by J G Jerome
“One other thing before we join the others.” She drags me to a halt. She faces me with a hand on my chest. “Learn to dampen your energy. Those of us that can feel it knew you had it, but where before it was like a match in the distance at night, now it’s like a beacon shining down on my head from a short distance away. You will be hunted if you don’t learn to dampen it.”
I look at Clarice with my second site. She looks like a normal human aura - white. She says, “I am the child of two dimension travelers. My aura shows that I am native, and my biology is human. I have a couple of mutations, which may over time make me look like one or the other of my parents’ races - hopefully more my mother than my father.”
I nod. “We can discuss that more in the future if you like. Thank you for being open with me, Clarice.”
She gives me another of her rare, genuine smiles before waving towards the entryway.
We step into the entryway, and all the staff I have seen today are gathered there. I kiss Clarice’s cheek as she releases my arm. I shake Luis’ hand, hug Candice and kiss her cheek, and I hug Manuel and Vanessa. I wrap Viktorija in a hug and give her a chaste kiss on the lips. I tell her. “Any time, Viktorija. You have a place. Any time.” I kiss her again, and her lips open slightly. I feel her tongue on my lip. I hold her cheek and look into her eyes. “Message received, and accepted.”
“When I am free,” she says. I nod my agreement. She squeezes me tightly before walking away into the salon.
Bernadette wraps me in a clinch and devours my mouth. I give as good as I get. She pulls back. “Practice, William. I have need of your services, but you need to be confident. Maybe in a week or two for the first task.”
I look at her a minute. “Craft?” She nods minutely. “I’m pretty confident already, just not particularly well informed.”
She ponders for a moment and then responds, “That actually may be more of a benefit than you might think. Follow Clarice’s advice.” She kisses me again with wild abandon. “Now get out of here, William. I don’t want you to get me all in a lather and then leave me in the lurch.”
I spank her round ass. She gasps as I bow. “Yes, your highness.”
All of her staff gasp. Clarice says, “The appropriate term is ‘Your Grace,’ William.” They gasp again. Audrey does too.
I take Bernadette’s hand and kiss the ruby on her index finger. “My pardon, Your Grace.” I stand and look in Bernadette’s bemused face. “Audrey. Bernadette is our friend. We will keep her secrets like they are our own. Is that clear, Kitten?”
I hear her gasp again, and then she sighs. “Yes, Master.”
I lean in and kiss Bernadette on the corner of her jaw, just below her ear. I murmur, “Always.”
I step back, bow to Bernadette and then step back to take my attaché from Audrey. The two folders, iPad and the papers I had in there all seem to be in order.
I bid them all “Goodbye my friends. I look forward to seeing you again, soon.”
They wave and say ‘goodbye’ as we walk out the front door. I walk to my car and put my attaché in the back seat before walking Audrey to her car. I see her keys are still in the ignition of her Accord, and her clutch is on the floorboards of the passenger seat.
“Were you in a hurry, Audrey?”
She nods as she opens the door and stands facing me in the open doorway with a worried expression on her face. “William, do you know what that means?”
“Not outside, love. At some point when we are in a secure location. They are our friends. We will protect them,” I tell her sternly.
Her eyes are big, “Of course, Will. Always. But the threat may be bigger than you understand. We’ll talk tonight.”
“Good girl,” I tell her. “Now pull your skirt up over your waist before you sit down. Show me.”
Audrey lifts her skirt and sits on the driver’s seat before rotating her knees to the front. I lean inside and devour her hot lips as I slide the spaghetti straps of her dress off her shoulders. I release her mouth and pull the bodice down until her breasts are exposed. I ask, “Are you ready for your orders?”
“Yes, Master,” she whimpers. A rosy flush is warming the tops of her breasts, neck, and cheeks.
“You are so beautiful, Audrey. These are your orders. You will drive home with your pussy and breasts exposed. When you get home, you will mount your roommate’s face and have her lick you clean while you rub one out while thinking about our afternoon. Then you will focus on your studies until we next meet. We will talk tonight, and I expect you to be wearing that floral robe I gave you and nothing else. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Master.” She is literally mewling and panting.
