A Fox's Mate (American Kitsune Book 6) Read online

  Kotohime trailed after the woman, unsure whether or not she should wake Camellia-sama up. The decision was soon taken out of her hands when Camellia-sama opened the door to Kevin-sama’s room and walked in. The door shut behind her, leaving the hallway in stark silence.

  “Oh, my,” was all Kotohime could say.

  Chapter 2

  Making an Attempt at Returning to Normality

  I watched as Lilian crumpled to the ground, a water spear sticking out of her stomach and erupting from her back. A soundless scream tore from my throat, but I could barely hear it. My own heart pounded in my ears, uneven staccato bursts that pumped blood irregularly through my veins. I stared at the fallen form of my mate, the girl who’d pledged her life to me, and who I had pledged my life to in return.

  Then I looked at the woman who had hurt Lilian. Her six tails swayed like velvety serpents, blacker than night except for the white tips on the ends. Long raven hair covered a face that, much like every other kitsune I’d come to know, was aesthetically appealing to the eye. Even her condescending smile was sexy in its own way.

  I cared for none of that. This woman had just harmed my mate; she had just hurt the person who I had come to cherish more than anyone else.

  The gun felt heavy in my hand.

  I looked down at it, a standard military grade pistol, 9mm, black, and with a laser-sighted scope situated on top. I raised the gun and took aim at the woman whose back was turned. The sound of gunfire filled the air…

  … and my hands became stained with blood.

  ***

  Kevin awoke with a startled jerk.

  His eyes flew open. He looked around wildly. He relaxed upon recognizing his room; the white walls and ceiling, the anime and sports posters taped to the walls, the bookshelf containing his massive collection of anime and manga, the sexy lace panties hanging from his ceiling fan. Yes, he recognized this place like the back… of… his… hand…

  Wait. What?

  Kevin blinked several times before realizing that, yes, there was indeed racy underwear hanging from his ceiling fan: Black panties with floral embroidery. Gauzy. He would have assumed that they were Iris’s, but she didn’t wear underwear. Lilian’s then. He also noticed that there was more underwear hanging from the ceiling fan, too, several pieces of sexy undergarments that most would have considered highly inappropriate for a teenage girl to possess—never mind the fact that Lilian was actually 160 years old.

  “How did those get up there?” he asked no one in particular.

  Someone answered him anyway. “I put them there. I’ve strung up several more along the other ceiling fans in the apartment, too.”

  “Ah, I see.” Kevin said. He blinked, and then he looked down at a familiarly grinning face. “And why would you do that?” Another blink. “And what are you doing in my bed?”

  Iris gave Kevin a wicked grin from where she lay resting against him. He didn’t know how she’d done it, but somehow, the Void Kitsune had managed to slip in between him and his mate, worming her way into his and Lilian’s mutual embrace. It was impressive; he hadn’t even felt her when she’d done it.

  What the heck? Is this girl a freaking ninja or something?

  “It’s been awhile since I’ve done any pranks,” Iris explained why she’d strung up Lilian’s underwear, which he guessed made sense. Kitsune were pranksters, so naturally, they must have enjoyed playing pranks.

  “As for why I’m in your bed,” Iris continued, squirming against him. Her left thigh bumped into his morning wood. Her eyes danced mischievously as he tried to glare at her, even though his face was warm enough that he could practically feel its incandescence. “Well, I just don’t like sleeping alone.” Long black hair tickled his skin as she lay her head back on his chest. “You and Lily-pad are warm, and it’s still chilly outside.”

  She and Lilian used to share a bed when they were younger, or so he’d been told. That had stopped after Lilian met a young—at the time—Kevin. After that, the redhead had decided that he was going to be her mate and stopped sleeping with Iris because, and he quoted, “human relationships are between a man and a woman only,” or something like that.

  Iris had argued with Lilian, but she’d been rather firm on this and denied her sister every time the subject was brought up. From what he knew, his and Lilian’s first meeting had also been when Lilian decided to stop “experimenting” with Iris.

