That Saturday morning, I found myself very distracted by what had happened the night before. It wasn’t that I was regretting it or anything, I had enjoyed every second of our romp last night after all, and having Melody be the one to claim my virginity in both ways just seemed right to me. As much as I had enjoyed our girl-on-girl sex though, I had never felt that bone-deep sense of completion though, and that bothered me. Was I going to enjoy having sex with strange men more than I did with the girl I loved? The thought of that made me feel dirty inside.

As distracted as I was though, I still tried to treat it like any other morning. I allowed myself to enjoy the spray of the pulse setting of my handheld showerhead enough to deal with what little desire had built up overnight and got a few nice orgasms out of it. Then, as I went through the rest of my morning beauty and self-care routine I divided my attention, as usual, to give Cinder some affection and mental snuggling while I talked to her about what we would be doing today.

My symbiotic Salamander was alert and awake more often now and, while we still couldn’t communicate in anything close to a real conversation, her emotions were starting to feel clearer, and I got the sense that she was getting stronger. I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before she could manifest herself physically, at least for a short time. Once she was able to do that, we could start getting used to it and work up to teaching her to fly and breathe fire. Going by what Grundle had told us though, it would probably still be a couple of weeks before she could build up a proper flame.

After I had finished my morning routine, I went to see if Selina needed help with hers, as I had gotten used to doing almost every morning. She didn’t really need help since she was thirteen years old and could handle most of it herself, but I also knew that she valued every minute that she could get with her ‘Momma’ and particularly liked it when I brushed and braided her hair in the morning before we headed down for breakfast. This morning, we had to rush it a little though since we were gathering for breakfast an hour earlier than we usually did on the weekends.

Well, at least some of us were up early. Most of the dancers still weren’t awake yet, or hadn’t finished their morning routines, by the time Carmen, Jess, Selina, Melody, and I took the elevator down to the club to get our early breakfast. The five of us had reason to be up early though, and since Brock and Cindy were usually awake by now anyway, they had agreed to have an early breakfast ready for us before they got started on the big breakfast spread for the rest of our big family.

My sister needed to leave soon for her bartending training and certification course, which would be going on all day long. Fortunately, Mom and Pandora were allowing her to use the club’s truck today so she wouldn’t need a ride there and back. As for the rest of us, Carmen and I had agreed to meet our classmates from Auto Shop early at Alex’s wrecking yard to look for a project car for her and parts for the rest of us. Melody would be coming with us since she was my bodyguard, and I had asked Selina to come along too so she could spend some more time with me and the other Auto Shop girls, and maybe learn a few things as well.

Cindy was already setting the table in one of the booths with utensils, jam, maple syrup, and other stuff and smiled as we approached. ~Brock is just finishing your breakfast now, girls, if you want to come to the kitchen.~

Minutes later, we were all seated at the table and filling up on our morning meal with Jess and Selina getting somewhat normal serving sizes while those of us who were hosting Salamanders had larger platters due to our increased appetites and metabolisms. I noticed that Brock and Cindy had tried to load us all up with some of our favorites, though I couldn’t have as much red meat as Carmen or Melody due to being Fey. Still, my platter was loaded up with three breakfast sausages, a big stack of blueberry cinnamon pancakes, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, a banana, and an apple and we had both milk and orange juice to drink.

Brock and Cindy couldn’t hang out and talk with us since they had to get started on the breakfast spread for everyone else living at the club, but we were kind of rushing to finish our meals anyway. Jess had to hurry to get to her class since she would need to rely on the truck’s GPS and wanted to give herself enough time to find the place. She was finished, saying her goodbyes, and heading out before the rest of us were finished. Sorcha and Aislinn came down with Jack and Jill not long after Jess left and then some of the dancers from the club started to trickle in, including Mom and Pandora, when I had just finished wolfing down my breakfast.

Thankful for the good timing, I told Melody, Carmen, and Selina, “I’ll meet you in the garage, I need to talk to Mom for a minute before we go since she’s here.”

