracted last night. Your balls seem to be okay, they are not swollen, "she said, tapping his now throbbing shaft, "And it seems that this is now back in working order."

Ruth grinned, "It is bursting at the seams love. It is almost as bad as when Alice had that tie on me last night." Pre was beading his tip, orbs of glassy fluid rolling out of his eye steadily to drip on his belly.

"Mmm. I suggest we get you into the doc when we get home. It may be that you are susceptible to damage when restrictions are placed on you there. We have used cock rings before to sustain you with no issue, but last night was the first time a ball ring was used as well. We may have pay for a CT to see if there is any hidden damage. No arguments though, if it happens again this weekend, you are straight to the hospital. Do you want me to put off the meeting with the Pod? I am sure Gio and Philly will understand..."

"Relieve me now and I will see. We have a few hours to see if the discomfort goes. I promise I will fly to the hospital myself if the ache persists when we wake up again." Ruth said indicating his straining shaft.

Jessica laughed, "You didn't need to ask!"

She gently took his cock in her maw and started to roll her tongue around it in ever decreasing spirals while her hands played gently with his aching balls. It didn't take more than a few minutes, his nuts retracting tightly as he went into an orgasm as violent as a virgin in a strip show. As his seed pumped into her gullet, she noticed the taste was off. She pulled free and allowed his final bursts to splash on his white belly as she gagged slightly, trying to swallow the tainted fluid as rapidly as possible. It was obvious why from the discolouration. It had blood in it. Not fresh blood, but clotted.

Dragons were not, and never had been carrion eaters. Blood had to be fresh to be agreeable, though now of course most food was eaten cooked to be PC. The old prey species now lived happily alongside their previous predators, and that had been the case for over half a millennium. Ruth's clotted blood was what had caused her to gag. It was repulsive even when mixed with the salty elixir that she enjoyed tapping so much.

Ruth was panting in the aftermath as his cock started to deflate, "Thanks love," he said exhausted. "I needed that."

"You have bled internally love, though the blood is not fresh." Jessica said concerned.

"Oh crap. I will get up now and go and get myself checked over..." he started to sit up, but Jessica placed a hand on his chest.

"No, the blood is old. You are not bleeding now. A hospital would just manipulate you more. I will monitor you when you are with Philly. Make sure you pull out when she gets you inside her..."

"I will wear a condom..."

"No. Dragon seed may take anywhere, but on the off chance she conceives by you she would not carry to term. Cetaceans and other water dwellers are just too different internally to those on the land and air. There has never ever been a documented case of a cross making birth. Dolphins as you can gather are very promiscuous so there have been plenty of chances for it to happen. The same would apply to me. I could conceive with Gio, but my body would abort any fertilised eggs within the first few weeks."

"But that would put a strain on her body wouldn't it?" Ruth asked concerned.

"Possibly...Give her the option then. I would put money on you not being the first land dweller she has had. I sort of got the impression from Alice that Gio and his pod have a bit of a reputation around here. If I was her I would be sodding the consequences and going for the sensation of scales on her rubbery epidermis. You must admit yourself that the lure of fur has gotten you. I always took the pill so I could enjoy the feel of the fur caressing me down there."

"About that love...What of...well..." He flushed, not wanting to say it.

"STD's? I always gave oral first. You can tell if you know what to look for. That is why I taught you to always pleasure a female before taking your own. Your taste buds would warn you if there was something wrong. I have never contracted anything. People who do treat their lovers wrong, so I never expect to come across a problem when tending to you!"

Ruth nodded, relieved slightly. He could not live with himself if he caught something while they were swinging together. He was just glad that though Janice had behaved like a selfish slut, she hadn't actually been one. "I am glad that I will be able to tell..."

"I shall endeavour to ensure that whomever I choose for us to swing with is clean anyway. Saying no when the act is started can be difficult and annoy or embarrass the ones refused. I just went for a condom on the few occasions my partners had not been careful." She glanced at the clock. It was gone five. "We need to get some more sleep love. Or trapped pipes or not, we will not be fit to be the dolphin's guests."

Ruth grinned, pulling her to lie on his chest in a hug. "Then let us rest together then love and I will see what I can do about waking you with as much pleasure as you have just given me..."

Jessica giggled girlishly and tucked her head under his chin. "Not in this position you won't," she said quietly.

Ruth smiled slyly and looped his tail up and slipped it under hers..."Wanna bet?" he whispered.

Jessica hummed in pleasure as he teased her entrance..."You have learned a lot since I first allowed you to fly me home Mr Ruatha..." she muttered as her eyes closed.

"I had an excellent teacher, Mrs Ruatha..." he replied quietly as his eyes shut, joining her in her deep breathing, his tail tip stilled for the time being.

~~~~

Another shower was required in the morning after the bedside phone rang with the promised morning call. Ruth had been as good as his word, and after thanking the unknown female who'd made the call, he held Jessica tight to his chest and proceeded to apply her favourite sort of delightful torture on her vent and tail hole with his tail tip until she almost peeled the paint off the wall behind the bed as she exploded into a fiery orgasm, flooding the sheets afresh with her fluids. Though they were going to end up swimming, they both thought that smelling so heavily of sex when dining downstairs at breakfast would have been inexcusably rude.

Jessica made a deliberate point of masturbating him to full arousal in the wet-room to ensure he was in full working order, "I want to be fit for Philly now that you have set us up," was enough to pause her actions. They both attended to their toilette in the normal fashion, Ruth carefully filing some burrs down on Jessica's nipples that the clamps had brought up, though she could have managed them herself. Anyone looking over the scene without foreknowledge would have considered themselves viewing a film of a perfectly normal mated couple. Jessica grinned to herself, thinking what the imagined viewer would say when they both plunged headlong into the sexual kinks with others that so thrilled them. A few tuts would be heard before the film was switched off! "What should we wear love?" Ruth asked, breaking Jessica's train of thought.

"Something easy to shed...nothing underneath. I will be going commando even for breakfast," she stepped into a shear, lemon coloured cotton dress, fastening the clasp over her wings tightly, her breasts just supporting the fabric on chest in order to keep her decent. Her nipples poked clear in the absence of a bra, drawing the eyes temporarily away from the fact the fabric barely reached her knees...when she sat down Ruth knew that other distractions would be hinted at.

"Why did I mate with such a tease?" Ruth asked grinning.

"Oh I don't know...maybe because you enjoy being teased just as much as other males do!" She leant over and kissed him. "Make sure that you can use your wings though...Gio wanted us to meet at the rocks in the bay."

Ruth laid the shirt that he had picked up back in the dresser, it was too formal and restricted his flight muscles, "Whoops, almost forgot that," he said, ruefully grinning as he picked up a far more casual one.

"You can lead us out as well or with me wearing this dress you won't be able to land!" Jessica joked, laughing.

Ruth's mind flicked back to her pulling days at college...and to the many occasions since that they flew together. They had never actually coupled in the air yet...but on a couple of occasions she had blown him mid-flight to relieve the pressures caused by her deliberate choice of flying attire. They must take a holiday to the mountains soon where the thermals would be strong enough to support a mating spiral...maybe before she became too egg-bound. "Penny for your thoughts love..."

Ruth looked up, realising that he was still standing there naked, his cavity slightly bulging, betraying his ideas while holding the shirt in one hand. "Oh I was just thinking of something we haven't tried yet..."

Jessica laughed, "Well don't tell me, surprise me one day," she gestured towards his crotch, "It looks like I would enjoy it as well."

He slipped himself into the shirt and threw some loose shorts on, fastening them around his tail with a laugh. "I am pretty sure we both would..."

Jessica kissed him, "Well, let us go and eat a hearty breakfast so we have enough energy to fuel us for the day. I have a feeling that Gio's whole Pod will enjoy having us as their toys when he and Philly have finished with us."

"Oh no...I can't...I mean..." Ruth started

"Unless you have suffered some damage, you should be up for three or four. It is not like you are saving your seed to increase fertility," Jessica interrupted him. "I can play all day without getting sore, though I lose sensitivity after about my seventh or eighth orgasm as you know. Just go with the flow. They may just use our release as an excuse to fornicate amongst themselves. Do not be worried if Philly ends up clasped belly to belly with another male...or buried snout deep in another female. It will not be a denigration of your skills...just the Delphinic way."

"Very well love...I am no otter though. I still do not know how they will get over the fact that I don't swim, just float." Ruth replied as she headed towards the suites door.

"I am sure they will be able to accommodate you. A dragon's body is too buoyant to sink because of our bone structure. I could only submerge completely when I was diving at school," she held the door open for him and then followed him out into the hall.

The skunk twins emerged from one of the rooms further down with a full laundry trolley, beaming when they saw her. "Morning Mrs Ruatha," they chimed together, "Restful night?"

Ruth glanced at Jessica who giggled, "Ask your employers...we entertained them," she replied.

The skunks held their hands over their mouths, "Well that explains why we haven't seen either of them this morning..."

"Don't comment on Alice's appearance when you do either...she forgot that dragons breathe fire when they are stimulated enough!"

"Oh dear...Is she okay?"

"Her fur will grow back in a few weeks!" Jessica said and turned towards the stairs as the twins giggled.

"Are you finished with your room this morning?" Jane asked, regaining some of her professionalism.

"Yes...we have a date with Gio after breakfast."

"The dolphin?" Jane looked startled.

"Yes, why?"

"Oh...nothing. I have a fear of deep water and always wondered what it was like with them after hearing rumours from other customers..." she looked a little wistful.

"Ruth can't swim, so I will tell you what happens. I thought you were faithful with your mates anyhow?" Jess asked.

"His Pod has many members. If we should be granted an invite, they would not be without females of their choosing. You know from our play that we now only offer our services with the female clientele here now. Our mates would not say no to a shared experience though, after all they met us here." Jane grinned as she finished talking, her sister nodding in agreement.

"I will broach the issue with Giovanni then when we are done. You may have to dine at his restaurant to be invited though."

"I am sure we could stretch to that for our birthdays...Now we will attend your room. Do we need fresh paint?" she asked, grinning mischievously.

"Not this time...Alice blocked the updraft!" Jessica replied laughing, before towing the bemused Ruth behind her she headed down to the dining room. The twins rolled the trolley down to the suite and let themselves in while still laughing. What they would make of the mess would be entertaining to find out, but her stomach was rumbling. She saw the look on Ruth's face and stopped him from asking the question, "They are the reason we are not in the suite we shared last week. I told you all about it."

"It was more a question about if you have the right to try and pimp them to Gio..."

"After today, he will take my suggestion. Trust me. You know I can turn any male into a jelly when I have finished with them," Jessica replied confidently.

"After what you have told me about dolphins, will you take a bet on that?" Ruth joked, semi-seriously.

"Mmm, yes," Jessica replied, "What did you have in mind?"

"If I win... We talk to your father and mother again if your uncle Jools says it is safe to do so," Ruth said, deadly serious now.

"That's a big ask Ruth...I could lose both you and the eggs if we do..."

"I know, but it is better than running again. He wasn't trying to find you last time."

"Agreed. And what if I win?" she said, hugging him as they entered the dining room.

"You do what you wish with me for a week, no matter how obscure or extreme your desires..."

"No. I can talk you into anything, anytime..." she said interrupting him.

"Then what?" Ruth asked quizzically.

"You track down and shove your success down your cousins' snouts. Show them what they could have been if they had followed your path in life. It will close the book on your past. Maybe you could actually find out a little about your real parents now your Aunt and Uncle are no longer with us."

"That could be a big can of worms to open Jess..."

"Not as big as re-entering the Giles family Ruth...Trust me. I don't take a bet without equal stakes. Do you agree?"

"I agree love," Ruth answered as they sat at a table and awaited service from the pretty little mouse who was attending another couple at another table.

"Good...I will join you when you find them...flaunt my belly and invite them to a house party..."

"If you win..."

"Oh...I will win love. I just had to make sure that the stakes were high enough," Jessica held up a hand when the mouse looked over.

The mouse giggled as the male of the feline couple pinched her ass as she was distracted. The mouse turned and whispered something to the customer, causing him to blush and his mate to laugh, before she strolled over. "May I take your order?"

"Yes, two full English with extra toast please." Jessica said.

"And I will take what you offered him as well," Ruth joked.

The mouse blushed, "You are too big Sir. Would you like me to ask one of my larger colleagues to attend you later?"

"No...only joking." Ruth reassured her.

"Very well. I will be back in around ten minutes with your food." She closed her pad and headed for the hidden kitchen as another couple strolled in.

Ruth turned to Jessica and raised an eye ridge. "We will see love," he said, closing the interrupted conversation with a mutual kiss.

~~~~

Gertrude slipped into her casual outfit after she had finished her breakfast...the time for teasing and play was now gone and she reverted to being as serious and business like a dragoness as you would ever meet. She walked downstairs carrying just her clasp bag with a cheque book, pen and other bits and pieces in it. She pressed the button on the inside of the lodge's door frame that would disable the path's alarm-net for the time required to walk to the main manor. It was nine-thirty, so she would expect her remaining siblings to be en-route by now...

Opening the door she shivered as the autumn breeze that had woken her, wrapped her body in its clasp and teased at her folded wings, causing her to huddle in the lee of the porch. She contemplated going for her flight jacket for a few seconds, before dismissing the idea and striding quickly out onto the gravel in a brisk walk for the beckoning portal on the main building. It wasn't exactly cold when the breeze dropped, certainly not enough to affect a normal resident of the UK, but for someone that had spent getting on for twenty five years in the Med, it was cold enough for her.

Malaprop opened the manor's door in greeting, her pressing of the button having alerted him to her imminent arrival. "The others here yet Malaprop?" she asked.

"Not yet Lady...if you would kindly wait in the study for them. The dining room has been set up for the meeting," he replied quietly.

"Are Lance and Elizabeth around yet?"

"Elizabeth is awaiting you in the study, Lance is in the dining room. Please, it is for the best if you just await the others with Lady Elizabeth..." Malaprop instructed as a cloud passed over Gertrude's face at her brothers snubbing again, "I do not want to have to deal with any trouble yet. Do you want a coffee or something while you wait?"

Gertrude subsided a little, "Mmm, yes...but put a dram of Scotch in it please. Do you have the weather reports with the prevailing wind directions yet?"