  Kevin didn’t understand the nature of their relationship back then, but he tried not to think about it. The last thing that he wanted to think about was a lesbian twincest relationship. Doing so would have only given him a headache.

  “I see,” Kevin said. “And why is she in my bed?”

  Iris turned her head to see who Kevin was talking about. She paused as if startled by the sight.

  Camellia lay on his other side. She was snuggling with him as if he were a giant hug pillow, and drool was leaking from her mouth onto his chest as she snored away.

  “Hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa… zzz… hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa…”

  Yes, those snores.

  While Kevin tried to figure out how the heck this situation had happened, Iris was rather entranced by the vision before her. She had to admit, if only to herself, that the sight of her naked mother cuddled against Kevin’s bare chest appealed to the more primal side of her.

  Also, her mom had some really nice boobs. She hoped hers grew to be that big when she fully matured. How big were those anyway? 104 centimeters? They must have been somewhere around there.

  “Why are you looking at me?” Iris asked, shaking her head. “I didn’t even know she was in bed with us.” She paused. Looking up, her eyes turned toward the ceiling fan, which she stared at in absent delight. Some of that underwear hanging from the ceiling was actually her mom’s. “Come to think of it, how did she get in here without waking any of us up? Mom’s a klutz. There’s no way she should have been able to walk in without causing a massive ruckus.”

  “Hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa… zzz… hawa-hawa-hawa…”

  They certainly wouldn’t be getting any answers from the woman herself. Camellia didn’t appear to be getting up anytime soon.

  “Ne, Iris?”

  “Mm?”

  Iris looked back at Kevin, who was staring at her mom with an unfathomable expression. The look on his face was deeper than normal. Of course, his expressions had grown more contemplative in recent months. Perhaps it was a sign that he was maturing.

  “Do you know why your mom became the way she is now?” he asked. Expressive blue eyes stared at her like an open book. She could practically feel the sympathy he felt for her mom radiating from him. “She wasn’t always like this, was she? Something must have happened to make her become the way she is now, right?”

  Iris frowned. Delicate fingers splayed against Kevin’s chest as she slowly crawled out from between him and Lilian.

  The normal sense of mischief that she felt was gone. This was not a topic that she particularly enjoyed talking about, nor was it one that she would’ve told to anyone else. But, perhaps she could tell this boy, since he was her sister’s mate.

  As she deliberated, Kevin’s eyes unbiddenly trailed over the inch of bare shoulders and glorious cleavage as her sleepwear, sexy negligee the color of twilight, slid down her curvaceous frame. He stiffened in more ways than one when light pink nipples peeked out from behind her loose-fitting clothes.

  Iris smirked down at him, her lips tracing an artful curve that held a hint of mystery, as if those lips were the holders of a most beautiful, dangerous secret. She opened her mouth to speak—

  “Mom’s condition is our fault,” a voice said before Iris could answer.

  Kevin and Iris turned to Lilian, now awake and looking at them both. She must have been awake for some time because there was no sleepiness in her eyes. Had she been watching them?

  Lilian placed a hand on Kevin’s chest, her fingers tickling his skin. She seemed to enjoy the way his pectorals twitched.

  �
�Lilian,” Kevin whispered, smiling at his mate.

  She returned his smile. “Good morning, Beloved.”

  Iris was forgotten more quickly than Son Goku running away from needles.

  Lilian moved in and pressed her lips to his in a kiss. Kevin welcomed her, deriving great pleasure from the feel of her softer-than-silk lips against his. His one free hand—the one not pinned between Camellia’s glorious breasts—reached up to gently cup her cheek. He rubbed circles against her fair, unblemished skin with his thumb.

  The kiss became something more when Kevin opened his mouth and Lilian slipped her tongue inside. It danced around his, and Kevin had no trouble dancing back, caressing and rubbing his tongue against hers, entwining them together like two slippery serpents.

  Lilian moaned into his mouth. It was a sensual sound that caused his already awakened libido to skyrocket. Few things could drive him mad the way that Lilian’s moans could—and most of those things involved Lilian in some way, shape, or form.