Melody nodded wordlessly and led Carmen and my daughter to the elevator while I tried to pull Mom aside before she and Pandora could join the others at the booths. “Hey, Mom, do you think we could talk for a minute? I need to ask you something.”

“Of course, my little snowflake,” she replied with a warm smile and a hug. Then she quickly excused herself and gave her fiancée a quick kiss before leading me closer to the stage where we could talk privately and inquired, “What’s on your mind, Crystal?”

I took a deep breath, twirling a finger in my long, white hair nervously as I awkwardly said, “Well, umm… Melody and I had sex last night.”

An amused giggle worked its way free from my mother’s smiling face. “Is that supposed to be news? The two of you have been regularly entertaining one another in your bedroom since before Selina came to join us here. You haven’t exactly been keeping it secret, unless…” she left that unfinished for a moment as her eyes widened slightly. “Demon shapeshifting?”

The last came out somewhere between a question and a statement and I nodded in response, my throat tight as I considered how to ask her about this. I decided that it would be best to lead up to it, so she had some idea of what I was thinking and what had happened. “I… yeah, I was a little nervous about starting to work at the club soon and offering the extra services. I didn’t want my first time to be with some guy I didn’t know for money. I wanted it to be… special.”

My mother nodded in understanding. “I can understand that. With our urges and self-control issues, most Nymphs don’t get that luxury. You are fortunate to have had your first time with a man to be with someone you care about. You used protection, right? I think one child is enough for you for now,” she joked, but I could tell that she was genuinely worried.

“Yeah, Mom, I made sure to use a condom for the… umm… main event, and I’m still on birth control too,” I assured her, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief. “Melody was sweet doing that when it makes her uncomfortable. She doesn’t like being in a male form, I guess, but she did it for me and might consider it again if we ever want kids. I… just… does it always feel like that with a guy?”

“Feel like what, Snowflake?” There was a healthy measure of confusion on her face, which I guess wasn’t all that surprising since I hadn’t given her much context.

“I… well, I usually love having sex with Melody, sex is amazing in general, but last night was different. It wasn’t just amazing; it was like I felt… I dunno… complete, or fulfilled or something,” I admitted awkwardly. “I’m kinda worried about it now. Am I going to enjoy sex with random guys more than with Melody from now on? How do you make your relationship with Pandora work with you both being women?”

My mother’s expression softened as she took my hands in hers and gave them a reassuring squeeze. “Oh, Crystal, it’s okay. Let me explain a couple of things. As Nymphs, our instincts are strong, and our compulsion and desire to have sex is a big part of that. On an instinctual level, we want to be bred, we want to have babies. With that in mind, sex with males inherently scratches that instinctual itch and usually feels more satisfying. I stress the word ‘usually’ though. Other factors can change that.”

“What kind of factors?” I asked, looking at her nervously as she kept a firm but gently hold on my hands.

“Love, affection, and your lover’s competence are the most important ones,” she told me with a loving smile. “If you’re with someone who is finished quickly and gives you no time to reach your own climax, well, you obviously aren’t going to enjoy it as much. Love and affection can increase the pleasure that you get from sex though. You love Melody, and instinctually, that makes you see her as your mate. Even though she was wearing a male form last night, it was still her, so it’s no wonder you felt that way. I felt the same with your father. Sex with males might be more enjoyable for us in general than with females, but unless you deeply care for the person who you’re with, it likely won’t have that pronounced an effect on you again.”

“You’re sure, Mom?”

“Of course, I am, my little snowflake. At most, it’ll just be very enjoyable sex that scratches more instinctual itches than usual when you’re with a man. While satisfying, I can get just as much satisfaction with Pandora because she’s my chosen mate. I love her, and being with her makes everything better, including sex. I’ve seen the way that you and Melody look at one another, there is no doubt in my mind that she makes you as happy as Pan makes me, so stop worrying over something silly,” she chided as she wrapped me up in a tight hug and kissed me tenderly on the forehead. “Now go have fun, I know that this hasn’t been the easiest week for you.”

