Now that more, perhaps most, of mymemories had returned, I had an idea. With great effort, and several failed attempts, I transported myself to the Homelands. But not to the court. To a clearing in the middle of the woods, where a humble stone cottage with a thatched roof sat tucked far away from everything.

After a few minutes of gasping for air, I slouched up the slate walkway to the front door. With the back of my fist, I rapped against the door.

''Who is it?'' a voice called.

''It's me, Grandma,'' I replied, raising my voice.

A minute later, the door opened. A woman stood in the doorway, wearing a simple sundress that fell halfway down her thighs.

She didn't look like any grandmother I'd ever known. Nor like most of our kind. Unlike the sexy versions of my mother and my aunts, this woman looked so little like the elderly woman I thought we'd buried recently that I wouldn't even have suspected they were supposed to be one and the same had I not known. Her hair, blonde with dark roots just like her daughter's, fell to her waist in a thick braid. There were a few hints of gray, but otherwise her hair was every bit as gorgeous as that of every other woman in the family. She had full-fledged crow's feet and laugh lines, but by and large her skin was as tight as that of a woman in her early twenties. In fact, if you didn't look closely enough, you might actually think she was younger than Cindy. There was a youthful air about her, a spry energy. And, most distinctively, a playful look on her face, a certain set to her thin red lips, like she was never more than a moment away from snickering at some private joke.

Her figure was lithe, her curves relatively modest. Though, given her frame, she was quite busty. On a taller or thicker woman, her endowment would not necessarily impress. But on her, they were ample enough for anyone who wasn't obsessed with huge tits.

Which, admittedly, I was. But even I found them fairly appealing. Certainly better than my cousin's modest endowment.

And the curves of her legs were subtle, but definitely nice. Her legs begged to be caressed.

Still, while she was definitely very attractive, I was a bit surprised that this was our former queen. I expected more from someone of that stature.

Grandma Kaitlin looked me up and down. Her hazel eyes hardly blinked. ''Come in,'' she said at last, leading the way out to her back yard. ''I should probably say something like, `To what do I owe the pleasure?' But, honestly, I expected you'd show up sooner or later. I sort of hoped it would be later, for your sake, but no sense sending you away now.''

I cleared my throat. ''Nice to see you too.''

She glanced at me, flashed a quick grin, then settled into a cushioned lawn chair. ''Sorry. But you'll forgive me for assuming you're not here because of how badly you missed me.''

I took the lounge chair beside her. ''Well, let me ask you something. Are you satisfied with the job Brianna is doing? Does it bother you that you were succeeded by an Orwin?''

Another quick, bemused grin. Almost a sneer. ''Right to business.'' Then, tone flat, she observed, ''You're an Orwin yourself, last I checked.''

Perhaps I should apologize. But she seemed more amused than offended anyway. ''No more than I'm a Farrier,'' I said. ''But that's not what I asked anyway.''

Grandma looked me in the eye for several long seconds before shaking her head. ''Best you don't worry about that. At least not yet.''

''I almost bested her,'' I said, though I knew that wasn't quite true. Still, I felt that the fact that there had even been a glimmer of hope for me said a lot, since I'd only discovered who I was very recently, and Brianna must have been initiated nearly five years ago, when she'd first turned eighteen. ''If she's stronger than me, the gap is only going to grow with time, now that she has the full resources of the throne at her disposal.''

''True enough,'' Grandma said. ''At least for now. But soon, she'll have picked all the low-hanging fruit, and her power will grow much more slowly. And you, my dear boy, are a rank novice. Which is not an insult. You've got serious raw power, and real potential, once you learn to use it. My point is just that you're at the part of your learning curve where progress will come very quickly, almost daily. What's the rush?''

''She's vulnerable now,'' I said.

''Maybe. None of you were very seasoned when I stepped down, including your cousin. I probably should have waited, for that reason, if I'd had the liberty to worry about such things. But, at any rate, you'd be surprised how powerful others have grown even when they more or less were exiled from the court.''

I didn't reply.

Her face softened, the perma-sneer fading for a moment. ''You've already come a ways, for someone so new to our ways. And, for the record, I'm impressed that you've returned here and searched me out so soon after her highness sent you back, no doubt under one helluva veil. That can't have been easy, and it shows how determined you are as well. I mean, I trust you know that you're already guilty of treason, just on the basis of this conversation?''

Again, I had nothing to say to that.

Grandma sighed. ''Tell me, sweetie, how many have you Devoured?''

''Devoured?''

''That's what I thought,'' she said. ''And have you had sex with a being, or while in the guise of a being, that was fundamentally non-human?''