"I will instruct Heather to bring a printout in with your coffee, Ma'am."

"Thank you Malaprop." Gertrude replied, heading for what was originally her father's study, the last time she had been in there.

The room hadn't changed much...the overstuffed leather wing-back chairs and sofa were still in residence, the oak panelling and rows and rows of currently empty shelves...the huge desk that took up the entire end of the room with a leather top and quill pens still present. The most noticeable difference was that the portrait over the fire had been changed from one of her father and mother, to one of just Lancelot staring down his snout at the artist's easel. There was absolutely no character or charisma to it, like Lance had really not wanted to be there at the sitting.

Elizabeth rose from one of the wing-backs next to the fireplace, "Good morning Gertrude. Did you sleep well?"

"I did dear; the first gale of autumn woke me when it rattled the shutters..."

"Oh dear... I will get Owen to fix them when he has time. We don't want to lose them in a storm..."

"I don't think that they are that bad you know, just the clamps working loose. What happened to the picture of mum and dad?" Gertrude gestured at the portrait hanging above the hearth.

"Oh...They are up in the long gallery now with the other Giles' ancestors..."

"And where are you?"

"I am in the dining room with Jessica and James at my feet. Lance never commissioned one of us together as a couple or a family," Beth replied, hesitating as Gertrude took the other wing-back for herself.

Gertrude noticed that Beth was about to say something... "Let me guess, this one is Lance's?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes...no one else sits there..."

"Well should he grace my presence at any point before the others get here, he will have to shift me himself. His rudeness will be passed on to the others by me and won't do him any favours..."

"Please Gertrude...we need help even if he won't admit it. Don't hold his pride against us," Elizabeth said, almost begging. "I want to live out my days happy and in comfort, especially if I get Jessica and James back, but you must not let him blackmail you into saving his skin. I will just go back to Germany and leave him if today doesn't resolve the crisis..."

She was interrupted by Heather entering the room with a silver tray in one paw bearing a coffee set, and a sheaf of papers in the other. The cheetah quickly placed the tray on the fireside table along with the papers. "Would you like me to pour Ma'am?" she asked politely.

"Yes please Heather. You can just call me Gertrude you know. I remember you when you were only just out of schooling." Gertrude said grinning as she picked up the proffered reports that she had asked Malaprop for. The doorbell sounded then and she heard Malaprop's tread heading across the hall followed by some muffled talking.

Heather bobbed a curtsy and headed for the cocktail cabinet with the china cup and careful splashed a measure of Whisky into it, before returning and carefully mixing and pouring the freshly brewed coffee into it, adding a dash of milk and a single sugar, "I remembered Ma'am," she said smiling. "I will hold with the formalities as the Master is within the house though."

"Very well Heather." Gertrude said looking up as Malaprop opened the study door and shepherded Alan and Justin in. "Do you want a coffee too lads?" she asked grinning at Heather's look of disbelief at the casual greeting.

Alan grinned, "Don't mind if I do," he replied. Justin nodded as well.

"Better fetch enough cups for us all Heather," Elizabeth said, standing to greet her two brothers in law with a hug.

Heather nodded and bobbed again, backing out of the room.

Justin was sniffing at the air, and glanced at Gertrude who was doing the same, "Erm...is she in heat?" he asked when the cheetah had closed the door.

Elizabeth looked a little startled and sampled the air currents as well smiling, "If she is, that is good news. I gave her and Owen clearance to try for children a few days ago. If she is coming into season it means that she is not past the age where she can bear them."

"Owen? What on earth did Lance have to say about that? He is the last person that I would expect to allow a cross-breed in the house." Alan said startled.

"I put my foot down...they have stuck with us through thick and thin. I felt it only fair when her wishes were let slip to me in private. He has granted permission, albeit reluctantly." Beth replied.

Gertrude grinned, digging in her bag for something, "How old is Owen?" she asked casually.

"A year younger than Heather I think..."

Gertrude pulled out a packet of something from her bag and shook it, holding it up to the light, "Mmm...I will give this to her then a gesture of my blessing."

"What is that Gerty?" Justin asked looking at the plain white packet.

"Let's just say that a friend of my Phillipe's still dabbles in African witch medicine. The mix in here will ensure that his seed is enhanced, and her eggs are ready to receive it. They will need to split it evenly between themselves about an hour before they retire...and ensure that they are not interrupted." Gertrude grinned evilly, "Get Malaprop to set up a hidden camera if you feel like some exciting voyeurism and stand well back!"

Elizabeth looked shocked, while Alan and Justin started laughing as the doorbell sounded again. "Trust me Beth, no harm will come of it, only good. I have used it on many occasions to heighten my stimulation now that I am barren with age."

"If you think then..."

"I know. The patter of tiny paws will be heard soon if they decide to use it."

Michael, Jools and Arnold were ushered into the room then by Malaprop, just as Heather reappeared with the new cups and began pouring. "Malaprop, while we are meeting in the dining room, could you book me on a flight to Nice this evening, first class of course. I have an account with Air France. The winds will prevent me from flying back under my own steam," Gertrude waved the sheaf of weather reports at him and he nodded.

"Very well Ma'am, I will inform Master Lance that you are all here now," the black dragon said as he exited the study.

As Heather placed the coffee pot back on the tray, Gertrude placed a hand on her wrist and slipped her the packet, "Mix this in boiling water and allow to steep for about ten minutes before you and Owen retire tonight. Split it evenly and drink it, and it will take about an hour to reach its peak, but it will ensure that if you can conceive, you will," Gertrude whispered.

"B...but..."

"I also suggest that while you are in heat, you wear a masking scent to cover it. We dragons may be getting on a bit, but a female in heat is like a poker to our senses of smell. You don't want Lancelot to scent you like this." Gertrude folded the packet into her paw. "Now go...and make sure that your duties are done so you can take advantage of your fertility. It will also ensure you ovulate without the need for a male cat's spines."

"T...Thank you, Lady," Heather stuttered.

"It's nothing...Now shoo. We will all go and face our brother over his foibles, so we shouldn't need you until afternoon tea." Gertrude said as the cheetah bobbed again and scuttled from the room grasping the paper packet in her hand.

~~~~

Malaprop entered the dining room, surveying the table that was crowded with dozens of file boxes and folders. Lance was sitting at the head in the old carver chair his many-times great grandfather had commissioned in the sixteen hundreds. It was a total monstrosity made of age darkened oak, all carved dragon heads and tails that looked like something out of a fairy tale castle. Malaprop knew from sneaking a sit, that it was bloody un-comfy as well and so only used for show. Lance would be regretting his hubris if the meeting lasted more than a couple of hours.

"Ahem, your siblings are all here master," Malaprop said, breaking the silence in the room.

Lance stirred his tea absently, "Are they alone as I ordered?"

"They are Sir."

"Then show them in along with Elizabeth. The sooner this nonsense is over, the better."

Malaprop nodded and went to open the door that connected the study to the dining room, turning the key in the lock. The study had at one point been the smoking room before it became unfashionable in the seventies. The idea of dragons keeping a smoking room was in Malaprop's opinion a little daft, but then so many of the old English aristocracy traditions were. Why the furred guests wanted to kill themselves by artificially inhaling smoke was beyond him...though he did have a bear as a lover once who wanted to 'blow-back kiss' him mid-coitus...He shook his head as everyone in the room turned to look at him when he opened the portal. "Master Lance will receive you now," he said.

"Well if he thinks I am calling him Master, I am leaving now!" Gertrude said standing from her chair in a huff. The others nodded in agreement.

Elizabeth placed a hand on her arm, "Please, he insists Malaprop use that introduction to all Gertrude...please, it is ingrained in his mind..." she looked at her with entreaty...

"Okay Beth, but I swear if he asks us to treat him as our superior I will walk from here and buy you the plane ticket to Germany and back your family myself. He has proven himself unfit to call himself the head of the family."

"That applies to all of us..." Arnold said frowning.

Beth nodded in agreement, "Very well...but give him a chance."

They started to head towards the door, but Malaprop stopped them, "As Lady Elizabeth said, I forget myself sometimes. It was I that summoned you in that way...not on Master Lance's instructions. Even after all these years, I cannot address him in a personal way. I am sorry," he whispered so the red dragon in the room behind him couldn't overhear him.

"Apology accepted Malaprop," Arnold said, "But please remember who we are and why we are here. It affects you almost as much." The black dragon nodded, before standing back to allow them access to the dining room. "Dracos! This could take us hours to sort through!" Arnold exclaimed when he saw the huge mountain of crap on the table.

"He insisted we pull it all out...I would suggest though that maybe only the ledgers are required, not all the receipts in the file boxes. I think he did this to try and put you off..." Elizabeth whispered to Arnold. "Are you going to head the meeting, or are you going to allow Gertrude to take it as she is your twin?"

Gertrude was obviously listening with the others, and nodded to Arnold when he glanced at her, "It would be best brother...you know my temper. Plus you are also in a better position as the biggest contributor...Anyone one else disagree?" Gertrude asked, to a negative shake of the others heads.

"I only chaired the meeting last night because I was host," Alan said. "It is better that you two hold court this time as you are closest in age to him."

"Would you lot please stop muttering to yourselves and get started!" Lance's voice sounded from the other end of the table. "Some of us have things we would rather be dong!"

Arnold turned to Malaprop, "Leave us please and do not send Heather or Owen in unless we call. We will not harm him physically, so you can ignore any shouting," he instructed.

"Do you want the physical evidence of Ruth's heritage yet?" Malaprop asked.

"No...That is way down the list at the moment. We will break that to him after the financial issues have been dealt with."

"Very well...sound the dinner gong when you need me or refreshments." He turned and left the room, closing the double doors tightly behind him.

"Where's Malaprop going?" Lance called.

"I instructed him to leave us Lance...he is not needed. This is a family matter now, not for a servant, no matter how loyal." Arnold said sternly, approaching Lance while the others took seats and began looking for the ledgers, Elizabeth taking the place next to her mate. "I will chair this get together, not you."

"But I am the head of the family..."

"You are not as of this moment Lance, unless we unanimously come to an agreement today. We tire of your games of power. You have reduced the main Giles name to a has-been status in London. I know what the people of our circle say about you, as I still socialise with them, as does everyone else here. Jools didn't need to tell us of your debts, or the sales of the family properties. You sold them to people who party with Nyara and me in the country. When the letter came, one which I might add that was not even in your hand; it was no surprise to me and the others. I for one would leave you to rot in your own mess if it was not for Elizabeth and the fact that it would gall me to see the family lose anymore while it is still possibly salvageable."

"What! You can't do that!" Lance spluttered, half standing from his chair.

Gertrude stood quickly and knocked him back into it with a back handed blow, "Yes we bloody well can! You are a stain on our parents' and ancestors' graves!" She growled, staring him down.

"Enough Gerty!" Arnold barked sharply, "We agreed..."

Gertrude sat back down, subsiding, "Yes we did...and that is why. Go ahead, continue please."

Arnold nodded, "You are only present in the room to answer any questions that we ask of you. Things will no doubt come up in these books that require clarification. If you won't just shut up and listen, we will leave now and take Elizabeth, Malaprop, Heather and Owen with us and then seize the estate via the courts if we have to...We can afford good lawyers...can you?"

Lance glanced at Elizabeth for conformation of the threat to leave, and she nodded, "Very well...have at it then. I will sit here like a naughty hatchling for you to gloat over as you know I have no choice!" He grouched angrily.

"You are very much the naughty hatchling, despite your first born status Lancelot...Just be thankful that we here are all in a position to aid you if we choose!" Arnold took the final seat and picked up a file marked bank statements, beginning to rifle through them in earnest.

It took a few hours, Lance sitting silently brooding in his uncomfortable carver throughout. He was furious. His mind was running at hyper-speed as he watched his younger siblings devour his ledgers, box-files, doctored accounting books...and after they dug deeper into the mountains of paper...his private notebooks which he thought he had removed from the collection which contained the personal codes he used for his illegal transactions. He should have done something about this earlier. He should have done something about his siblings earlier. He should have sold out only to the Chinese or the Russians... people that his 'dearly beloved' sister and brothers would have been unlikely to have mixed with...

He eyed the growing piles next to his siblings with worry, glancing at Elizabeth who seemed to be almost dozing in her far more comfortable dining chair. Why was she unconcerned? Would she really go if today went badly for him? He knew that she still had contact with the Gruber's...but they hadn't visited in what had to be six or seven years... That could be of course he had refused to invite them. The austerity measures he had been forced to take involving his finances, had stopped all socialising, including that with family, his or hers. That morning, just over 24hrs ago made him realise something...maybe, just maybe he did actually love the dragoness and mother of his errant offspring. His frown deepened noticeably as that thought shoved its way past the others to the front of his mind. He had no heir...or at least no acceptable one at present. His mouth was dry and he contemplated calling for Malaprop or Owen, but a glance at the others stopped him. He pushed his chair back noisily and stood.

"Where are you going?" Arnold asked, staring at him.

"If I am not allowed to call for a drink, I will fetch one for myself. The dust is drying my mouth." Lance snapped back, heading for the drinks cabinet.

"Hmmmph, mines a brandy then," Arnold replied, going back to his pile of files.

"Same here," Gertrude said.

"Whisky for me," Justin dared.

"Gin and Tonic," Michael piped in.

"Scotch," Alan said, without looking up.

"A good red wine..." Jools said flatly.

Lancelot just stood there, his jaw dropping as the orders flooded in. "I...I..." he started.

"You will. We are busy here. If you want to get this over with, fetch the drinks. Ask your mate what she wants as well," Arnold snapped, interrupting his stuttering refusal.

"Beth?" Lance asked, turning defeated towards her.

"The red with Jools, no point in wasting a bottle for one glass," she replied.

Lance headed towards the cabinet again, muttering to himself under his breath about being reduced to the status of a servant in his own house. The bell from the front door rang then, making him pause and turn towards those at the table with his brow raised.

Arnold glanced at the clock on the mantel, "That will be James...I invited him to come if he could around now as he is involved in a way. Serve the drinks and pour one for your son as well, whatever he usually takes, I will tell Malaprop to admit him." He stood and opened the door to the hall, causing Malaprop to look up from the intercom, "Admit him if it is James, I forgot to mention I had invited him Malaprop."

"Very well Sir," Malaprop answered, turning back to the mic and saying something before pressing the buzzer and waking to the door.

"Ask him to wait in the study until we are ready, and then come and fetch him the drink that Lancelot is pouring for him. I will let him into the room when we are ready to go over things. We will be ready to eat in around an hour or so I think." Arnold instructed the black dragon before he turned and re-entered the dining room. He glanced at Lance, and taking a bit of pity collected three of the drinks on a silver tray and carried them to the table without a word, before sitting and continuing his reading of the files.

"Where is James?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"He will await us in the study until we have finished with these," Arnold gestured at the table.

"May I join him until then?" she asked.

"Yes, yes...you know that you have done nothing wrong. I will call you both in when we are finished questioning Lancelot. It is only fair that you both you and James know what we decide. It is a shame that we could not get Jessica here as well."

Elizabeth nodded, gathering her glass up and heading towards the study door, abandoning her mate to his siblings silence for the time being. Malaprop entered, glanced at the cabinet and gathered up the Scotch and soda for James before following her through to the study without saying a word as Lance looked on as his possible support disappeared from view with a closing of the door.

Arnold glanced up at the table, sipping at his Brandy before asking, "Are we ready yet to start?"

Gertrude looked at her pile of papers that needed querying, and those she had not gone through yet, "More time I think...Lance will need to give us his code key though. It looks pandeximal in nature, but I can't decipher it immediately."

"It is pandeximal, though I don't see why I should give it to you," Lance snapped.

Arnold hesitated a second, stilling Gertrude's angry response with a glance, "Remember those nursery books we had Gerty...you know, the ones with all the puzzles in?"

Gertrude nodded, a grin forming as she picked up one of the coded notebooks and mentally rifled a few of the nonsensical entries though her mind while the others watched, "Aha, got it! Sib's when you have sorted through your boxes, start decoding any of these little beauties you find. You have the 26 letters, just shunt forward ten in the English alphabet, and then translate from the French he has written them in. I used to do that with Arnold all the time when we were in playtime."

Arnold grinned, "You were far better at it than me as well. It looked simple, but I didn't realise that he had switched languages as well."

"I spotted 'éliminer' and 'réduire' which gave me the clue to the French...they are mentioned a lot you will notice." She stared at Lance who shifted uncomfortably, knowing the translations.

"I will translate the code in these books here Gertrude, but my French is a little rusty, so one of you will have to translate the meaning," Justin said sheepishly to break the silence.

Arnold frowned, "That's no issue Justin, we can't all be linguists, but 'éliminer' and 'réduire' translate as eliminate and curtail respectively. That does not bode well for the rest of these diaries entries..."

"Ahh..." Justin said as the others nodded.

"I only did what any person in my position would have done in the same circumstances..." Lance started.

"No...You took it a step further from the sounds of it," Alan butted in. "I only killed when I was in the army, and never for personal gain. If these reveal what I think they will," he waved one of the diaries, "You are no better than the dictators and terrorists that I was fighting!" he growled.

"And if I admit to it?" Lance asked, "What then?

Arnold looked at the others who were all staring at Lancelot, "I would say who, when, where and how many will determine that. Will you save us the effort to translate these, as I know that Gertrude really can't stay later than today?" The others nodded in agreement to the questions and conditions.

Lance sighed, "Very well...I am responsible directly for deaths of seven people that I know of, though at Malaprop's hands under my orders. I have in all probability bankrupted, ruined, or seriously depleted the fortunes of a further sixty or seventy people and business' in the pursuit of the family name and fortunes, which could have contributed to more deaths. If I was investigated fully over my tax affairs, the revenue would seize all the remaining family estates and property and they would probably not cover the bill. My circumstances changed when the Red idiots got control of Whitehall, and the next thirteen years of them lining their own pockets while destroying the countries underlying industries, destroyed me. When the banks collapsed, the bubble burst and my creditors started calling on me. I had to act fast.

"I had already taken board positions and directorships on some Ltd. companies by force through dirty tricks and pyramid schemes...I had been using them as credit security, but then they collapsed with the banks. Some of my creditors were not shall we say bank related, those are the ones I had Malaprop pay a visit to. As far as I know, their removal has not been traced to me, but will have benefited many of their other clients. They were thoroughly despicable citizens who were underdogs of the criminal world, so no great loss. If of course the word spread that I might have had something to do with their demise was to leak...well Malaprop couldn't protect me from the efforts of the mafia who in all probability funded them.

"My hand was forced by the banks and the revenue though. As I have not signed the estates into trust for an heir yet as tradition dictates, they would have been seized if I had had bankruptcy forced upon me. I paid the revenue off first, selling a few of the smaller houses to stave off investigation, and then placed the other loss making properties on the market so I could pay off the banks. The idiots in Whitehall should have let a few of the big boys go under...the debts would have gone with them..."

"So would millions of innocents' savings and pensions Lance," Arnold stated, "Go on though."

"Wouldn't have concerned me, but the banks surviving did. That is the situation I find myself in now. If Garda doesn't sell and this place doesn't rent out, then I will be served a notice of action within the next few months. You can quiz me over the books all you like, but there is nothing more in them that I have not already told you about." Lance finished heartlessly; sitting back into his chair and downing his drink while watching his siblings digest what he had just revealed. It was not worth hiding it anymore, the minute his code had been deciphered by Gertrude, he'd known it was over. He was at the stage where he just wanted to kick them all out of the place so he could carry on pretending it would be alright.

"Go and join your mate and son in the study Lance, we need to discuss this amongst ourselves for a while in private," Arnold said, dismissing him.

Lance stood, not saying another word as he trailed his tail along the floor behind him into the study, closing the door with a thud.