  Lilian’s legs rubbed against his, and the spine-tingling caress of her bare skin sent his body into a hyper-aware state. Her panty-clad crotch grinding into his thigh inflamed his desire. Her breasts as they pressed into his chest sent his mind into a downward spiral of pleasurable delirium.

  His hand slid from her cheek to her neck. He threaded his fingers through her soft hair, then pulled her closer, so that he might partake in more of her oh so wonderful lips. As their kiss deepened, his hand slid down her neck, roamed across her back, and planted itself firmly on her left butt cheek, which he proceeded to knead like a baker on dough.

  “Hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa… zzz… hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa.”

  It was too bad they were interrupted by some of those unusual snores.

  Lilian reluctantly released Kevin’s lips. The string of saliva that connected them broke when she moved away. She then turned her gaze toward the source of the snores, her mother, who was still snuggling with Kevin on his other side and drooling on his chest.

  “Hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa… zzz… hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa…”

  Lilian looked back at Kevin, a single, perfectly manicured eyebrow raised, as if asking, “Dare I ask why my mom is laying in our bed?”

  Kevin properly interpreted her expression and shrugged. “I don’t know how or when she got into our bed. I woke up this morning and she was just there.”

  “Mom does have a tendency to sleepwalk,” Lilian said with a sigh.

  “Does she really?” asked Kevin.

  “Oh, yes. I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.” Lilian paused. “Ah, but then again, there probably hasn’t been a very good time to add a sleepwalking scene yet, you know, cuz it’s not really relevant to the plot.”

  “Right.” Kevin nodded his head. “I suppose that sort of fanservice wouldn’t really be important to the—wait.” He looked at his mate strangely. “The plot?”

  “We’ll deal with her later,” Lilian determined, and her smile took a turn for the sexy as her bright, gorgeous eyes, half-lidded in barely restrained desire, captured him again. Kevin’s heart rate sped up when her face came so close to his that their noses were touching. “I want to spend some more quality time with my mate.”

  She leaned in even closer, close enough that her lips touched his with the barest of caresses. Kevin slowly closed his eyes as Lilian did the same. Just a little bit more and—

  “You know, this is really sexy to watch and all, but it kinda makes me feel like you two are forgetting about me, and that’s just not right,” Iris said.

  Their eyes snapped wide open again. They turned their heads to look at Iris, who must have moved away while they were kissing. She was laying on her side, closer to the edge of the bed. One hand was being used as a headrest. Her other hand had mysteriously vanished underneath the covers, which hid her hips from view. Judging from her half-lidded eyes, the blush on her cheeks, the seductive curvature of her lips, and the fact that her breathing had increased, Kevin could take an educated guess as to what her hand was doing down there.

  “Morning, Lily-pad.” Iris’s smile was a combination of love and mischief. “How did you sleep?”

  “Why are you in mine and Kevin’s bed?” Lilian asked, her right eyebrow twitching.

  “Why ask a question that you already know the answer to?”

  Lilian’s left eyebrow joined the right in twitching, but then she sighed.

  “I suppose I walked into that one,” she admitted.

  “You definitely did,” Iris agreed.

  “Don’t agree with me,” Lilian grumbled, and then shook her head. She refocused her attention on Kevin. “Anyway, you wanted to know why Mom acts the way she does, didn’t you?”

  “Um, ah, y-yes,” Kevin said, his cheeks growing warm. “I had almost forgotten about that.”

  Iris snorted in amusement. “Of course you did. Not that I blame you. If Lily-pad greeted me with a kiss like that, I’d forget all about whatever I was talking about, too.”

  More warmth rose to Kevin’s cheeks. In the wake of Lilian’s enthusiastic and rather welcome greeting, he’d completely forgotten that Iris was also in the bed with them… and their mom too. Seriously, who does that?

  Lilian sent a look of mild disapproval at her sister, but she soon went back to focusing on Kevin.