I lean down in front of her. “I love you Audrey. You are mine. No more fooling around unless I approve it. Clear.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Your roommate doesn’t count,” I tell her.
She grins, “Thank you, Master. She really is hot. She has some video on the internet. I’ll send you copies.”
I kiss her again. “Be safe, Kitten. I love you.”
“I love you too, William James. I am yours,” she says breathlessly. I step back and close the car door as she buckles herself in. She starts the car and pulls out of Bernadette’s drive. I mount up in my CRV. I start it and see I have a little over half a tank. That will get me where I’m going.
I pull out and head generally north until I get to 7th Street. I drive north on it until I turn left on Greenway, which I follow to I-17. From there it’s freeway until Cordes Junction. While I drive, I think about how I might dampen my power. I try some of the tropes that I know from literature. Unfortunately, I have no way to gather feedback. In the end, I go with the ‘I’m not here’ approach. It worked when I was in the sandbox, maybe it will in this case too. At Cordes Junction I follow AZ 69 towards Prescott. I pull over at a little mini-market in Mayer. It’s one of three such places that take turns being the lowest priced gas in Arizona. I fill up and resume my drive to Prescott - practicing my ‘I’m not here’ tactic the whole way when there were no cars close by. I didn’t want to find out it was working through an auto collision.
Finally I arrive in Prescott. I stay on AZ 69 until I can take the Gurley Street turn-off and follow it all the way to Montezuma. Then I turn right and drive past Yavapai Title without finding a parking spot. I finally park in the empty lot across from Farm Provisions, and get out and stretch for a minute. My bladder is full, and my water bottle is empty. I figure I can address both inside. It’s three-fifteen, and my appointment is at four. Why wait?
I pull my attaché from the back seat, lock up, and make my way across the street and up the hill to the office. Once inside, I meet a receptionist named Kelly at the desk. She’s dark haired and corpulent, but also pregnant. She is also very nice. She shows me the loo and then indicates a conference room for me to wait for the Title Officer, Morgan. I relieve myself, washup, and take a seat in the conference room. Kelly brings in two bottles of water. When she is gone, I pull out my passport, driver’s license, and social security card while I wait on Morgan.
I don’t wait long. Morgan looks like a former cheerleader working her way towards sixty. She tells me I’m her last appointment for the day, and she’s more than happy to start early. We confirm my identity and then start working our way through the two-foot stack of papers. Morgan explains that normally I wouldn’t expect this as a seller, but with everything being done electronically for the rush sale, there were a couple of things we need to review and sign.
Forty-five minutes later, we have the stack complete. Now that it’s done, it only looks to be about three inches tall. Tomorrow, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll pocket four million, five hundred thousand and change. Not bad for fifteen minutes of negotiation and forty-five minutes of paperwork.
I hope it goes through. I could use the windfall for my burgeoning family.
Morgan shakes my hand, hands me my copies from the stack in an envelope, and wishes
me well. I look down the corridor and notice a familiar elderly gentlemen standing outside scoping the parking lot. I start my ‘I’m not here’ tactic and quietly make my way to the lobby. Kelly doesn’t pay any attention. I sit down for a moment and focus on withdrawing my presence from notice. Slowly the gentleman makes his way to the door. He stands with the door open, and I calmly rise and walk through the open door as he releases the door.
I hear him ask Kelly, “Has Mr. James arrived?”
She points down the corridor, “Second door on the left, sir. Who are you?”
He smiles and extends a hand as the door closes behind me. I am sure he is being charming.
I walk slowly and calmly toward my car, keeping my focus on my ‘don’t notice me’ tactic. I walk calmly down the hill, cross the streets with the lights twice, and finally make it back to my car. I drop my hiding tactic as I scan the environment. I see a black Lincoln Towncar with Colorado plates double parked out front, but the driver is looking in the building. I get in and leave the parking lot, turning right toward Granite rather than left toward Cortez. I take Granite to a right on Gurley, then left on McCormick and left on Goodwin. I take Goodwin past the courthouse and then make the right turn on Cortez towards the apartment. I luck into a parking slot just past the front of the building.