''Fundamentally non-human? Like what, growing horns and a tail? Or, I don't know, a second cock? I could probably do that, if I tried hard enough. I'm sure I could, actually.''

''That definitely ought to be one of the arrows in your quiver. But, actually, I meant a vampire, werewolf, or a centaur. You know, your more exotic fantasies.'' When I didn't reply, she sighed and said, ''You've got an awful lot to learn, sugar.''

''Teach me,'' I said.

''Not a chance,'' she said without a moment's hesitation.

I recoiled. ''Just like that?''

She slapped my wrist. ''Don't play that tender ego game with me. I know it would take a lot more than that to offend you.''

I ran a finger gently across the back of her hand, brushed her thoughts, suggesting-

''Forget it,'' she said with a laugh. The sneer was back. ''Don't take this the wrong way. I'm sure mortal women must just eat you up. But by the standards of this world, you're a cute pup, with oversized paws and everything.'' Her glance drifted between my legs. ''Size isn't everything, you know. Don't get me wrong. Of course it matters. A lot. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Sometimes a girl wants nothing more than to feel stretched to her limits. Hence the a centaur thing. But no one likes a one-trick pony.''

I let that sink in for a moment. ''I think I get what you're saying.''

''For one thing, mortals only have so many sex organs and erogenous zones.''

''So I should, what, grow three dicks? I mean, where do you even-''

''Why would you assume she can only have two holes?''

I blushed.

''But that's not the point anyway. You see, sweetie, at its best, sex between two of our kind is only minimally reminiscent of sex between mortals, in that it involves more or less physical bodies intermingling in a dance that culminates in complete submission. Think bigger than just growing more of the same old parts.''

''I see.'' I paused for a moment. ''So what does it mean to Devour one of our kind?''

''You're not ready to know that,'' she said.

''I won't try it until I am.''

''So long as I don't tell you, no, you won't,'' she said with a chuckle.

I couldn't decide if that distinctive semi-sneer was really condescending or really fucking cute. The more I looked at her, the more I thought the latter. In fact, there was something almost painfully attractive about her, as unconventional as her beauty was. And it had a lot to do with those lips, thin though they were.

She held up a hand to cut short my protest. ''Don't bother swearing you won't. You might even believe that. But it's just not who you are. You've always been extremely curious. That's good, in a lot of ways. But also extremely dangerous. The less inquisitive among us may have the least fun, but they often live the longest.''

''I get it,'' I said. ''But can you at least tell me whether this Devouring business is why Jack and Mark don't have a father?''

''It is,'' she said. ''Taking the throne is easy. Keeping it is not.''

''I'm sorry,'' I said.

Grandma laughed heartily, hand draped over her bosom. ''Why ever should you be? I knew what I was getting into. Much better than your cousin does. And I have very few regrets.'' She sipped her iced tea slowly. ''Just two, in fact. A few minor qualms, not quite reservations or misgivings, but only two full-fledged regrets.''

I raised an eyebrow. ''So what are they?''

She wagged a finger at me. ''Not for your virgin ears.''

''I see.'' I drew a deep breath. It was clear where this was going.

''Well, it was nice to see you again, Grandma. For real this time, not just with our mortal masks on. But I guess I should get going.''

She grabbed me by the wrists as I started to stand up. ''Not yet.'' She licked her thin lips. As I felt her desire increasing, my own surged. She might not have been the best-looking woman in the family, but there was something about her that was intensely arousing. ''I know I've been telling you how much you've got to learn, but as long as you came all this way, I can't just let you leave like that, without having a little fun.''

For her, it must have felt a bit like fumbling about with a virgin.

But, for me, it was amazing.

I'd thought Brianna powerful. And compared to most of the rest of us, she was. But she couldn't hold a candle to Grandma. Better still, Grandma was not just blessed with lots of raw power, she knew how to use it. She showed me things I'd never imagined, even though I was sure she was holding back.

Inspired by some of her more exotic feats, I tried a few of my own. Starting, of course, with a second cock.

#

I clicked on picture after picture, each steamier than the last. Why would Aunt Liz stay logged into her email account if this kind of thing was there, just waiting to be found?

In the two days I'd been staying with my aunt and uncle, I'd slowly started to suspect something wasn't right. Once or twice, when looking at Liz, I saw something other than a middle-aged housewife who tried to take care of herself but was still carrying some extra pounds. On those two occasions, I'd ever so briefly thought I was looking at a porn starlet. Her face looked more or less the way I suspected Aunt Liz might have if she wore more makeup, lost a few pounds, and was a decade or even two younger. Her skin should not be that fair, that tight, that free of all but the faintest imperfections and signs of aging. This woman also had a killer body. Her breasts were no smaller, yet much perkier. And her ass was also about the same size, much firmer, more heart-shaped, and sitting higher.