I hugged her back just as tightly, glad that Aunt Merry had brought us here so I could have her in my life. “Thanks, Mom, I will. I love you.” I spoke the words quietly and gave her one last squeeze before stepping away and heading to the elevator to join the others in the garage.

“That is just viscerally satisfying, isn’t it?” Melody remarked with a face-splitting grin as we looked over the burnt remains of what had once been Delilah’s car.

When we arrived at the wrecking yard, we found the other girls from my Auto Shop class gathered around the burned and gutted remains of what had once been a very expensive 2022 Dodge Viper Shelby. Curious about the vehicle when Delilah first started showing up at school in it last semester, Trixie had done some research on it. It was basically a concept car that would never see mass production and not very many were made, which meant that it had come with a massive price tag attached. I guess that said something about just how wealthy Delilah’s family was.

Now it was a worthless piece of junk. The flames that she had used to free it from the ice were so hot that, even if anyone was interested in restoring it, it would be a task well beyond our meager skills and limited equipment. Most of the body panels were partially melted, the frame was warped from the heat and would have had to be rebuilt from the ground up to not crumple completely in an accident, the windows were shattered from the sudden and extreme temperature shift, the interior was a lost cause, and the electronics were likely fried as well. It would take a literal fortune to restore the vehicle.

The fire had been bad from the start, but the gas in the vehicle igniting had only made things worse by fueling the flames. The body was barely recognizable, and from the look of the damage, I doubted that this car’s corpse would even be useful for parts. There certainly wasn’t anything that any of us could use, and I would not recommend it as a project for any of us on its own since replacement parts would be either damn near impossible to get or more expensive than any of us could hope to afford. As Melody had suggested though, I was viscerally satisfied at seeing Delilah’s car this way.

“Yeah, it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person, and that’s a whole lot of money down the toilet, but she did it to herself. What was she thinking, using an Efreeti’s flames around her own car?” I muttered as I looked the vehicle over.

“An Efreeti’s flames? Well, I guess that explains a lot of the damage then, the fire gutted most of this,” Alex said with a sad shake of his head.

“Yeah, this is a useless hulk,” I agreed as I looked over the vehicle. “So, why are we standing here then? We’ve got a car and parts to pick out.”

That was met with cheers from the other girls in my class, even Carmen, who was starting to get into the idea of taking a junker and somehow getting it working with our help and Mrs. Svenson’s guidance. Alex nodded and looked over Selina, Carmen, and Melody as he asked, “So, which of you is the new student I was told about?”

Carmen shyly raised her hand and answered, “That would be me. I don’t really have much experience with this kind of stuff yet, but I want to learn, and the others have offered to help me where they can.”

Alex nodded thoughtfully as he rubbed at his chin. “Well, most of these girls wanted a challenge and there are some vehicles here that, while they may take a lot of effort and learning on your part, would make a good starter project for someone without much experience. Let’s go have a look.”

The car that Carmen ended up choosing was a blue 2011 Kia Optima SX Turbo. She thought it was cute and sporty, but the biggest factor was how easy it would be for her to get the parts needed for it. The frame and body were actually in pretty good condition, except for some front-end damage.

It had been written off because of that damage, and because the engine, and transmission needed work done as well. The replacement panels, hood, front bumper, and parts would be easy to get because there was a car of the same model that had been rear-ended by something big going fairly fast, making that car a lost cause. None of the work needed was stuff that we couldn’t help her with or show her how to do properly if we could just replace the transmission and engine entirely by tearing them down in the less fortunate vehicle and rebuilding them for Carmen’s.

We spent the rest of the morning looking for compatible parts for our project cars, though I couldn’t find much for my GR Supra because it was only a couple of years old. Alex was able to help me find some stuff that would work, but it was mostly small stuff like fasteners, bolts, and other small stuff that would be relatively easy to find. It wasn’t surprising, and I was already planning on going to Auto-Worx Parts ‘n Mods to get the panel, grille, and other parts that I knew I would need, and maybe some after-market parts as well. I had been looking over the specs and already had some things in mind to make the car a beast on the road.