~~~~

Elizabeth looked up, "What's going on?" she asked.

"I told them everything after that little whore of my sister deciphered my personal code in less time than it took me to take a shit this morning! They are deciding our fate now and will summon us when they are done."

"Deciding your fate Lance...despite yesterday morning, I will be going home if they cut their ties with you. I will try and persuade my family to allow you to come with me though if that is the case."

"And what do you think eunuch?" Lance directed at James nastily.

"What I think is beside the point father. My situation is your fault as well, as you very well know. I don't need an inheritance, Lorna and I am quite happy and secure as we are. We are actually in the queue for adopting; now the situation is known to be unresolvable. We love each other, and therefore not being able to bear our own children will not stop us from offering our love to others less fortunate." James replied, staring straight at the old red dragon.

"Dragons of true colour I assume...to hide your embarrassment?" Lance replied, flopping into his wing-back by the unlit fire.

"Actually, we have opted for any species. Lorna and I see no reason not to save any child we can from the care system. There are no full colour hatchlings in the system anyway, they tend to be taken in by other family members if a disaster strikes."

"You would adopt a furred cub?" Lance asked, shaking his head in shock.

"Yes...or mixed species as well. If you ever came down out of your ivory tower and looked at the changing population of this city, you would see the times of class discrimination have passed father. We are on the shortlist for a pair of new born twins that were dumped at the Tyburn convent gates, swaddled in a wicker basket a few months back. They are part scaled, dragon/coon crosses and quite adorable. A brother and sister. No one knows who the mother is, but the best guess is they were an accident that she needed to get rid of as they were womb born, not hatched, though how she could abandon them, I don't know. The police have closed the case, despite the lack of coons in London, so they need new parents."

"But people will talk...they will think you fathered them...or worse they will think Lorna has been unfaithful to you..." Lance started.

"Our friends know of our situation and of my condition, others I couldn't give a stuff about. We actually thought about using a surrogate male or donated sperm with Lorna as she IS fertile. But she wanted nothing that was not mine, and that is the true sign of a tight mateship. We decided together that it was better that we adopt so as not to foster any resentment between us in the future." James interrupted. "I couldn't give a stuff what you think father; I am only here today because Uncle Arnold requested it. I just want to ensure that mother does not suffer because of your actions!"

"I was right to disinherit you...you are a disgrace to all dragon-kind!" Lance shouted.

"Am I? Am I really, Father? Is not the dragon that fathered those kids left at the convent the disgrace? The scales they bear are blue, so the cad was of noble blood."

"The mother of them is probably a whore who wasn't careful enough...I slept with many furs before I mated with your mother...I didn't father any half-breeds!"

"Do you know that for certain? Would one of your bits of fluff have come to you bearing the products of your loins? If you had the reputation then that you have now, they would have feared for their lives and that of the cubs or hatchlings!" James turned away in disgust. "I despise that I was born of you father. It has taken me over twenty years to discover that, and the discovery of what a real family is, but I do. I don't want anything that has born your taint. If you were still a multimillionaire and you died tomorrow, I would have discovered the day after Jessica and I incinerated your body, as is the Draconian tradition, that the whole front would have been covering a sham. The Giles name is worth nothing while you are still hanging there above that mantel!" He gestured at the portrait.

"ENOUGH!" Elizabeth shouted as Lance started to rise in anger. "This is not the time or the place! Your father is a misguided, violent, prideful and ignorant idiot at times, but I do still love him now, as I love you! If Jessica were here today, the same would apply. Lancelot's downfall was brought by his own hubris, at both his hands and by circumstances beyond his control to a certain extent. He may have made many, many stupid decisions in the past, but they were made in the belief he could prop the monstrosity of Giles name up, and not for personal gain! I know he could pull out when things started to go wrong. I know that he could have sold the properties contents and run to a foreign haven where we could not be extradited from. But he didn't! He tried to hold things together, and failed miserably because he tried to do it on his own. Think of who is in the next room. They are here now when it may be too late! He has played his family card late in the game, and WE, not just him may still lose it!" Elizabeth finished angrily, her tongue actually lolling slightly as she panted from her outburst.

Lance subsided, still looking daggers at his son, while James just stared at his normally mild mannered mother in shock. "I'm sorry mother," he said finally, his head bowed.

"Temper is something that must be controlled, that is something your father has never learnt. Things said in anger are usually regretted later." She stared at Lance, who grunted. "If my brothers and sister in law decide to leave your father to rot in the mess he has created, then that is what will happen. I will be returning to Germany, or to Chateaux Gruber, but I will take your father with me as the scavengers descend on what he has left of the Giles ideology. He will never have access to another cheque book or another cash card, and that way I may be able to save him from jail. I don't think that your Uncles and Aunt will allow that to happen though. They may be wealthy in their own rights, but they will still want the right to say the Giles name with pride."

"I retract my comments father..." James started.

"NO! What you said was the truth, and a retraction would be false. What has been said has been said and we must all live with it!" Elizabeth stopped him with a snarl.

"Very well mother..." James subsided for around twenty minutes while silence enveloped the study.

He glanced at the door to the dining room, noting that it was open by a few inches, "It seems that we may have been overheard," he gestured towards it.

Lance stared at the door, "Those meddling, dishonest, eavesdropping..." he started, winding his anger up again.