I unload the car and drag everything into the apartment. No one is home. I thought Rebecca and Josie would be here. I text them both.
Josie texts back immediately. ‘At Marissa’s parents. Maria took us to look at houses. R is cooking. Love you. -J’
I shrug and call Zach. He says he’ll meet me at the property to help me load out. As I hang my blazer and kick off my dress boots, I notice that the bedside table is jammed into the left corner, the bed is jammed next to it, and an additional twin bed is shoved into the gap between the full bed and the right wall. I scratch my head and then shrug and pull on a grungy pair of boots. I trade my shirt out for an old work shirt, roll up the sleeves, and clip my pistol on my belt. I clear the weapon, work the action, function-check, and then load it again. I holster it, grab my truck keys, and lock the door. Then I walk up to my garage for the last time.
Zach is waiting for me when I get there. He says, “I figured you would be here before too long. I was at another site close by.”
I smile, “That’s great, Zach. Let’s get my stuff out of here.” I look at the garage and open my second sight. There are a couple of red glyphs on the ground in front of the vehicle and people doors. There is another pair on the locks. I hold Zach back for a moment before I unleash entropy energy on them until they disappear. Then I nod and unlock the vehicle door.
Fortunately, I don’t own a lot of tools. I’ve got a Porter-Cable battery-powered tool set plus some basic carpentry and painting tools. All of it is in plastic tubs loaded in the back of the truck. I have a gun safe in the garage, I open it and pull out the two shotguns and the boxes of ammo. I put them in the flexible gun cases and slide them behind the back seat of the truck. I reset the combination to 0000, and document it on the inside and outside of the door with a sharpie on blue tape. We pick up the jack stands and the two hydraulic jacks. We put the rake, hoe, and shovel in the bed and the cordless leaf blower in the back seat.
Everything is loaded. I walk the path out looking for more glyphs, but there are none in evidence. I wave at Zach before mounting up, starting the truck, and pulling out. I leave the garage door open. I pull into the alley and then turn right on Aubrey out of the alley. I take a left on Marina and make my way to my storage unit.
I offload everything into the storage unit except the two shotguns and ammo for them. You can’t see them from the windows of the truck, so I figure I’ll keep them there. Both are empty at the moment. I head back to the apartment, pulling into the alley behind it off Aubrey.
28 - Welcome home
By the time I walk in the door it’s six o’clock. Again, silence greets me when I open the apartment door. I text the girls again. Rebecca answers, ‘Sorry. Ran long. CU 20 min. M is here. LuvU. - R.’
Relaxing, I strip and shower. Afterward, I pull on jeans and another work shirt before I go look for laundry. Apparently the only dirties in the house are the ones in my bag. I unpack, put away my bag, and play my new guitar for a while. Then I put it away and get my Zager out. The Ibanez is a good instrument, but it doesn’t compare. I lose myself in playing until I hear a key in the door.
I set my instrument aside as a whirlwind of laughing, beautiful women walk in. They are all in short black workout shorts, trainers, and camisole-style workout tops.
Marissa sees me first and attacks me with her loving lips. I squeeze her hard ass, and she moans into my mouth. “I need you inside me, lover.”
I hear a smack and Marissa jumps in my arms. Josie puts her face right next to Marissa’s. She says, “Wait your turn, strumpet.” She pushes her face in to collect a kiss. I devour her lips, too. She’s obviously been practicing. Suddenly both ladies gasp as they tilt their heads back and pull away from me. Then Rebecca sticks her face in for her own wet kiss.
Rebecca releases the scalps of the other two and wraps her arms around them. “You’d think they haven’t been laid in a hundred years,” she says with a grin.
Josie pipes up, “I haven’t!”
Marissa caresses her cheek. “Tonight, beloved. Then we are going to all crawl into bed together tomorrow night.”
