"Am I still in charge here?" I demanded to know. I didn’t like to raise my voice any more than I had to, so when I did, I got their attention. There was a pause before anyone answered, and a few angry looks.
"Yes," Stella finally replied. Then, more quietly, "Why am I the only one saying yes?"
"Because Mason is planning to use his authority to force a bad decision on the rest of us," Jada declared.
"We don't know that," Riley responded defensively to that accusation. "In my experience, Mason almost always makes good decisions."
"It's the almost always part that is the problem with your defense," Jada explained. “I think Alexa being the topic increases that margin significantly.”
"If no one denies his leadership," Stella spoke up again, this time allowing some rare anger to show. "Why don't we let him talk?"
"Thank you, Stella," I said. Her approach to the situation helped calm me down. Riley's claim also forced me to think more clearly. These wonderful women always counted on me to make good decisions. So, I shall make one.
I stepped to the center of the room and slowly rotated to take turns staring at each person there. Sincere concern for my welfare was apparent in their varied expressions. Some were a little upset that I was pulling rank. Others were more concerned about retrieving Alexa quickly and safely. They took so many decisions out of my hands these days. They should shut up and listen when it is my turn to decide something. And this was definitely my turn.
After a full circle I began to speak. "Most of us have valuable skills that would make us an asset to any search party. I, for one, can deflect bullets. There is no one here that is as strong defensively as me. I have also been the tactical leader of our group since day one."
When Jada opened her mouth to speak again, I waved her off. Let me continue.
"Stella is the most accurate shooter by far. If we end up in a gunfight, she would be the best offensive weapon." No one could deny that. The biggest problem was keeping her focused on killing people when she was so set against it.
"I'll go with you if you want," Stella whispered. She was assuring me of her obedience. Eager to leave the compound and face danger she was not.
"Riley's immunity to many mutant powers makes her a great asset on any scouting team. Her speed burst when well-timed can turn the tide in a small battle."
"Jamila?" I said her name trying to think what her value would be. She was not a mutant like the rest of us. She did have a strong connection with the skank tribe, and the new army of unskilled reborn women. But they were following our instructions these days as well. She was the only one that provided very little assistance in a skirmish.
"I am no help," Jamila said.
"No...." I started.
"It okay, Mason," she said, doing her best not to look inferior. "I know. Go to next girl."
"You're the eye candy," Bianka said before she could catch herself. That got her several smiles, especially from Jamila. When the petite ex-stripper returned her gaze to me, she looked worried. I had already promised her not to ask for a threesome with her and Bianka, so I just smiled and blinked my eyes to relieve her concern.
"Jada, you are a skilled warrior, and also very tactically minded. Your insistence on going is understood by everyone in this room. You are undeniably a good choice for this mission."
"Thanks," she replied, taking the compliment as common knowledge, which it was. "Can we..." I cut her off again.
"Ling's gift can scare the shit out of anyone," I said, reaping laughter from her. It made her proud to be considered an asset to us in a military situation. The problem was she was not very good at controlling her gift. It was more of an automatic defense mechanism. It worked in our favor the one time that it was employed, but I was not very confident that it always would. I remained quiet as she looked at the other women in the room to make sure that she had their respect. She typically received much less recognition than the others. Let her soak it up when she can.
"We can't all go!" Ling finally said, getting uncomfortable with the attention quicker than I anticipated. "There will be no one left to protect our place!"
"Yes, Ling, you are correct," I told her. "That's why none of us are going."
"What?" Stella asked, confused but not disappointed that she wasn’t selected. "We're not going looking for Alexa? I don't understand."
"No, someone is going," I replied as I finally turned my attention toward Bianka.
"He hadn't gotten to me yet," she told Stella, making that signature gesture with her forefinger and thumb extended.
"For a purely recon mission, Bianka's feline abilities combined with her combat skills makes her the perfect choice," I told the group. "Having anyone else go with her will only reduce her effectiveness. If she is willing, I'd like to send her on a solo mission, after it gets dark. She won’t get spotted and will return with more information than any of us could possibly acquire."
I was already standing close to Bianka's chair. When she stood up, it placed her gorgeous face just below my chin. Looking into my eyes, she said, "Of course, I'll go. I'm honored to be chosen for this mission. I know that sounds like a canned line from a military movie, but I mean it. I know how important Alexa is to you. Your trust in this situation means everything to me."