The door swung open and Arnold stepped through, "People who can save you maybe?" He finished for Lance firmly. "Yes we overheard your argument Lance, so would most of Regent's park. Come, all of you. We have made our decision and the conditions under which that you will be bound."

~~~~

Arnold watched as Lancelot disappeared into the study and closed the door with a thump. He turned to the others, "So do we save him?" he asked.

"No, but I think we should save the remaining properties and the only way we can do that is to save him," Gertrude said firmly, the others nodding in agreement. The sound of raised voices came from the study and she turned her head towards closed door, "Should we listen in?" She gestured.

"I think that would be wise," Arnold agreed and quietly crept over to the door, opening it a crack so the voices could be heard.

They all sat in silence while the argument got more and more heated, ending when Elizabeth broke character and silenced the two male dragons. "Well that also revealed a few more things," Gertrude said and turned back to the table when everything went quiet again.

"So are we agreed that we are going to save the scales of our brother then?" Arnold asked again, waiting this time for all the seated siblings to confirm their agreement. "What conditions shall we impose?"

"We keep these entire diaries," Alan waved the books he held in his seat, "As surety that they will be handed to Scotland Yard if he so much as farts in the wrong place again."

"Agreed," Arnold confirmed as the others nodded.

"Our children and grandchildren, regardless of scale colour have the rights to use the family properties, including Garda," Justin said

The others nodded.

"Only Elizabeth is to have access to the bailout funds, and the heir to the estate. Lance will not be allowed anything without their direct knowledge," Michael suggested.

"If that is to be the case, Jessica is to be placed as full heir again, if she can be persuaded to come back," Jools added.

"Much as I would like to give James a chance...my mind does balk a little at the idea of the estate passing from him into the hands of adopted, infertile half-breeds...I would leave a huge mess for the solicitors to clean up in sixty or seventy years from now. It would be better to stay in the bloodline if Jessica would return with her mate and their offspring," Gertrude said quietly.

The others nodded agreement to that.

"What do we do about the fact that he and Malaprop are guilty of murder?" Alan asked.

"Ignore it for now," Gertrude said flatly. "Phillipe and I have several people in our employment that have pasts that would make others frown...I offered Malaprop a position if we had pulled out today, nothing I have heard would change that offer."

Alan looked a little uncomfortable, but nodded with the others at Gertrude's suggestion. He had spent too much time fighting people like Malaprop, but then again, were the Ghurkhas that fought alongside him in the past any different? They were after all just paid mercenaries...

Michael leant over to him, "I know that as you followed the military route that makes you uncomfortable. But think of it this way, we would have to silence Malaprop if he were to be left out of the agreement or he would quite rightly drag Lancelot into court after him," he whispered.

"I know, but I still don't have to like it. Breaking bones is all very well, but murder..." Alan started.

"Murder of a few mafia loan sharks that the bent police ignored despite the thousands of people they maim and disfigure? Good riddance to bad eggs in my opinion, and if I knew the names of the officers that sponsored the bastards, I would happily pay Malaprop to eliminate them as well," Michael said firmly, nodding towards the table as Arnold stood and headed towards the study as Lance's angry voice became raised again.

"What do you think Lance's reaction will be to just who Ruth Ruatha is?" Alan asked, changing the subject as James, Lancelot and Elizabeth followed Arnold back into the dining room after a few words.

"I have no idea, but he will be forced to see sense. The decision has been removed from his hands now anyway," Michael replied.

"Elizabeth, now is the time. Give your mate the file that you compiled with Malaprop, we will begin when he has read it," Gertrude stated quietly.

Elizabeth nodded and went to the hall doorway, opening it and calling Malaprop, retrieving the bundle of paperwork off him and handing it to Lance who looked up at her crossly, "What's this?" he asked.

"Just read it. Alan and I will vouch for what is in it," Michael answered firmly.

"It is all easily confirmable with a bit of time online if you won't take our words for it as well," Alan continued.

The room fell silent as Lancelot started to thumb through and scan over the information on the printed sheets. His expression changed slightly from anger to puzzlement and then back to anger again.

"What is in those papers?" James whispered to his mother.

"Jessica mate-bonded with the white dragon, Ruth Ruatha. She was disinherited and exiled by your father because he is an orphan with unknown lineage, and of the wrong scale colour."

James nodded, "I know all that. That is why he made me heir until my condition was discovered..."

"That paperwork there reveals exactly who Ruth's parents are. They were highly decorated diplomats and peace negotiators before they were murdered. Know personally to both Alan and Michael. They were also decedents of full and true colour bloodlines. The likelihood of Jessica and Ruth's offspring being anything but of full scale colours is slight. It seems Ruth's scales, like Malaprop's are just a genetic anomaly."

"Ahh, but won't the estates end up becoming Ruatha's, not Giles?" James asked quietly as his father continued to read deeper.

"No, there have been female heirs before in the Giles' line and the Gruber's for that matter. The heir's mate sacrifices his name in that case. The offspring would be baptised Giles."

"Wouldn't this Ruth fight to keep his surname?" James asked shocked.

"Not if he loves her. Besides the name Ruatha means nothing to him, though he will be told of his history if they come back into the fold. He had a sister he knows nothing of...but she died at hatching."

"Oh..." James looked up as his father placed the papers on the table in a heap.

"This changes nothing...Ruth Ruatha is still a runt!" Lance growled.

"It changes everything Lance. Would royalty and politicians attend and weep at your funeral if you died suddenly? I don't think so. Ruth Ruatha's blood is a pure as yours or mine, and at least his parents worked to get where they were before they were blown up. You have never lifted a finger to help others. The children he fathers with Jessica will be of full colour, so no-one within our social standings would ever raise an eyebrow when they hatch into the position of titular heirs. Hell, look at the royals now. Harry is no more Charles' son than I am, but the people turn a blind eye. William has even married a commoner. If you can persuade Jessica to forgive you and come home, the Giles name can live on with pride here in London." Alan stated angrily.

"So you are going to bail me out then?" Lance said, without agreeing to the previous statement.

Alan shook his head in disgust and gestured to Arnold to take over before he said something he would regret. "We have agreed to bail out the family estates, yes. But you will have to sign legally binding documents over the conditions that we are imposing."

"Whose solicitor will write them up?" Lance asked slyly.

"Mine. The others will all countersign as well. We are in this together, or not at all," Arnold answered.

"What are the conditions then," Lance said resignedly, his last hope of sidestepping gone, suddenly looking all of his age.

"We are keeping all your coded diaries and all your financial ledgers. They will be destroyed only upon your death. They are being held as security against any further perfidious acts. They will be handed over to Scotland Yard if you breach any of the terms we set. All children of the Giles line, regardless of scale colour or origin are to be admitted to, and allowed the use of any family properties that they wish, providing that there is room available. Having overheard James, that offer extends to those who are adopted into the family as well," James smiled at that amendment. "Elizabeth and I will be in total control of the estates financial running until such time as the heir is residing in the manor and able. You will not be allowed any further financial independence. As to the matter of an heir...If Jessica refuses to come back into the fold, which after the way you have treated her I wouldn't blame her; the estates will be put into trust until one of her and Ruth's children are designated as heir. You are likely to be dead before they come of age, so Jessica can then assume her position as head of the family until they can assume the mantle." Arnold paused as each blow fell on Lance's bowed head.

"We siblings have pooled our liquid resources, and upon you signing the agreement will release eight million, nine hundred and fifty thousand into the estate's accounts after your signature has been removed from them. All your old debts will be paid off in full, and then I will invest the remainder to provide a stable income for here and the support of Garda that I estimate to be around seven hundred and fifty thousand per annum before tax. I believe the other properties are ticking over in a self-sufficient manner, though I will also work with their estate managers on getting them back to providing an income which will be used to pay us back. You are to staff to an acceptable level and start answering positively to social events again so the Giles' of Regent's manor are not forgotten. There should be just enough spare to begin hosting events again as well. As for your crimes...they will not leave this room. If the mafia do find out about your part in their underdogs disappearance, you would be better off in the custody of the jails as you will not be permitted more protection than Malaprop. You had better hope that none of this leaks out, as your life and his are likely forfeit. Are you completely clear on all that?" He finished firmly.

"Yes," Lancelot said, staring at the table while his mind tried to find a way out of it.

"Good, now any further questions before we all eat and then head home?" Arnold asked.

"Ahem...I know that I can no longer actually be heir...and I thank you for the concession that any children I adopt with Lorna get equal status as family...but...erm..." James petered off as he felt guilty about what he wanted to ask.

"You want to know what will happen to you now that Jessica is to be offered her position back?" Alan said quietly.

"Well yes...but..."

"Justin can answer that for you I believe, as he is the youngest of us," Alan said, smiling.

"If, as I am sure he can, Arnold gets the estates running profitably again, the standard Giles, 'Will and Testament' will be applied to the estate when your father dies. The key properties will transfer into the control of the heir and oldest offspring, unless stipulated otherwise. They are to be in trust, so as to avoid inheritance taxes. Sixty percent of the liquid and bonded funds after tax will go with them, and the remaining forty percent, minus smaller bequeathments to friends and servants will go to other siblings to be divided equally, or all to a single sibling as in your case. That is as it has been for over a thousand years and how it is written in the family charter. Obviously banishment from the family alters that, but under the terms we have set out today, your father cannot do that to you. Your position is secure, the same as mine was. Arnold, Gertrude, Jools, Alan and Michael got exactly the same inheritance as me, despite them being older." Justin reassured him.

"Ahh, thank you Uncle Justin," James said nodding, "I have nothing more to say then."

Arnold walked over to the dinner gong and struck it, "Well then let's eat. Gerty has a flight to catch, and my mate for one will want to grill me over this before I retire tonight!"

The others laughed as Malaprop appeared took the orders, "You need a hand in the kitchen Malaprop?" Jools asked.

"No Sir, thank you. You stay and talk with your siblings about less serious things while you are all together. Owen will act as waiter for me tonight, and Heather will lay the table," Malaprop replied, leaving the room alone.

Gertrude glanced at the table which was still covered in mounds of paper and boxes. She clapped her hands, "Come, let's get this back where it all belongs before that poor cheetah comes in and has a heart attack. Shouldn't take more than five minutes if we all work together."

The others laughed again and gathered some boxes up, letting Elizabeth lead them back into the study so that they could be filed away in order. The ones that were being held back were carefully stacked by the door so they could be taken away with them as they left.

Lance remained sitting, brooding in his chair at the tables head. 'Could he get around what had happened today? He would have to work on it!' he thought silently to himself.

~~~~

Jessica shielded her eyes as they walked out of the hotel onto the cliff-top at twenty to eleven. The sun was shining in a cerulean blue, fluffy white cloud spotted sky, but instead of a sea breeze the wind was coming from the East, hitting their backs. She sniffed the air as her light dress was pressed tightly against her scales, "Looks like Autumn is coming love," she said quietly as they both watched the gentle rollers caressing the sand as the off shore wind whipped white horses from their leading edges.

"What was that love?" Ruth asked, not catching her words as he was absorbed by the view.

"Autumn's coming, you can feel and smell it on the breeze. I'll bet you London and the South-East are feeling the chill this morning," she repeated, elaborating slightly.

Ruth sampled the air-currents himself, nodding. "How long do you think it will be before the first cyclonic chill reaches us here? We need to be able to fly comfortably back to shore and as we will be wet, we don't really want a cold headwind."

Jessica glanced at the clouds again, "We should have until the afternoon...we could always swim ashore if we can't get airborne."

"I couldn't..."

"You forget our hosts Ruth...they will give you a tow if required," Jessica interrupted him, "Come on, let's take a leisurely glide out to the rocks. This tailwind will help us."

They stepped apart and waited for a slight lull in the brisk breeze, before they tipped themselves over the edge of the cliff's safety wall, snapping their wings open to cup the air as they fell side-by-side until nature's breath lifted them aloft and allowed a gentle glide out towards the open water. "Let's see if we can spot the caves," Jessica called as the sand gave way to water under their trailing feet.

A couple of cubs building sandcastles looked up as their shadows blocked the morning sun for a single second...the older ones opening their mouths as Jessica's lack of underwear became patently obvious as her dress flapped around her flight rigid tail. The cubs' guardian's tutted and offered stern gazes at the elder ones, effectively silencing their burgeoning comments.

Ruth nodded, banking with her to sweep along the base of cliffs, wings picking up the updrafts that were generated by the waves as they crashed against the unbroken rock faces. There were no noticeable openings anywhere, although patches of what was obviously well weathered concrete showed in places. Granite boulders were piled below the waterline in places as well, breaking up the swells. It was odd and obviously not natural as the cliffs were patently sedimentary in nature. A few large silvery shapes undulated through the water beneath them, pacing the shadows they were casting in the water, but didn't surface to introduce themselves, "I don't see the caves love," he called out.

"Well they must be somewhere; we saw that all the provender was fresh at the restaurant..." Jessica replied, "That flooded tunnel of Gio's must lead to them...though it is well above sea level where it enters the establishment."

"I am sure he will tell us, maybe the 'caves' he talked about are just sheltered area's underwater out by the rocks. As for the tunnel, did you notice the water level drops about a foot or so every time he delivered ingredients, or when Philly arrived?"

"I did...why?"

"My guess is a pressure lock and pump. The tunnel is probably bored through the rock below the low-tide level, and the delivery point is just a shaft into it that is sealed and refilled every time someone enters the lock at the bottom of it."

"That would explain that part of it, and it would make sense. It must have cost an absolute fortune to build though," Jessica replied, banking out towards the rocks where she could see a few Delphinic heads bobbing in the surf, waiting for them.

Ruth followed her, but quickly pumped his wings a few times to gain altitude above her, as he was being granted the same view the cubs and the parents had been on the beach. The threat of being unable to land was pressing at his trousers, but abated as he lost his line of sight...'I must talk to her about trying 'Exercitationes Conjungens' when we get a chance,' he thought again.

Gio chirped a welcome as they came into land on the outcropping that poked itself a few feet above the waves, Ruth glanced around and then ducked as the water exploded in front of him as Philly launched herself airborne with a squeal and soared over him, brushing his head horns with her flukes before landing with a huge splash in the water on the other side of the rocks. The leap must have been over fifteen feet long, and a good ten feet high in the middle...She surfaced again, tail walking towards him and planting a kiss on his nose, "Welcome to ourrrr worrrrld Rrrruth, Jessica. See we can fly too but you can't swim!" she squealed before Gio knocked her tail out from under her with his melon, causing her to collapse sideways into the water with a large splash.

"Neonati! No manners! You alright Ruth?" Gio asked looking concerned. The water was boiling under the waves where Philly had disappeared as Ruth was shaking the seawater from his head and lips.

"Yes fine, is she alright?" Ruth gestured at the disturbances in the water.

"Oh yes, her mother Chrystal, my Alpha female is just chastising her. She should not take risks with leaps like that unless she has checked the above surface conditions. Had she misjudged she could have killed herself landing on the rocks. We weigh nearly a quarter of a tonne out of the water and an impact like that would have crushed her ribs and cartilages." Gio reassured him. A loud puff of air sounded as Philly surfaced behind him and blasted her spent air out in a puff of water droplets. "Come Philly, now greet our guests properly!"

"I never thought of it that way..." Ruth started.

"You weigh that much?" Jessica interrupted him, surprised.

"Why yes...The water is cold and supports us with its embrace. We have many layers of insulating fat and blubber...You land and air dwellers can wear clothes to warm you, our clothes are under our skins. We are bigger than you as well from our beaks to our tails." To make the point he allowed his full body, rather than just his head to surface in the wavelets, showing the two observing dragons that he was nearly twelve feet long from beak to fluke tip. He silvery skin was covered in scars and blemishes, but his body was a perfectly streamlined shape formed of cords of muscle that showed clearly wherever they were being flexed. "Of course, most of our length is in our tails and fluke blades. Our bodies torso's are not that much bigger than yours," he continued, grinning his perpetual grin.

"I will not try and lift you then when we are having fun!" Jessica said laughing.

Gio laughed, Philly joining her father in his mirth, "And no strrrrong male drrrragon trrrricks frrrrom you eitherrrr Rrrruth. If you want me to change positions...just ask. We can hearrrr you even if we arrrre submerrrrged. It was fun to swim underrrr you with my pod-mates as you flew down the cliff bottoms. What werrrre you looking forrrr?"

"The caves Philly...We thought that this liaison was to be held in your sea-caves," Ruth answered her.

"And it will...there is only one navigable surface entrance now and that is locked. When I found this place as a wandering bachelor thirty years ago, I saw the potential and after I secured the lease on them and the restaurant for 150 years, I had the cave entrances filled in above the sea level. They are still open to the tides below the waterline so the water is changed twice a day. I also had the granite breakwater boulders from Scotland dropped in from above to slow further erosion, and the pressure tunnel bored from the restaurant into them. They are so well sheltered now that I have even got some plants from my home waters growing in them." Gio said, answering for her.

"You say you were a bachelor...where did your Pod come from, and for that matter the funds?" Jessica asked, "I am sorry if I sound rude, but my knowledge of sea dwellers is incomplete."