Since there wasn’t much for me to get for my own project, I helped Carmen start to gut the other Kia Optima for everything she would need to get her project on the road again. I was careful to tell her and Melody how they could help and what to be careful with so we wouldn’t damage the replacement parts. It was cute how clueless the two of them were about the inner workings of cars, and their inexperience using tools in general. It wasn’t surprising though because Carmen had never shown much interest in cars before now and Melody’s idea of a tool was that hand cannon and other weird items she kept in her massive purse.

I tried to have Carmen do as much of the bodywork as possible, under my direction, but I had to show her how to do almost everything. She complained about the cold at first, but the work quickly warmed her up. Luckily, that work mostly consisted of removing panels, the front bumper, grille, headlights, and hood on both of the vehicles so they could be swapped, and she would have some idea of how to replace them once we had all of this stuff at the school for class. I mostly looked over the engine and transmission and grabbed what she would need to get them back in working order since I wouldn’t have time to fully tear them both down and do a full replacement in the wrecking yard.

While I was acting as Carmen’s assistant, Selina was talking with Nova and helping her gather parts for her Toyota Camry. Mostly that consisted of Selina carrying stuff for her and putting it in one of the plastic bins we had all been given to put our smaller parts in so Alex could inventory them and assign a value to them to go against our budgets. Still, it was nice to see that my daughter and the Nereid were getting along well enough that she was comfortable helping her without me watching over her.

We all knew that we were probably going to be spending a lot of our weekend time coming back to the wrecking yard for parts as our projects went on and we discovered new things that needed fixing or replacing. Taking apart engines and other important components was not something that could be done in one morning after all, though Alex did have some tools that would help things go smoother for us. Still, breaking down junked vehicles for replacement parts was going to be a constant thing for most of us, until we were finished getting the vehicles road ready.

I wouldn’t have to do as much of that kind of thing since I was going to have to order new parts. The bad news was that it was also going to be more expensive for me because of that. The good news, on the other hand, was that I would be able to get my parts relatively easily, even if I had to pay for them out of pocket, and that would speed up my repairs significantly, depending on how long it took me to break down, clean and rebuild the engine. Since I couldn’t take the Charger to school, the sooner I could get the Supra working, the better.

It was nearly two o’clock by the time that we were all hungry and tired enough to call it quits for the day and bring our spoils to Alex to look over and charge to our budgets. Once he had processed everything, we all headed to Clarice’s parents’ cafe to have lunch together and talk about how our projects were going. “So, what are you going to do about your project, Crystal?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah, I noticed you didn’t have much in your bin. Not that that’s surprising since that GR Supra isn’t very old,” Bella agreed.

“I’m going to have to order parts from Auto-Worx Parts ‘n Mods,” I told them with a shrug. “They should be able to order the panel and other parts I need, and I’m thinking of modding it a bit too since I’ll be working on it anyway. I’ll probably stop there before heading home since I want those parts as soon as I can get them. It’ll be pricey, but far less expensive than buying a new car. I’ve got enough of a nest egg that I can afford it right now, and I’ll be making good money at the club soon too.”

~What kind of mods?~ Nikki asked in sudden interest, her eyes lighting up as she smiled. ~Are you thinking of adding NOS, like you did on the Charger?~

“I might later if I decide to race it and can get a proper roll cage for safety, but I’ve been looking over the specs and for now I have a few things in mind. I’d like to get a high-flow downpipe for the exhaust, cold air intake, and an ethanol flex-fuel kit to improve performance. I’ll have to tune the engine, but I was planning on doing that anyway when I rebuild it.”

We continued to talk about our project cars and tomorrow’s party at the club, but by four o’clock, Melody and I figured it was time that we should get going. We both had more job shadowing to do that night, and I wanted to go order the parts for the Supra while the thought of the repairs was still fresh in my mind. So, we headed off to do that before heading back to the club.