It was that same woman I found in the photographs, in a series of compromising positions. Okay, "compromising" was putting it mildly.

I heard the front door open and clicked away to another tab then minimized the browser before opening an automatic update window. The type of thing I was supposed to be doing. Being more tech-savy than my aunt and uncle, I had agreed to come visit them and help set up their new computer and design and launch a website for my uncle's business.

"Hey there. How's it going?" Aunt Liz asked, walking in. She wore a long overcoat, despite the South Carolina weather. Patent-leather heels and silk stockings peeked out from underneath. Her face flashed back and forth from the image I thought was the right one and the stunning beauty that I somehow knew was also Aunt Liz. She put her purse down. "Not staying. Just forgot something." She left her purse on the table and hurried up the stairs.

I shouldn't. But I did. In her purse, I found lube and an anal plug. And a hotel room key. I wrote down the name of the hotel and the room number.

Aunt Liz came back. The lump in one of the overcoat's large pockets looked like it was made by a pair of handcuffs. "Be back late. There's money for pizza on the counter."

"Okay. Have fun," I said.

Googling the hotel chain, I found only one locations within twenty five miles. I waited ten minutes then rushed to my car, tucking my raging hard on up into my waistband.

I sat in the car a few minutes, gathering my thoughts. Was I really about to go spy on my Aunt Liz while she had a sexual rendezvous? How was that any of my business?

It wasn't, of course. But that didn't mean I was about to pull out of the parking lot and drive back to her house, passing up a one of a kind opportunity.

So I got out of the car and went by the door to the room. Faint sounds drifted out. A bed squeaking. A woman moaning. A man grunting. Another woman's voice, though too garbled for me to make out what she was saying.

I went to the front desk and asked for a room. I hoped he gave me one close to theirs, but I was pretty sure it didn't matter, and I wasn't sure how I'd explain why that was important. Feeling a little guilty about it, but not wanting to leave a paper trail, I convinced him that I handed over a credit card without actually doing so.

Once inside the room, I wasted no time. I sat on the bed and focused on the sense of Aunt Liz. I'd done this before, when tracking down some old high school crushes. Never members of my own family, but it ought to work the same.

I'd only ever tried to get a sense of where they were at the moment though. Right now, I was attempting full blown clairvoyance.

Sure enough, a blurry image filled my mind a moment later.

A young blonde, barely legal and unable to fill out her halter top, sat on the edge of one bed. She stared with rapt attention at the scene unfolding on the other bed.

Aunt Liz was handcuffed to the headboard, lying on her stomach, with something shoved in her mouth. Something silk, maybe, to judge by the sheen. A huge black man knelt between her legs, pushing a cock as thick as a beer can into her pussy.

For a few brief moments, I watched. But I realized that however it was possible for me to spy on her, it took a lot out of me. I just gave myself another couple of moments to enjoy the way Liz's astounding ass tightened up each time the man thrust into her.

I dropped to the floor holding my head in my hands. It had been simple enough. But it was anything but easy. Like running a marathon. Just one step after another. Simple.

After I regained my energy, I gathered myself up and walked back to the car. Paying greater heed to the speed limit than I had on my way out here, I drove back to their house.

When I walked in, Uncle Jim asked me where I'd been. I told him I'd needed to go pick up some software, and while I was out, I got dinner. When he asked where the software was, I said they didn't have it in stock and I would have to order it off the internet. He made some cranky old person remark about how that always happened these days, and it was like the internet was making everything harder, which seemed to be more or less completely the wrong way of looking at it. No wonder Aunt Liz felt safe leaving her email account open.

Liz didn't come home all that late after all. Not as late as I'd expected anyway. Her eyes were half open, her lips curled in a perpetual grin, and her knees wobbly. Or maybe that was only one version of her. My uncle didn't seem to notice anything.

The three of us watched a movie. Like everything was as it should be.

But that wasn't really what I was watching. Instead, I was watching an infinite loop of the scene from the hotel room over and over in my mind.

It made me feel dirty, sick even. I should have been horrified. Not aroused. But damned if knowing that I shouldn't be did anything to change the fact that I was.

Liz's ass was round, wide, and was mostly comprised of thick muscle with just the right amount of soft padding. When her muscles tightened, her cheeks slapped together so fast, I was sure I'd have heard them clap if I was in the room. Her legs were relatively slender, but the thick ropes of muscle gave them nice...