"So is that of many land dwellers. At least you are polite enough to ask. The others who we have invited before you have just taken what have offered without trying to understand us. Not that we mind...I would not invite singles or couples to join the Pod for fun unless we were going to enjoy ourselves as much as they. To answer though, once my position was secured I sent out an invitation via the sub-sea echo-graph to all unattached females and males that had an interest to form a new Pod. My Alpha female, Chrystal was one of the first to arrive, along with my other seven core members, five other females and two Beta males who you may meet in the caves. The rest of the Pod are my offspring, and that of the other two males who I allowed to mate with my least favourite of the new females. Four ladies is enough for me as a harem, and of course I educate my daughters and granddaughters and those of my Beta's in sex as is my duty as Alpha. We number over forty now and our territory covers around two hundred square miles of the waters around here. No fishing is allowed without my permissions, though we have a seal colony with rights living amongst us on the headland, and of course our bigger cousins, the Orca's and the Whale's pass through with our blessings. We do not begrudge the sea loving avians a meal either, just that of commercial fishers. Under maritime law, we may sink any commercial vessels that ignore our warnings, providing we rescue the crews. Our offspring leave the Pod if they wish to when they mature, and other youngsters who accept my leadership join...That way the blood remains fresh and our offspring can bear children safely of their own." Gio finished. "It may be a little difficult for you to understand our culture, as we are not monogamous in our relationships as you are..." he added after a few seconds silence.

"We would not be here if we were monogamous," Ruth said grinning, "Though I am loyal to only one, Jessica."

Jessica hugged him, "We do not judge, but we would be arrested if we took one of our children to our bed on land..."

"That is a strange law that somehow got sneaked through the land Parliaments as society matured. We of the ocean choose to ignore it, as do those who uphold the laws of the waves. Who better to educate children than their parents? Chrystal does the same in her role as Alpha female with the young males and my sons in the Pod, as I choose not to be bisexual in my fun," Gio answered, interrupting her. "As for the funding, well you English were not very careful sailors in the past. Many wrecks line your shores, I just hunted for one that lay undiscovered and claimed it as treasure trove. Its holds contained around two metric tonnes of gold coins, which I recovered with the help of a sea otter crew when my claim was verified by the law."

"I enjoy yourrrr continued educations fatherrrr," Philly piped in, having listened to the conversation, "And the prrrractice with my motherrrr, sisterrrrs, brrrrotherrrrs, uncles, aunts and cousins. It is parrrrt of the life underrrr the waves that we all enjoy."

"By the time members of the Pod are ready to leave on their own journeys of discovery and independence, they are all able to satisfy every need of their own sex, and that of the opposite. It was the same in my case before left my home waters, as it was for my parents, and will continue to be for my many descendants after I am gone. One of my sons will take my position as Alpha when I wish to slow down a little. We no longer kill each other for the right, and we only ever fight for supremacy," Gio said, taking over from Philly, but watching the dragons for any signs of disapproval in their expressions. "Some of my scarring comes from teaching my sons and daughters the ways and wherewithal's to win, so they may take an Alpha position in a new Pod if they wish."

"May I be so bold as to ask why they would not wish to?" Jessica asked, enjoying the education that they were receiving at the fins of their hosts.

"I can answerrrr that," Philly piped in excitedly, "I would not want the rrrresponsibilities of being an Alpha female. It is much betterrrr to be a centrrrral memberrr of a stable Pod. The Alpha's in ourrrr society arrrre ourrrr prrrrotectorrrrs and guarrrrdians. Of those that leave the Pod, only maybe ten perrrrcent surrrrvive to found theirrrr own, orrrr join a new Pod as a Beta. I am happy herrrre in these waterrrrs, and I will bearrrr childrrrren of my own this yearrrr forrrr the continued health of the Pod."

Jessica nodded, "You will be guardian to your children though?"

"Yes and no...We arrrre all guarrrrdians to the Pod's offsprrrring. We only take note of who's womb bearrrrs us, and whose cock prrrrovides the seed when we arrrre ferrrrtile so that the blood rrrremains purrrre. Sex outside ourrrr ferrrrtile cycles is forrrr fun...we take ourrrr chosen orrrr grrrranted mates away frrrrom the play when we arrrre grrrranted perrrrmission by our Alphas to conceive."

"So you are not fertile today?" Ruth asked carefully.

"No...though I would not have postponed the opporrrrtunity. I have become prrrregnant everrrrytime I have become ferrrrtile since puberrrrty. I just aborrrrt the ferrrrtilised eggs beforrrre they starrrrt development, including those of my fatherrrr. Should I keep them without perrrrmission, it would mean expulsion frrrrom the Pod. That would mean my death and that of my unborrrrn calves unless whomeverrrr farrrrtherrrred them chose to leave with me and was strrrrong enough to found anotherrrr Pod."

"That is a little harsh, is it not?" Ruth asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It is the law of the ocean...Something that we all live and die by. Those that choose not to, do so by their own choice. The sharks and Mother Nature are the judges and juries in our society. A lone dolphin, seal, or even a whale is a free target for a food source when they have no protection of numbers. Thus is the cycle of life in the ocean. There is never any murder or abuse amongst the civilised species that have been granted the gift of speech. That cannot be said for those on the land or in the air. Our system, in many ways, is better." Gio said, taking over. "Now are we here for fun, or are we here to learn more?"

"Learning can be fun too," Jessica said, "But I am ready to learn the ways of the Pod in the water now..."

"Good, Philly, fetch the key." Gio commanded.

Philly bobbed her head and dived smoothly without leaving a ripple, only to return a few seconds later with a stainless steel ring in her beak which she threw up to Ruth with a flick of her head. "Where is the surface entrance then?" Ruth asked as he neatly caught it, examining the complicated, multi-spine key that was hanging on the gleaming metal.

"Look to the shoreline. Follow the cliff top along until you see telephone box. Immediately below that box you will find a natural crevice in the limestone. It is not visible from the air, so land by the box and scramble down the cliff path that is cut down to the beach. Around ten feet in, you will find the grating with that lock in it. Please, lock it behind you after you have entered. There are around one hundred steps cut into a bored shaft after you have turned the corner. I have infrared lighting installed that should pick you up and illuminate the way for you. Leave the key on the ledge at the top of the staircase. Do not be surprised at what you find when you reach the bottom, but be careful as the ledge it opens onto can be a little slippery on occasions." Gio explained as the dragons absorbed his instructions. "You can take the short route in if you wish to avoid the stairs, but you would have to hold your breaths for around twenty seconds."

"I would do that, but Ruth here can't swim as I explained. I will join him going the long way around instead," Jessica replied to the suggestion.

"Very well, but we could easily tow him in...Some of our other guests have opted for us to do that for them..." Gio started.

"Thank you for the offer, but I must decline Gio. I feel that my first time fully in the water would not be best served in a dark and flooded tunnel. I am still young and fit enough to manage the stairs." Ruth said, stopping him mid-flow.

"Mmm, Okay. We will be awaiting you in around fifteen minutes. Please, stay in the main cavern if you get there before us. The others are used mainly as our gardens, but the entrance cavern is our shelter and communal area. We can always offer you a tour when you are in."

"Is it not a little dark in there?" Ruth asked.

Philly let out a whistle in mirth, "We use it as ourrrr garrrrdens Rrrruth. Sea plants need light as well, as do the crrrreaturrrres that we farrrrm forrrr the rrrresterrrraunt. My fatherrrr was verrrry cleverrrr when he designed ourrrr prrrroperrrrties. You will see!" She said, flicking a little water in his direction she rolled onto her back to show her pink belly and flushed slit, "Now please...I am rrrready forrrr you. I will knock you off yourrrr rrrrock soon and we will have to do it in view of the shorrrre if you do not come to me!"

Jessica laughed, which stopped Gio from ducking his errant daughter again, "We are coming now Philly," she said stretching her wings, nudging Ruth before taking off.

Gio watched as his fun to be launched with a powerful gathering of her thigh muscles...his view was as good as the one those on the beach had seen earlier. "Your mate is as good looking underneath as she is to speak to," he said addressing Ruth, stalling his launch.

"As good looking as Philly is to me Gio," he replied smiling.

"You are lucky Ruth...Jessica would make a wonderful Alpha."

"I will let you into a secret Giovani..." The dolphin swam closer as Ruth bent down to the water's edge nodding, "She already is in bed!"

Giovani laughed, blowing water out of his blowhole in a fountain. "Ha ha, very good. I will heed your warning. If she wants to run our play, I will let her then!"

Ruth backed back up onto the rocks and launched himself up to join Jessica who was circling them, waiting for him. "What was that about?" she asked as they headed towards the indicated phone box.

"Oh just a little private joke love," Ruth replied nonchalantly.

Jessica stared at him over her shoulder, "Liar," she said grinning, "He said something about me didn't he?"

"Maybe...But if you can, try teaching him a lesson or two as you play. He will accept the tutoring if you catch my drift." Ruth replied, returning the smile.

"Ah...you told him I was your Alpha female then," Jessica deduced, closing the airspace between them so she could kiss him from above in mid-flight.

"Well you are in bed love...I am very much the Beta there."

"Mmm, once maybe. I prefer to think of you as being my equal in everything now love. When we have our family on land, we will head it as equals, even though you will be out working most of the time. None of our hatchlings will disrespect their father like Philly does Giovani."

"Sassiness can be character building love. I do not want our children growing up as I did..."

"It did you no harm Ruth...but I will not let them be prudish. They couldn't be with me hosting my sales parties anyway!"

Ruth laughed, "We will take it as it comes then."

They landed next to each other in perfect unison and found the paths start exactly where Giovani indicated it would be. Ruth led the way down, turning into the crack after descending to it. From the graffiti and carvings all over the soft stone, it was obviously used as a meeting place for adolescent couples who fancied getting away from their parents for an hour or two. There were even a few used condoms scattered in some of the deeper grooves in the floor. Ruth shook his head, stepping carefully over them. "I would like to see what the parents of cubs that come exploring here say when their offspring bring these out as prizes," he said in disgust to Jessica.

"I would probably say they were Jellyfish and tell them to throw them over the side before they got stung," Jessica replied, "You would have thought people would be a little cleaner in their habits. Or that the council would tidy up such a public place."

"I would have thought it Giovanni's responsibility as he owns this entrance," Ruth replied as he slipped the key into the lock in the slightly rusted grating. The bars were over two inches thick and crosshatched to stop even the smallest cub from slipping between them. A draft breathed its way in and out through them, matching the wave's movements far below them. A brightly painted signed declared that trespassers would be punished under the terms of the oceanic law. By the time someone curious enough to try and break through was old enough, they would know that probably meant death.

They stepped through the door, locking it behind them before walking down the gentle slope into the darkness and around the corner. A gentle glow sprang into life as Ruth's body heat activated the promised sensor in the ceiling, small incandescent bulbs in waterproof fittings glowing just enough to light the tunnel, but not enough to be seen from the cliff entrance they assumed. The staircase appeared, and the ledge that Gio had told them about with a hook for the keys ring to be hung upon. The 'push me pull you' draft was stronger now, the scent of the brine strong to their nostrils as they began climbing down in silence, only the whispering of the water accompanying their footfalls. Ruth gasped as he exited the tunnel at the bottom of the flight, passing through a steel sliding door that was retracted into the roof. Jessica almost bumped him off the ledge he was standing on he had stopped so abruptly. Philly had not been wrong when she said that Giovanni had been very clever in his adaptation of the caverns.

The first thing that was noticeable was that the space was well lit and far warmer than outside. The water was still around ten feet below them, rising and falling in large swirls and bubbles as the waves smashed against the cliffs outside, forcing it through the unseen subsurface entrance. Ruth and Jessica gazed in awe at the ceiling which was at least twenty feet above them. There were seven large crystal glass stars cemented into the naked rock roof. Each was at least seven feet in diameter with fifteen or twenty arms of solid glass extending from their core globes. They cast the light so evenly that it was like they were standing on the beach outside under a cloudless sky. No bulbs seemed to be evident, but the illumination was so bright it was impossible to stare at them for too long.

The far side of the cavern was terraced neatly, a series of wide canals filled with water running along lushly planted fruit beds full of raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrant's, gooseberries and redcurrants. They had all been trained carefully so the fruits all hung within eighteen inches of the salt water in the canals. Higher up the cave walls a series of solar panels were mounted, the soft humming of a pump was just audible as sea water was raised into the canals, refreshing them constantly, the old water spilling in waterfalls through two, three foot high tank steps that led up to the canal system from the oceanic swells in the caverns floor. A couple of dolphins surfaced noisily in the churning pool below them, squinting in to the light before they dived noiselessly again into the depths.

"I would guess that the caretakers just spotted us," Ruth said grinning as he came out of his observational trance and started down the last few steps to a small, obviously artificial sandy beach, no more than fifteen feet long that had been built into the caverns floor. From the noise of water pounding, the wall of rock it backed onto was the cliff-face. Jessica nodded and followed him down to the unpolluted sands with a smile. Two other path ledges led in opposite directions from the beach, heading under low, water flooded archways into adjoining caves, but he and Jessica stayed put as requested.

Giovanni and Philly surfaced then, their perpetual grins highlighted in the strong light from above, "You like it?" Gio asked as he swam towards them.

"It is amazing and beautiful. No one would believe that it is here unless they saw it. How are the stars lit?" Jessica asked approaching the water's edge.

"Solar tunnels. There are holes bored through the cliff face out to the sunlight that are lined with mirrors. They reflect down to the glass stars which then magnify and refract it out evenly providing both heat and light. This is my fruit cave as you can see; I have four others attached by tunnels to here that supply a lot of the veg as well. A very talented goat with his own key comes down here twice a week and cultures the soil for us, training the plants. We harvest by using the lock tanks to access the canals, and the plants are watered from a natural spring that emerges in the next cave via tanking and pipes after suitable nutrients have been added. What you see though is but a small portion. Come, shed you clothes and place them on the shelf so that they do not get wet, and join me and Philly in the water and I will show you what can't be seen from above."

Jessica didn't hesitate; she shucked her dress and folded it neatly on the rocks before walking into the water, stopping as her right foot suddenly met no resistance. "Whoops, sorry. The beach drops off vertically so we can utilise the whole of the cave," Gio apologised. She shrugged and stepped into the abyss, allowing her back to submerge before bobbing up and shaking her wings out, lying them flat on the water's surface.

"I should have anticipated that," she said grinning. "The water is very turbulent though I can feel the undercurrents towing at my legs and tail. Ruth won't be able to swim in this like me," she said paddling in order to keep afloat as she was pulled out into the middle of the cavern.