There was a marked change in Selina from when we were hanging out with the other girls to when I dragged her, Melody, and Carmen parts shopping with me. While she was starting to get comfortable, and even becoming friends with the Auto Shop girls, the parts shop was a nest of potentially dangerous strangers to her, and it showed. She had her usual glamour on from the moment that we left the café until we got home, and the whole time that I was looking for parts or talking to the salesman she clung to me, practically hiding in my shadow.

I couldn’t really blame her after what she had been through before we met, and it felt good that she was as comfortable as she was with our family at Pandora’s Box, and getting closer to our new friends. Still, this was something that I would have to keep in mind for the future and it made me doubly glad that she seemed to be getting particularly close to Nova and Bella. My timid daughter would need friends when she started high school next year, and I knew that they would have her back.

The parts shop did have the parts that I thought I was going to need to fix the engine and drivetrain in stock, as well as the headlight, but I had to order the new front bumper panel in the proper color as well as the grille and the mods that I wanted, though I had been expecting that. I was told that the parts would likely arrive within a week, so I was very happy and felt like I had accomplished something as I drove us back home.

Jessica got home not long before we did and seemed pretty happy with herself too. My sister had gotten her certification, so tonight she would be helping one of the regular bartenders and mixing drinks under his supervision instead of just shadowing. As soon as she shared that bit of news with us, I wrapped her up in a hug. “Congrats, Sis. It looks like you’ll be having more fun than me tonight since I can only watch and learn still.”

Not long after that, it was time for us to head down to the club so my sister could work, and Melody and I could watch and learn from our respective trainers. My girlfriend would be learning from Aunt Merry, as usual, while I would be shadowing Mom tonight, something I was feeling both excited and a little awkward about. So, after arranging dinner for Selina, we headed downstairs while Carmen and Lou offered to hang out with Sorcha and Selina and keep them company.

Jess looked very studious and serious whenever I looked in the direction of the bar she was at tonight, and I knew from her expression that she was trying to cram as much knowledge as possible into her head. Shadowing Mom wasn’t as awkward as I feared though, since I had already seen her taking off her clothes on stage and flirting with club patrons the past few nights, and it had somewhat desensitized me to seeing her naked, in various stages of undress, or fueling some stranger’s ego while I was watching.

It was actually nice hanging out with her during breaks and having her tell me more about the club and the little things that would help me when I started working on my own. A lot of the club’s patrons had noticed our familial resemblance to one another though and seemed very interested in me after finding out I was her daughter. Mom played it up and pointed out Jess at the bar too, telling people that we had just turned eighteen and how happy she was to be working with her daughters.

She insisted that Jess would only be tending bar though, and that I was still learning the ropes until I was ready to start performing by myself. Still, I had to give an unnerving number of rainchecks for extra services. Mom was one of the most popular dancers and ‘companions’ in the club after all, and she had just let people know there was going to be another Nymph available soon, so of course people were going to be interested.

I tried to be as polite as possible while promising to show them a good time once I was officially working, stroking their egos a bit like I saw Mom doing. She seemed pleased with how I handled the attention, and it was kind of nice to have so many people showing an interest in me. It soothed my Nymph vanity, even if it was making me extremely horny.

Overall, it had been a nice day, especially when compared to the last couple of days at school, and I was feeling pretty good about things when I headed back upstairs to spend some time with Selina before putting her to bed for the night. When Melody and Jess came up a little later, we hung out in the common area with Lou and Carmen for a bit, just enjoying each other’s company for a while. Before long though, I couldn’t take being so damn horny anymore and dragged Melody to my bedroom so she could have her way with me.

Things in bed were different than the night before, but not in a bad way. Sure, it wasn’t as deeply satisfying on an instinctual level with Melody being a girl again, but it was satisfying in a very different way. Melody was a very adept lover after all, and I was in love with her. She was also much more dominant, which pushed a lot of the right mental buttons on me, at least when I was with her. We were in love, I was hers, we were together, and she was very good at satisfying me in bed, and that was all that I needed to be truly happy at the moment.