Josie rolls her eyes, “What? Another orgy?” Then all three of them cackle.
I chuckle. “So, I guess that answers the question of who Josie has been practicing kissing with.”
Rebecca gasps, “As if there was any doubt! Master, you know what a slut Marissa is!”
“Ha!” Marissa exclaims and spanks Rebecca’s ass. “You make me look like a nun, slut.”
Josie chips in, “And you love it, slut.”
Marissa gets a wry grin on her face. “Actually, I do.” She points at Josie, “I’m still waiting on you to strap on and fuck me like William does.”
Josie bites her lip in response. “I can’t do that until I experience it, and maybe watch him fucking you.” The other two laugh and crush her in a hug.
I don’t see any food, so I ask, “Shall we go to the Barley Hound for dinner?”
“Oh shit!” Rebecca exclaims. She grabs Marissa’s keys and runs outside.
Marissa follows her out calling, “See! I’m a nun by comparison!”
I clip on my pistol and grab my keys before I follow them out.
Rebecca says, “Oh! Yes! Will, please carry this inside.” She points to a shallow plastic tub, and I pick it up. “We’ll bring the bags. Let’s go bitches!”
I call over my shoulder, “Heavens, Rebecca. Where did you learn to talk like that?”
Marissa rubs against me as I place the container on the table. She looks chagrined. “I may have shown them some contemporary television shows.”
“Oh, Jesus have mercy,” I groan.
Rebecca rubs her breast against my arm. “Too bad I’m Jewish.” She hurries off to the kitchen counter calling over her shoulder, and I notice her tight shorts are a little fuller. “Oh William, my beloved master. Did you know that apparently Jewish girls are easy?” Her face doesn’t look as emaciated.
I answer, “That’s news to me. Where did you hear that?”
All three of them stop, look at each other, and say in perfect unison, “I saw it on TV, it must be true!” They break up into hysterical laughter.
I roll my eyes as I walk toward the door and ask “Is that everything?” I reach for the door.
Josie says “Yes” from right behind me. She sticks her arm out the door and presses the lock button on Marissa’s remote. The car locks, and I close the door and lock it.
Josie holds the remote up. “These are so cool! Of course, cars are cool. And airplanes. And the internet…” she bounces with each statement which has a mind boggling effect on her D cup breasts. “...and cell phones. And television. And…,” Josie stops and
looks at me. “And you, William James. You made all of this possible for me, and you didn’t even know me. You treated me like a valued family member from the beginning. You tell me I’m pretty.”
I put a finger on her mouth and take a turn. “You are pretty. And I love you. And I treasure you. And tonight, if you want it, I am going to make love to you.”
The tall amazon woman melts into my arms. I kiss her tenderly, and then she burrows her face into my neck.
“I’ll make you proud of me, Master.”
“Shh,” I hush her. “Josie, I’m already proud of you. Also, despite understanding the necromancer-slave dynamic, if you are mine, you are free. Clear?”
She nods into my neck, “Which makes me love you even more.” Then she looks up to my face and winks before saying, “Plus you gave me these hot bitches to dominate!”
A chorus of ‘as if,’ ‘you wish,’ ‘yeah right,’ etcetera comes from the other two.
Then Josie gives me a glorious smile.
I ask, “Are you sure you weren’t born in the 1990’s?” She hugs me before we walk arm in arm back to the table.
Rebecca hands off plates to me out of the container - shallow pasta bowls about ten inches across. Marissa sets out a trivet in the center of the small table and placemats before I set them on the surface. Josie follows with cutlery. Rebecca brings over a dutch oven, which she sets in the center of the table. Josie brings a loaf of challah style bread and butter. Rebecca pours red wine for everyone, and we take our seats. Marissa reaches out for the hands on either side of her, and soon we have a prayer circle.
She intones, “Divine parent. Thank you for this beautiful family. Thank you for the love we have for each other. And thank you for the food on our table. Please continue to bless and keep us.”
We all look at Marissa. Then we all intone, “Amen.”
“Well done, Pastor,” I tell her before kissing her hand.