"Philly, call the others in, those that are not on patrol. Then close the storm baffles on all the entrances," Gio said, Philly nodding before she dived. "When they are in and the gates closed, the water will still. Please Ruth, you may join your mate and get used to the lagoon, I will not allow you to be sucked under."

Ruth folded his trousers and shirt, placing them next to Jessica's dress before he too stepped off the beach ledge into the water. He sank, flailing as the currents grabbed at him, pulling him down under the ledge where the ocean was pouring in and out. He started to panic before Giovanni slipped underneath his belly and propelled him upwards back into the air again, supporting him until Jessica guided him over to the opposite side of the lagoon where the water was slightly calmer.

"Wings out love, flat on the water's surface. Take long deep breaths, your body will float naturally when it is not being pulled upon," she said, calming his rapid breathing as Gio slipped out from under him and surfaced, floating nearby as numerous other dolphin heads started appearing, including that of a number of calves. A rumble was felt through the lagoon, vibrations passing from the rock as unseen machinery began to move. Several other dolphins swam in from the adjoining caverns until there were over twenty in the pool with them, chattering away to each other.

"I'm alright now," Ruth said, letting go of the rocks as the water ceased its movement, only the ripples caused by the rest of the Pod on the surface now present.

Philly surfaced with a spray of spume, observing Ruth as he floated back out into the middle of the pool with Jessica at his side, "He sank then, didn't he?" she asked cheekily.

Gio darted over and slapped her with a pectoral, "Stop it! Do you want your play with him, or do you want to be turned over to your brothers and cousins?" he shouted, chasing her as she tried to avoid his punishment.

"Stop please," Ruth said, his breathing back to normal, "I panicked sorry. The last time I swam was when I was a kid and that was in an indoor pool. I forgive her..."

Giovani gave up his chase and slowed to a halt in front of him, "I offer you Chrystal as an apology for Philomena's actions, and mine for believing that I could keep you from submerging before the waters were stilled." A slender dolphin who was far more scarred than her daughter swam up to Gio's side, rolling to show that she was happy to give herself as offered.

"I...I..." Ruth started, not sure if he would insult Giovanni if he declined the use of his Alpha female.

"I would be delighted to take my daughters place," Chrystal said, rubbing her melon along Ruth's neck scales before submerging and trickling bubbles from her blowhole as she swan down his stomach and exhaled into his slit.

Philly floated off to one side as she watched her mother play the whore...one of her cousins nudged her in an invite, but she snapped at him, wanting to see how her preferred conquest would react.

Jessica leaned across as an expression of pleasure crossed Ruth's face as the air bubbles started to elicit a reaction from his member, "Offer to take them both, Chrystal first," she whispered inaudibly. "You are more than capable."

Ruth smiled and kissed her before turning to Gio who was watching for his forestalled answer, "I would be honoured to share your Alpha Giovanni, but your daughter should not suffer for the ill manners of her youth. If I may, I will offer myself to her for my second wind."

Gio nodded, "Very well Ruth. It is only fair that she should get your less potent seed. Shall we begin?"

"Yes, though Chrystal already has!" Ruth said, grinning as he gave in to her ministrations and allowed his shaft to start slipping from his cavity.

Gio splashed water in mirth, "Yes she can be like that...once she has my permission even I cannot escape her until she is satisfied!" He submerged and Jessica suddenly arched her back, gasping as Giovanni targeted his beak straight into her nether lips, starting his tonguing of her straight away.

Chrystal meanwhile had started licking at Ruth's shaft. He knew he was leaking pre into the water, but surely she could not taste the salinity in the sea's heavy brine. He watched as Philly submerged gently as his balls finally swung free to float in the water. A second tongue joined the first one, titillating them but in a far less experienced manner. He felt like a living bath toy floating there unable to do anything for his dual partners as they manipulated him skilfully out of both his sight and his reach. Maybe it was the fact they were invisible, or the fact that he had an audience watching him and Jessica meant that his first orgasm was approaching more rapidly than usual. Or maybe it was the fact that his most secret of fantasies was being fulfilled...and mother and daughter working him over together and in unison. His balls began retracting as his shaft began to pull tight to his stomach...

Jessica was not fairing much better as Giovanni delved as deeply within her as he could, his beak hitting the immovable barrier of her tightly contracted cervix. He was sucking the sea in through his slightly parted lips before he blew it gently into her vagina, filling her with its cool sterility. The experience was extremely intense for her, just like she was using one of her ejaculating toys without remembering to warm up the lube first! His melon started to vibrate against her clit and she knew that she was close, the water leaking back out into the sea tainted with her fluids.

Gio detected her delectable taste flooding his tongue, her muscles under her scales tightening around his beak, grasping it like it was a member...it was time. He pulled out quickly, backing away a little before ramming her just above her clit with his beak, stunning the nerves into stillness as she screamed into the cavern above her. He knew that she was being held at peak until released the nerve block with his tip from the inside. Surfacing he took a deep breath, his shaft ready and curling at its tip. "Hold me with your arms when I am in!" he shouted, getting her attention.

"My eggs," she shouted back though her pleasures "Don't ram me again!"

Gio submerged, hearing her protest and cursing himself for his lack of thought. He rolled onto his back and swam up to try and grasp her with his pectorals as was his right. She was of too great a girth though, and as his tip threatened to slip past her entrance he felt her arms encircle his head, pulling him tight to her belly. It was enough, and his prehensile tip its deepest anchor. There were a few things that dolphin males were reluctant to reveal to the outside world, one of which was that they had not evolved out of very quick releases. As soon as his stretched balls kissed her lower ring, he went into full thrust mode, his feral instincts overriding his mind. They began moving towards the cave wall as his flukes thrashed the water. He retained just enough conscious action to press his tip tightly against the dragoness' clitoral base, releasing her blocked nerve as he began flooding her vagina with his hot cum, forcing the cold seawater from it in a rush.

A subsonic signal passed between mother and daughter, Philly pulling back and ramming him in Ruth gouche, just under where his sack joined his body. The pain was intense, his balls on fire just like with Alice the night before. He couldn't release again as Chrystal pulled away from his shaft and surfaced to gain a breath with her daughter. "Thrust your hips when you feel yourself at my entrance," she said quickly, "Stop me from slipping free with your arms!" She submerged again quickly pressing herself tight to his belly.

Ruth hugged her tightly, the slightly warmer lips of her slit enveloping his tip. He did as he was bid, thrusting with both his hips and his tail, using the extra propulsion to drive himself into the eager dolphins body. "Harderrrr Rrrruth! Take herrrr harrrrderrrr or she will not climax!" Philly shouted. "I will rrrrelease yourrrr orrrrgasm as she peaks!"

Ruth redoubled his efforts, thinking back to the time in the lounge at home when he had mounted Jessica in a feral fashion. There was no purchase here though for him to shove Chrystal against. He hugged her tighter; her rubbery skin slipping constantly through his hands...his talons would just hurt her...or would they? "I can't hold her Philly, I can't brace her!" he said as he arched his back in his thrusts, hoping that she would hear.

The younger dolphin surfaced suddenly next to his head, "Use yourrrr talons...you arrrre safe up to a depth of about two inches. It will cause herrrr pain, but many of my motherrrr's scarrrrs come frrrrom rrrramming into rrrrocks while coupled with my fatherrrr. It will intensify herrrr pleasures and the sea will close the wounds quickly enough." She submerged again as he complied against his instincts, unsheathing his razors into Chrystal's back, between her blowhole and her dorsal.

The anchor was enough and her body stilled as she tried to arch away from him, his muscles straining to hold her as he hilted himself fully for the first time. Her vagina started to clamp on his cock, suckling at it as her muscles began to go into spasm. He felt a beak slide between his tail and the thrashing female dolphin's flukes. It struck him again just under his sack and the nerve was released. He vaguely heard Jessica call out something in pain, but his body took over and as he impacted with the rock wall he orgasmed powerfully, spilling his seed with carefree abandon into Chrystal's womb as she spasmed and milked him for all his worth.

As they came down from their pleasures a few of the watching Pod performed somersaults in appreciation of show, the calves swimming from their mothers sides to rub themselves against Giovanni's and Chrystal's inverted backs and dorsals. Philly surfaced next to Ruth's head, kissing him, "Rrrrelease my motherrrr now Rrrruth, rrrretrrrract yourrrr talons. She will need to brrrreathe soon."

Ruth nodded, carefully pulling his talons out of Chrystal's back, and then pushed himself away from the rock wall gently so she could swim forward and off his shaft when she wished. He could feel others nosing around his belly and thighs, none actually touching him sexually but the disturbances in the water against his scales told him they were really close. Chrystal suddenly seemed to come alive again, and he felt her vaginal muscles relaxing and releasing him from their entrapment. A quick thrust from her tail, and she pushed herself off him in a single smooth movement. The others went into a brief frenzy, calves included, rubbing against his cock as his juices and hers flooded back out into the water. "Don't mind them Rrrruth, they arrrre just tasting yourrrr seed and worrrrking themselves into a mating frrrrenzy. My motherrrr's fluids arrrre exiting the males who arrrre herrrre as well."

"Will she be alright? Does she want me to heal her?" Ruth asked as his partner finally surfaced, breathing out heavily as she allowed her sons and nephews to belly rub her and ease her tightly sealed entrance open again to leak more of her elixirs into the sea.

"Heal me? How can you do that?" she asked rubbing her melon against his neck in affection, "You were very good by the way...no one in the Pod can reach my womb like you did. It makes for a wonderful experience Philly. I hope that he is able to repeat it for you."

Ruth stabilised himself as well he could in the water and gently started to lap at Chrystal's back, easing his saliva into the wounds he had inflicted in her rubbery epidermis, "As to the first," he answered between licks, "I am doing that now if you can try and keep your back above the seawater for around thirty minutes or so to give my saliva time to work. As for the second, ask those who are still below me and rubbing my belly!"

Philly laughed and submerged to join the frenzy, coming back up again seconds later, "He could take me now motherrrr, he is errrrect again alrrrready!"

"You recover fast then Ruth...I would not be ready for another male myself for at least thirty minutes or so," Chrystal said, floating serenely next to him as Philly submerged again, applying her tongue to his shaft alone this time.

"You seem to use a lot of foreplay to satisfy the males Chrystal...do they ever really reciprocate with you?" Ruth asked quietly between licks.

"Well yes, Giovanni performed some oral play with your mate to bring her to peak before he engaged her. The Delphidae males have not managed to match land dwellers in there length of performance yet... but they can go on all day, every day though without loss of stamina. We just need a short break between each engagement. You have recharged immediately which is not something even someone of Gio's experience could do. It makes for some interesting play with land dwellers, which is why you and others before you have received our invites. You are the first for a while though that he has allowed me to play with."

"He didn't hurt our eggs did he when he struck her...I heard her call out in pain."

"I will perform a sonar scan on her belly when you allow me to submerge again...I am the Pod's medic as well as the Alpha female. If something shows wrong, I will tell you and you can get her to a hospital quickly. He is very accurate though, he would have only frozen the nerves in her clitoral hood. I would not worry too much."

"That is good to hear, though it hurt a lot when he struck me...I wish I had been given some warning," Jessica said, floating over with Gio at her side.

"A warning would have just increased anticipation, and reduced your carnal pleasures. A surprise was better Jessica. I am sure that Ruth was just as surprised when Philly acted for her mother and applied a cock block on him!" Gio said, nuzzling against Chrystal.

"As long as our eggs aren't harmed..." Jessica said in response.

"They will not be. Occasionally when in training a youngster will misjudge the strike, but not me. The increased blood flow of you arousal just made it feel like I struck you harder than I did. Chrystal here will confirm for you when she is allowed to submerge again. Do you want a tour of the underwater gardens while I recover my steam?" Gio asked, changing the subject.

Jessica grinned as she was watching Ruth's expressions, "I think that from the look on my mate's face, your daughter is already attempting to engage him! Let me work my skills on you and see if we can't accelerate your recovery."

She was right; Philly was on the verge of bringing him to peak again. He wanted to demonstrate to her that dolphins may be the sexual kings and queens of the ocean, but he was very apt in his training to. Ruth reached for the disobedient cetacean as she belly rubbed him again, teasing his cock tip with her swollen lips. His talons caught her melon, drawing blood and causing her to surface spluttering air through her blowhole, "Ouch! That hurrrrt!" she squealed in indignation.

"Roll over Philly, you do not get all your own way with me," Ruth said ignoring her protests. "Brace yourself somewhere where I can reach you."

"Why...what do you have planned?" she asked suddenly.

"Dragons have long tongues my dear. It is time that someone taught you some sexual manners!"

Philly shivered, glancing at her mother and father who both nodded, chin slapping the water in mirth, "Do as he says daughter, this should be a lesson for the whole Pod," Chrystal said as Jessica reached across and manually rolled Giovanni over in the water.

"I will provide the same service from the female perspective," Jessica said she began nosing at Gio's tightly sealed slits, teasing at them with her tongue.

"Good, good. Use the tanks ramp, or the beach." Chrystal suggested. "Service them where we can all watch and learn!"

Philly swam over to the beach, rolling at the last minute so that the back of her head and blowhole were resting on the sands, the rest of her exposed for all to see. "This had betterrrr be good Rrrruth. This is verrrry uncomfy forrrr me with my dorrrrsal bent overrrr like it is."

"It will be good Philly, I can assure you of that," Ruth replied as with a wave of water, her father beached himself in a similar fashion next to her.

Pinning her to the sand with her pectorals, he went straight for the prize, causing Philly to arch her back and tail-slap him hard on the chest under the water, almost knocking the wind out of him. His tongue snaked between her swollen and flushed lips, probing and diving for her still buried treasures. He grinned to himself as he applied suction in strategic places to her vulva, something no dolphin could ever do, flushing deeper patches of red to the surface until her genitals looked like they had been love bitten from the base of her tail to her belly. There were no visible nipples to target of course, but recalling something that he had read years previously at college, he kept teasing her with his tongue until he found what he was looking for. Something was beating at his eardrums, but he couldn't actually hear anything other than the other dolphins vocalising with each other as they crowded close to watch his actions.