  “Anyway, Mom’s condition is actually our fault,” Lilian said, answering the question that Kevin had posed to Iris. “One of the things you must understand is that the Void and celestial powers are diametrically opposed to each other. If celestial powers are the powers of creation, then the Void is the negation of concepts. They aren’t meant to coexist—certainly not within the womb of a woman at the exact same time. Our birth shouldn’t have been possible.”

  Lilian sat up, her wondrous thighs straddling his waist. Kevin tried not to squirm when the back of her bum pressed into the pitched tent in his boxers.

  “I think I understand what you’re getting at,” Kevin said, struggling to put his theory into words. “You two are sort of like the opposite of magnetic attraction. North will always attract south and vice versa, while north will be repelled by another north, same as with the south. In your case, you and Iris are opposites, Celestial and Void, north and south, but rather than attract, your powers repel each other in the same way that two magnetic poles of the same type would.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s one way of looking at it,” Lilian said.

  “That was a really unnecessarily complicated way of explaining it, though,” Iris added. “It would be better to simply think of these forces in terms of elements. You know about the elements, don’t you, Stud?”

  “Of course I do.” Kevin huffed, somewhat annoyed at being asked such a stupid question. Who did this foxy nee-chan think she was talking to? And why was he thinking about her using the Japanese term for sister? “I learned about the elements a week after Lilian started living with me.”

  “It was in book one,” Lilian supplied helpfully.

  “Right, right. I wasn’t in that volume, was I?” Iris said, idly twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. “Alright, let’s do a recap then. There are several elements that we yōkai use based on the pulse within our blood. The five elements of the lower-tier are simple: Fire, river, lightning, wind, and earth. Each of these elements has exactly two things in common. They each have a strength and a weakness to another element.”

  Reaching between her breasts, Iris pulled out a notepad and a marker. After scribbling on it for several seconds, she showed her drawing to Kevin. It was a diagram detailing the five lower-tiered elements. They were drawn in the form of a pentagon, with fire being on top. There were two arrows traveling along the pentagon, one on the outside going clockwise titled “strength,” and one on the inside titled “weakness” that moved counterclockwise.

  “Fire is weak against river but strong against wind, wind is weak against fire but strong against lightning, lightning is weak against wind but strong against earth, earth is weak against
lightning but strong against river, and river is weak against earth but strong against fire. These elements create a sort of circle of weaknesses and strengths, ensuring that no one element is stronger than any other.”

  Iris paused to make sure that Kevin had absorbed everything. This was a pretty big info dump, so she wanted to ensure that she wouldn’t have to explain this again. Explaining this crap wasn’t her expertise anyway. She was a seduction specialist, not an Inari-damned teacher.

  Kevin nodded. She continued.

  “The same holds mostly true for middle-tier elements as well, though it’s far more complicated than this simple explanation,” Iris continued explaining in an oddly lecturing tone of voice. “Due to the esoteric abilities of the middle-tier, there are even more weaknesses and countermeasures and additional attributes that can be contributing factors when determining elemental strengths and weaknesses.”

  Lilian moved off him as Kevin sat up and leaned against the headboard while Iris drew another diagram. His mate followed his example, resting her back against his chest as she sat between his legs. Camellia mumbled a soft “hawa” before sprawling herself across his and Lilian’s legs, her position highly reminiscent of an overgrown cat affectionately cuddling with its owner.

  Iris showed Kevin another diagram. This one was vastly more complicated than the first one.

  “These are the middle-tier elements: Forest, ocean, magma, and ghost or spirit. Now, this is a lot more complicated than the lower-tier elements, which are simpler due to the fact that each element is incredibly basic. Forest is weak against magma and fire but strong against ocean and river. Ocean is weak against forest and earth but strong against fire and magma. Magma is strong against forest and earth but weak against river and ocean. They are the simpler three elements of the middle-tier due to their composition being strictly related to earthly elements.”

  “I like to think of them as the triad of the middle-tier elements,” Lilian added.

  Kevin’s face scrunched up. “Isn’t the Triad some kind of transnational criminal organization based out of Hong Kong? I think I saw a documentary on them once… or maybe it was a movie. I can’t remember.”