Releasing one fin, he used his free hand to prize her folds apart to reveal what his tongue was agitating. It was still virgin in its nature as she had not yet born young, unswollen and sealed tightly in its sheath-like home. Slipping a talon gently underneath it while not laying off in his search for the other one with his tongue, he fished it out and applied a gentle suction to it, grinning to himself as it expanded in reaction to her feral instincts, Philly calling out loudly with a chitter that echoed around the cavern. He wondered what dolphin milk would taste of...and if he would actually get to sample it as he had with Amy's rabbitty offerings. The other one located, he did the same, alternating his sucking now like an automated machine until each nipple was standing slightly proud of her slit and her first dragon induced orgasm ripped through her body.

Philly was shocked when Ruth dived straight into her. Some of the male dolphins had done the same with their beaks, but the scaly nature of the dragon's snout shocked her into slapping him hard. She relaxed though as she felt his tongue begin its skilful work, probing deeply and slipping even through her cervix into her womb without parting her walls in the way a shaft did. The fact that she was still tightly sealed together inside highlighted the pleasures of the sensations he was inflicting upon her. Every kiss he applied to her lips pulled more blood-flow to her intimate areas until she felt she was on fire and she started vibrating with sub-sonics echoing out from her melon, unable to vocalise well with her blowhole pinned tightly to the beaches sand.

Something strange was going on, she could feel his tongue reaching for parts of her that had not been touched before, and very tempted to roll free when he suddenly released one of pinioned pectorals. It was like an electric shock ran through her as he pulled her virgin teat free of her slit, sucking on it hard like a starving calf. She knew what he had done of course, having done it to her mother, but her mother's were already swollen, leaking milk and proud of her genitalia when she had latched on to them soon after birth. Something primal stirred within her, making her scream in pleasure as an orgasm ripped through her, Ruth never laying off for a minute from his suckling of her dry teats, even when she flooded the area around them with her sexual release. She could vaguely hear the excited chattering of underwater conversations going on between her mother and the Pod, but as she was not submerged, she could not translate them. She realised then that Ruth was not letting her come down, and that he had started add his attention to her third nubbin, not as large as her now swollen teats, but none the less just as delectable to him and even more sensitive to her.

Giovanni tensed as Jessica tried to recharge him quicker than he was able, he had allowed her to roll him, and then upon hearing the instructions suggested by his Alpha, he followed his daughter rapidly and beached himself next to her on his back. He agreed privately with Philly, the position could not be held for long without some extreme discomfort, but he at least was too polite to say so. What Jessica was doing to him was stirring something, but not yet having her desired effect. She could not defeat the Delphinic male's curse, no matter how skilled she was...

He drew a sharp breath. He found himself pinned tightly to the sand with his draconic lover's hands, in the same way his daughter was just a foot or so away from him. Jessica was probing hard at his lower slit...the one that never permitted entrance. She couldn't be trying to break the cardinal rule could she? Few people understood that even in homosexual relationships amongst his kind, they only even docked slits. Nothing could penetrate his sphincter without damaging it, it was designed that way by nature to ensure that no matter what depth he dove to in search of food, and his waste passage would not admit water. When he expelled, it was with as much force as when he orgasmed. She was still trying though, poking and prodding at it with her tongue...he tried slapping her chest with his tail and protesting vocally at her attempted intrusions, she just lent harder on him, trapping that too against the rocks underneath him with her weight. There was only one other way, it was uncouth, disgusting in even his own mind...he released hard, spraying her with his semi-liquid waste.

Jessica knew enough about her captured dolphin's anatomy to know what she was doing. No-one could ever succeed in docking with one anally...she was not after that though, not having the equipment...but she had a feeling that no male mammal would be absent of that most wonderful gland that hid in his waste tract. She ignored Gio's frantic thrashings and protestations, pressing harder and harder at the entrance she wished to open with her tongue...and then she felt it begin to give as he stilled. She flicked her head clear, having no wish for her face to be covered in what jetted out of it with such force that it pressed her neck scales tight to her flesh like a deep muscle massage, splattering all over the water behind her. It stank horribly, but it would wash off when she was floating free again. Her hand darted from one of his fins though, and she slipped her thumb in, talon retracted, preventing it from closing again. "I told you I would teach you something..." she breathed quietly to the helplessly paralysed Gio, extending her neck out to stare into one of his desperate eyes. She slid her talon out gently within him, until it found the nub she was after.

Gio stiffened as his action not only didn't stop Jessica; it allowed her to gain the access she desired. He was frozen with fear to a certain extent; fear that she would damage him. He had a mortal fear of surgeons, something he had never admitted to anyone as it was a weakness in an Alpha. The only time he had ever attended sea clinics or hospitals, (where the sea otters and those land dwellers with hands who could work in salt water without suffering consequences were able to repair those with fins and practiced their medicines) was when he required stitching to gashes that were too long or deep for them to heal naturally. They were also where Philly would have her palate operation if she could be persuaded; it was not as if he didn't have the money in his accounts. He watched as she leant forward to eye him, telling him that he was about to be taught a lesson like a calf. Maybe he had made a mistake in inviting the two dragons to a liaison... "Shit!" he swore as she took it a step further.

His shaft started emerging quickly, surprising him as she pierced something in his tract. His blood flow increased expeditiously as endorphins flooded his brain from a combination of the fear, pain and pleasures that were enveloping him. His...well crotch was not the right word, but he felt his tail was splitting in half from the sensations she was extracting from him. He was fully erect again, far sooner than he should have been. Jessica moved her talon within his bowels again, making him freeze in position again. He felt like he was struggling to breathe, his lungs bursting as she released his other pectoral and tweaked his shafts connecting band of flesh to his body, far harder than a punch by a well-aimed beak could. Her lips took his coiling and uncoiling tip in her mouth, manipulating it before she swallowed it, taking it deep into her throat while her teeth kissed his belly, scratching it deeply and increasing his pleasures. He was lasting longer than usual, the tweak she had applied to him seeming jamming his release nerve. Her throat rippled up and down his shaft, far tighter than her vagina, and that of his many female Pod members'. She pulled off him, just holding him by the tip, and then pinched him again as she twisted her talon on the spot she was piercing inside him.

He blew...he blew harder than she thought he could. Her mouth was flooded quicker than she could swallow, forcing her head back off him so she could breathe herself. His second and third pumps of seed splashed against her chest, adding layers of slime to the waste that was still sticking to her. She held tight to him as the prolonged orgasm continued to rip through him, before carefully removing her talon from his prostate, slipping her digit free so he could finally contract his anus again.

Ruth soon got what he was after, milk of his own from Philly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gio blow his load all over Jessica just as he managed to extract a few drops of extremely creamy elixir from his own lover's virgin glands. It was not much, probably less in quantity even than the sexual fluids she had squirted and flooded his mouth with...they were very rich though, almost yogurt like in consistency. The flush was starting to fade from Philly as his attention slipped towards savouring the taste...that would not do. He flicked his lips back to her clit, trying for and succeeding in bringing a second orgasm from her within a few short minutes.

She thrashed underneath him, body and muscles rippling from rostrum to fluke tip as it ripped her mind from her body, sending it floating into a warm and comfortable place that she hadn't visited before. She vaguely heard Ruth call something out as he continued to milk her teats for more milk that she hadn't thought she could produce...

Ruth left her thrashing for a moment, turning to face her mother, "How much weight can she support if I mount her out of the water?" he asked, suckling again at Philly's teats while awaiting an answer.

Chrystal consulted with the Pod for a few seconds, "Not much, you will have to support yourself to the greatest extent," she replied.

"Boost me out of the water when I say, I will straddle her then. Support us when I do what I have in mind, your daughter is about to have her third orgasm whether she wants it or not," Ruth replied grinning. He pinched the base of Philly's clit with his talons, holding her on peak as he sank back a little so the Pod members could gather under his ass cheeks. "Now!"

Four members of the Pod pressed their rostrums against his buttocks, thrusting hard with their tails. He was almost launched over Philly with the force, but he braced his arms on each side of her head and anchored his feet in the sand on each side of her thrashing tail. He was almost made impotent by a smack from it, but he pinned it down quickly with his own. He was almost ready to burst himself, and shuffled in the awkward position to line his tip up with the wildly gyrating dolphins slit. He thrust hard, plunging straight into his hilt, his tip ramming into and then through Philly's previously un-penetrated cervical ring. Philly froze under him, he knew that it must have been painful for her, but he continued his repositioning, lifting his ass slightly and releasing his weight off her tail as he leaned deeper into her.

Lowering his head to the side of hers he whispered, "Ready..." he curled his tail up under his ass, tracing a line up her perineum until it teased at her forbidden portal. Her eyes rolled in fear... "Steady..." He lifted his teasing from that entrance and lined it up between his hanging balls... "LEARN!!!" He thrust with his hips and tail in perfect unison, double penetrating her vagina. Shoving hard with his arms he threw his neck backwards as a counterweight while gripping her hard between her melon and beak with extended talons, the momentum of the shove lifting her off the sand as she screamed and tipped them both backwards into the water, Philly gripped hard to his belly as he submerged.

A huge cloud of bubbles filled the lagoon as Philly's scream was silenced by the water flooding her mouth and became a stream of air. Ruth had taken a deep breath in preparation, but nictated his flight membranes on his eyes so he could still see while protecting them from the saltwater as he sank fast with the dead weight of the dolphin pressing him down. She went into orgasm again as his belly scales grated against her clit, her vaginal walls clamping down hard on his shaft and trying to milk him as her mother's had. He held off as long as he could, and then let his cock flare on the other side of her cervical ring, locking them together as he filled her with his seed. He could see the shapes of other dolphins following their conjoined bodies to the caves floor, twenty feet below the surface. His breath was holding well, despite the fact he was orgasming strongly. Glancing around he observed shelves had been terraced into the submerged walls as well, forests of sea fruit carefully planted and netted in so as to avoid the caves currents ripping them from their tenuous anchors.

His mantled wings finally hit the bottom, and he paused in his thoughts as there was no way he could separate from the still orgasming Philly yet, allowing his body to settle on the rock mattress with her lying there on his belly, twitching hard in his arms as air leaked in a steady silvery stream from her blowhole, her eyes tightly closed. He was staring into a black abyss in the wall opposite which he assumed was the tunnel to the open ocean outside, blocked by whatever baffle the dolphins had had constructed. His chest was beginning to burn now with the need to breathe, and he imagined that as Philly's trail of bubbles was dying off, she must be to. They couldn't uncouple still, but he slipped his talons free of her skin, a cloud of pink blushing the water around her head and signalled to the watching Pod, pointing up at the rippling ceiling above where Jessica's green belly was floating, her head poking through the membrane, watching them. His last few inches of tail were still trapped with his shaft in his tight partner. Other dolphins were nosing at Jessica's slits gently, while the one who he assumed was Giovanni, leaned against her side, completely still in the water. A couple of the males who were obviously aroused swam to his sides and hooked themselves between his armpits and wings while he held onto their dorsals as they began thrusting hard with their flukes, driving the two of them back up towards the air.

Jessica looked around when Philly screamed as Gio sputtered to a halt. She watched as Ruth flipped himself and the dolphin he was gripping hard over backwards into the pool and disappeared rapidly under the water with a cloud of bubbles as the Pod split in the middle to avoid him landing on them. She glanced at Chrystal who was tilted on one side so she could see what was going on under the surface, "Did he plan that?" she asked as she slipped herself back into the water, Pod members immediately gathering at her sopping slits. She hauled on Gio's tail, pulling him off the beach so that he could re-float himself again as the water settled.

"He asked us to boost him onto the beach so he could couple with her...and that he was going to do something else. We didn't expect that though, or what he did with his tail," Chrystal answered, still watching with one eye as the large white shape floated down still conjoined with her obviously orgasming daughter held tightly to his belly. "They are alright though, but unless Philly gains enough sense back and shuts her blowhole, she is going to run out of air soon."

"It's Ruth I am worried about...he can't swim. Is he doing okay?" Jessica asked urgently.

"He is not leaking air so he must be holding his breath, though from the spasms and pulses that I can sense are happening where they are joined, he is orgasming strongly too."

Giovanni floated up to Jessica then, leaning hard against her side and still breathing heavily, "My Beta males and a couple of others have followed them down...they will bring them up when he signals he is ready. You lady have ruined me for a day or two!" he exclaimed, nuzzling against Jessica's neck before pulling back, "Yeuch, we must clean you up...I am sorry about what I did!"

"I incited it; you would not have let me in otherwise. I needed to get to your prostate," Jessica answered, ducking her head briefly under the water now the bubbles from Ruth's scales were dissipating and she could see.

"So that was what it was...some male furs my Beta's have docked anally with from the land mentioned it, but I didn't know I had one also. I now know what the fuss is all about, it is a shame that there is no way unless forced it can be accessed again, he muttered to himself."

Chrystal floated across to his other side, supporting him by his pectoral fin, "As the Pod's medic I would not advise trying to either. I was very concerned when I saw exactly what she was doing to you and almost pulled her off you. I extended my trust though as she seemed to know exactly what she was doing."

"Oh she knew what she was doing alright...If Philly misbehaves again in the next couple of days I will have to give her to Jacques or Randolf to chastise. I will be unable to I think." Gio said, shaking his head to clear it.

Jessica pulled her head free from the water again, "They are being propelled up now, though Philly is not yet moving," she reported, "We will need to move to one side though."

Chrystal ducked her head briefly, nodding and then sandwiching her spent mate against Jessica's side started beating the water strongly to push them towards the beach again. "Randolf would be punishment if she requires it...she has chosen Jacques to bear her first calf with when you grant permission. I do not think that she will be doing anything at all for the next few days just like you. Do you realise that Ruth has extracted three orgasms from her in the space that Jessica got just one from you? I do not think she is even conscious at the moment."

Philly was floating in a pink cloud; her fear was quelled when she felt herself seem to rip asunder as the lover she had teased plunged two appendages into her tight folds, grating her clit with his scales. Her conscious mind fading out as she screamed in a combination of pain and pleasure as Ruth's talons sunk deeply into her rostrum. She felt herself lifted off the sand as an unbelievable third orgasm struck her, driving all the breath from her lungs as she was pulled under the water again. She passed out...her muscles still trying to milk her captured shaft. If this was the way she was going to die...she could not think of any better.

The water bulged then, Philly's rigid dorsal cutting through it first and then hers and Ruth's head surfaced. His body was still entirely submerged, just his neck and head straining for the air as the two males who had helped him surface supported the weight of both of them. "You alright love?" Jessica called as the water poured from his ears.

"I...I...am fine," Ruth gasped, "I don't think Philly is though. She is still spasming, but they are getting weaker."

The dolphin on his belly still hadn't taken a breath, her body limp against him except where he was still firmly buried within her. Chrystal abandoned Gio and Jessica, swimming quickly to his side and scanning her daughter with her sonar, "Her heart's still beating but she is not breathing, Helena, Belle, launch and belly land on her behind her pectorals quickly. Ruth brace yourself and take a breath," she called urgently.

Two smaller dolphins quickly submerged from where they were watching the drama as Ruth tensed his stomach muscles and took another deep breath. The dolphins launched themselves in perfect synchronicity from either side of him about two feet clear of the water's surface, landing hard at exactly the indicated place on Philly, submerging them both again as nearly three quarters of a tonne of muscle weighed them down. Philly spasmed on him as they slipped free as many rostrums quickly pushed them back up to the air again. She started coughing, spluttering and everything else in between as both her mouth and her blowhole spasmed in the search to both empty the carbon dioxide and water from her lungs, and to fill them with fresh air again. Her vagina relaxed, releasing his tail so he could uncoil it, his orgasm was well and truly over and his shaft immediately began slipping free as well, retracting into his slit directly from hers. "Let me sink again and then right myself, we are not connected anymore."

Pain...Agonising pain crushing her ribs and pounding within her skull and rostrum... Light penetrated her eye membranes again, the light not filtered through water as her body started to spasm uncontrollably. She was coughing up water, a lot of water. Every breath that was being dragged into her body feeling like the ignited fumes from a burning fruit pudding fresh from the restaurant's kitchens. Galatea her head was hurting. She registered that she was still clasping Ruth's shaft with her vulva, and relaxed that part of her body, feeling it and his tail withdraw. She couldn't control her lungs though, all control having gone from her as her brain tried to purge her system of the toxins her lungs had introduced to her blood stream...never again...never again... Snap...her eyes opened as she reawakened.

Chrystal ducked underwater again and issued the instructions to the Pod. He felt his helpers retreat and he briefly submerged, two more dolphins slipping between his belly and Philly's to keep her above the surface as he righted himself and floated over to join Gio and Jessica. "Will she be alright?" he asked as Philly was still desperately trying to gather air into her lungs while Crystal fussed over her, repeating her scans.

"She will have a really nasty headache. Sometimes inexperienced adolescents dive too deep to try and prove themselves, running out of air before they try and surface. I have seen this reaction before. It will take a while for her blood to clear the toxins. She will not be permitted to dive again for at least 24hrs but she was caught quickly enough for Chrystal to resuscitate her. You have given her her first real mating scars on her melon Ruth; I will have to change her tag name to remind her that she is not invincible..." Gio answered for his mate.

"We should change yours as well; as you met your match too love!" Chrystal called across, interrupting him.

"Very funny love...though you have a point," he answered chirping in laughter. "I think Domino for Philly as she will have three perfectly symmetrical scars on each side of her face from Ruth's talons."

"I will have to come up with one for you involving your ass!!" Chrystal answered as the Pod erupted in mirth. "Maybe Seagull?"

"Ha ha...you would humiliate your Alpha with a name like that."

"I know...but it would be fun!" Chrystal replied, swimming back over to him and rubbing against him with affection.

"Hmmmmphhh! Will she be alright mate?" Gio asked as Philly continued to splutter heavily, water still spilling from her beak and out of her lungs.

"As you said, a bloody nasty headache and a curtailment of her ability to swim, nothing a day of total rest won't sort out. Her ribs will be bruised and possibly cracked as well from me getting her lungs started again. Hands can be very useful when it comes to resuscitation, but we make do when we need to. She will know to thank me, after she has finished cursing me." Chrystal replied.

Jessica, Ruth and Gio all laughed at that. Philly's breathing was finally stabilising slowly while she was still being supported by various Pod members. Ruth noted that one of the unfamiliar dolphins was nuzzling her constantly as he kept her above the water. "That is Jacques with her now," Gio said quietly before he cleared his throat and sent out a loud echo click that made every dolphin turn to face him, including his now conscious daughter. "I grant permission officially now that when my daughter Philomena comes into cycle again, she and Jacques may partner and conceive an accepted calf. He is to have exclusive rights to her throughout the period of her fertility."

Jacques turned to face Philly again, who still unable to speak just licked him, before starting to cough again. It was enough for all the dolphins present to squeal their approvals, Ruth and Jessica grinning and adding a little applause of their own. "Now then Jessica, you have given me my pleasures twice now, where as I believe as your host I have given you yours but once. If you would care to float yourself over towards the middle, I believe that I and my Beta's can show you another way we dolphins can pleasure a female...after of course Chrystal has scanned you to check your eggs." Gio said, nudging against her arm.

Jessica grinned and kissed Ruth, allowing herself to be guided back out into the middle of the cave. Jacques escorted Philly to one side to clear the way, but her eyes were clearing now, her breathing almost back to normal. She was obviously completely spent though. Chrystal followed Jessica out, and then submerged, pressing her melon tight against the dragoness' belly scales and beginning a slow and deep sonar click, quartering the expanse of green carefully as she interpreted the signals that bounced back to her. She nodded to herself once and resurfaced between Jess and Ruth, who had also been encouraged back out into the pool. "Your eggs are fine and healthy, if young. I believe that you are expecting two girls and a boy, but the embryos are not fully split in the shells yet, so I can't be sure. You do though need to attend a clinic at some point in the future though. You have at least two pieces of glass or china in your womb which I would have removed before your eggs grow much bigger, they may snag or cut the cords from your placenta."

Ruth glanced at Jessica who cringed a little, "Ahh...that's embarrassing. It's china, not glass, and I thought that the paras had got it all out when it happened. We appreciate the news on the children's sexes though."

"May I ask what happened; surely you do not play with china toys?" The dolphin medic asked.

"We had an argument last weekend which ended with us having a bout of make-up sex that wrecked our lounge. That was when the eggs were conceived as well. There was a lot of broken ornaments about the place and I had pieces stuck to my shaft and tip when I entered her," Ruth said as he felt quite a few dolphins congregate under him again and start teasing at his slit again. He glanced at Philly who was obviously sending subvocalisations under the water to the Pod members who were hounding him into readiness again.

"As good an explanation as any, we tend to injure ourselves when we argue...anyway nothing a camera probe could not remove. You have cracked three ribs in the past as well, but they are healed. Gio you are free to give her 'un sonar orgasmo vibrazioni' or two if that is what you had in mind."

Gio nodded excitedly, "It is the least I could do...Randolf, a help if you will." One of the male dolphins who had helped bring Ruth and Philly back up to the surface swam over. Gio ducked under the surface for a second, "Would you be offended if Randolf here docked with you for this? I am spent and it will increase your pleasures. He has not yet taken his with anyone."

Jessica glanced at Ruth, who nodded. "I have been given pleasures by more than one female today already, so it is only fair. I have a feeling from what is happening under me, my count is about to be added to anyway!"

Jessica laughed, "Do what you will with me then Gio, Randolf."

Philly swam slowly over then to Ruth, supported by Jacques, "My sisterrrrs arrrre about to do the same forrrr you as I cannot yet submerrrrge. I am sorrrry that I cannot rrrreturrrrn forrrr you myself what you have grrrranted me today."

"I am sorry that I held you so long. I did not mean to harm you in anyway," Ruth replied seriously, leaning down and kissing her melon.

"Rrrruth...if I had a choice on how I was to die...it would be the way that you gave me a passage to today. I will neverrrr forrrrget yourrrr gift to me until the day I swim thrrrrough Trrrriton's gates. I am to become a motherrrr now, I have my marrrrkings, and I have maturrrred. I will leave my teasing's to my youngerrrr sisterrrrs and cousins now." Philly said nosing him with her beak. "Now I will withdrrrraw and issue my dirrrrections frrrrom wherrrre you cannot catch me again." She signalled to Jacques who helped her to swim towards the beach.

"If you have truly curtailed her activities, you have granted a gift to all the Pod Ruth. None of my other children have been quite so much of a finful as her," Chrystal said quietly. "I will join the others under you now and add my expertise to the youths who she has enlisted as her stand in's!" She submerged gracefully and he felt another tongue join the others as they exited his shaft into full erection again.

"What are they planning love?" he called across to Jessica who was shifting in place, "You know my language studies are not as good as yours."

"I think they are about to use their sonar to vibrate us...I am not sure how though," Jessica replied, "Randolf is belly to belly with me now, though he has not yet penetrated me." Her expression changed suddenly, "He has now!"

Ruth grinned, and then felt someone's beak follow his perineum in the same way that he had with Philly's. It paused at his ass, nosing his balls apart where they were hanging free in the water. He felt a subsonic signal rattle his testes, and two dolphin beaks gently gripped them, holding them apart. 'Oh Shit!' he thought as the beak targeted on his ass withdrew. "Dracos!" he shouted as his barrier was broken through and he was penetrated by at least six inches of rubbery snout. A tongue began flicking at his walls until it found the target that Jessica had sought within Gio. His balls were released and two rostrums pressed tight against them, pressing them hard against the base of his shaft. A low vibration started to rattle his pubis, and then whoever was violating him started to feed more vibrations up their beak as it was tightly pressed against his prostate. It was too much and he lifted his head up vertically and screamed his way into his third orgasm of the orgy, flooding the water underneath him with his milk as his ass spasmed around the intruding beak in his anus. His thimble sparked and the cave roof was illuminated more with a long blast of flame which was joined seconds later by Jessica's.

Jessica was taken off guard as Randolf lined himself up carefully and then with a quick thrust of his flukes buried himself hilt deep in her ass. She felt his body twisting within her until his flukes were tickling the underside of her breasts. His cock must have been nearly bent backwards to be in the position he was in. Gio suddenly surfaced right under her chin and grinned, "We can't dock backwards, but we can dock and then turn. Now brace yourself!" He rammed himself between her breasts and Randolf's upturned flukes, parting him away from her body except where he was linked with her. Gio's beak came to rest, the tip just penetrating her lips, pressing tight against the vaginal wall that separated it from where Randolf's cock was spreading her ass wide. She could feel Randolf's chest and head pushing her tail off to one side, and heard him blowing heavily as his blowhole kept surfacing in the agitated water. It must be supremely uncomfortable, as indeed she was. Her abdominal cavity started to vibrate, and then with some further squirming the low frequency sonar Gio was emitting crept past her bladder and zeroed in on her clit. She heard Ruth blaspheme and one eye caught him go completely rigid in shock before his head extended and he lit up the cave in orgasmic fire. She passed the point of no return, and went in to full orgasm from the dual stimulation, her ass clamping down hard on Randolf's shaft as she blasted her own flames into the air above to join her mates. Randolf blew within her, filling her with his seed as he let out a loud, high pitch chattering into the cacophonous echoes that were reverberating around the caves void.

The Pod went wild, all but Philly and Jacques diving and swarming the two heaving dragons and their lovers. The water erupted around them into fountains as tails were slapped, calves to immature to give or accept, buried their snouts deep within any unpartnered female they could find, sounding their own sonar clicks, and the unspent Beta males turned the water around their chosen partners white as they all tried to vie for a taste of the two dragons flavours spilling uncapped into the waters beneath them.

I was at least ten or fifteen minutes before the waters calmed enough for Ruth and Jessica to haul themselves back up onto the beach and coil their necks around each other in loving embrace. Philly drifted over and beached herself gently, her beak just touching Ruth's chest, "So you maybe like the Delphinic way?" she asked, kissing him when he lowered his head to her.

Gio beached himself gently next to his daughter and stole a kiss from Jessica as Ruth was considering his answer. "I think that people will be questioning the way that I will be walking when I get back to the hotel, but that I would not have forgone the experience had I known it was coming," he replied quietly, yawning suddenly.

Chrystal joined them on the beach, "I had to try that after what your mate did to my mine. It was a good experiment that I can use again with other land dwellers I think, and teach the other females and males to."

Ruth glanced at Jessica who nodded, "There are a set of female skunk twins who work at The Swinging Sett who are mated with a set of male skunk twins. They expressed a longing when they found out where we were coming to today," Jess said as she nuzzled the yawning Ruth, one escaping her as well.

Gio glanced at Chrystal who nodded, "Tell them to reserve a place at the restaurant if they are serious, but use Alice's account so I know who they are. I will look them over and issue an invite if I see something that I like. They are a little small though in stature though..." Gio replied grinning.

"I can assure you that the girls can easily take ten inches or more, so no-one here in your Pod need worry about that. They are experts in their fields, working as they do for Alice." Jess replied, reassuring him.

"Then if they are aesthetic, and invite will be issued with their cheque. Could you please offer an invite for me to Alice and Harry. They have no need to fear the water and I have been trying to make our relationship a little closer than just business for a while."

"We will do so before the weekend is out. I gather they have turned you down before," Jessica said as Ruth's head slumped to rest on her side.

"Yes, and I fear it is hydrophobia on one of their behalf. Ruth could not swim, and yet he was not allowed to drown. Even Harry is not as big as him, so keeping them afloat would be easy."

Jessica yawned as Ruth started to snore, "I will present the offer for you then."

"That is all I can ask. Please...rest. I will have to go sleep dormant myself for some time in order to provide evening service tonight. We will wake you before the light goes so you can make your way back up to the hotel. Jacques is opening the storm baffles now so the caves can be flushed as the fish and lobsters in the holding tanks next door are being distressed by the high levels of our contaminates in the water. It is possible that my customers would taste the sex in their food unless they are flushed through." A rumble started in the rock again and the water level suddenly rose by around eighteen inches, lifting the dolphins off the sand, "The tide has come in more while we played," Gio explained as he slid back away from them back into the pool with Chrystal and Philly. "Now, go to sleep with your mate," he finished as he turned and went to join a few of the other Pod members who were floating lifelessly on the surface, eyes closed as the swells started to roll over them.

Jessica laid her head on Ruth's neck, coiled like a couple ferals in a sand nest of old and closed her eyes. She would not forget today either she thought as she gave into fatigue and joined her mate in his slumber.