"Thank you, Bianka," I whispered. Our faces were so close together. I could see her eyes beginning to get slightly watery. She was not one to cry easily, so that was the closest that I had seen her come to weeping since that story about her grandparents. Choosing her in this critical situation moved her emotionally.
We were not alone. There was a room full of women watching us stand there speechless, staring into each other’s eyes. After a few seconds, Ling shouted, "Kiss her!" Everyone erupted with laughter except Bianka and me. We continued to stare at each other. It didn't take long for the others to feel the tension between us and quietly back down.
If it was anyone else, of course, I would kiss her on the lips. But this was Bianka, my best friend. The moment that we were having wasn't intended to be sexual, but somehow, we were allowing it to be because of the others watching. When I took her face in my hands, I saw raw terror flash across her eyes. She was thinking, 'Oh fuck! He's going to kiss me!'
She finally exhaled when I placed my lips to her forehead, which was already level with my mouth due to the height difference, then said, "I really appreciate you."
"No problem," she gulped, regaining her composure. Her nervousness in the situation confused me a little. Was she beginning to have those kinds of feelings for me? If not, I would have expected her to just shrug it off. "Anything for you, Mason," she added. Then she gave me a hug. I held onto her longer than she expected.
"Love you," I whispered as quiet as I could and still be audible to her alone. I was fairly certain that only she heard.
I was happy to hear her soft voice return the gesture with "Love you, too."
"Well, now that Mason has settled that issue," Riley told the group, drawing focus away from the awkward moment. "It's time that we all get back to work. We have plenty of daylight hours left in the day. Lunch isn’t going to make itself, so I'll be in the kitchen."
"Do you need any help?" Stella asked as she joined the others in rising from their seats.
"No sweetie," my primary wife present replied. The shortness of her response had me wondering if she disapproved of my decision, or maybe that I was relying so heavily on someone other than her.
Slowly everyone else filed out of the house and back to what they were doing before we called the meeting. It was a group of women after all, so there were a bunch of side conversations as the meeting broke up. Jamila complimented Bianka on her blouse. Jada told Bianka that she was the right choice for the mission, and the super-hot blonde lesbian thanked her. Stella asked Jamila if she would be getting an M necklace soon. Riley informed them all what she was cooking and how soon it would be ready.
Eventually, it was just me left in the living room, staring at Riley
as she went about her tasks in the kitchen. She was still Riley. Serious, organized, devoted, always doing more than her share. Never complaining. Never jealous, as far as I could see. And never criticizing my decisions. There couldn't be a more supportive wife in the whole wide world.
She was even a better wife than Alexa.
Yes, I actually said that to myself. I sucked in a quick breath and prepared to hate myself for such a comment. How dare I? I loved Alexa so much, my heart was pierced with a hot poker every minute that she was missing. But would I not also feel the same way if it had been Riley that was taken? Absolutely.
How would I feel if Jada were kidnapped? Or Stella? Or even Jamila? I would be in eternal torment until I got them back. There was no doubt. It would be worse for some than others, but the point was, Alexa was not my only true love. My heart was big enough for multiple women. And when it came to ranking their importance to our new society, it was Riley at the top, not my first love.
"Why are you staring at me?" Riley finally asked without skipping a beat in what she was working on.
I laughed as I approached her casually. "I'm just appreciating you." I continued around the kitchen island to put my arms around her from behind. It was just like I used to do on a daily basis to Alexa. It wasn't the first time I did it to Riley, though. I should be doing it more often, appreciating what I have instead of sulking over what is missing.
"Thank you," she replied as she continued working despite my embrace. That was the way most women responded, and certainly the task focused Riley. "Are you appreciating my cooking skills? Or my supportive nature? Or, is it my body this time?"
"All of those things," I said as I kissed her on the cheek. "I appreciate you for how great a wife you are." I rested my lips on her shoulder as she continued working. When I first walked up, I had considered caressing her body to get her attention. My recent line of thinking, though, had my mind elsewhere. "If we get Alexa back..."
Riley dropped what she was doing and turned around quickly in my arms. It was not the first time that she surprised me with her ability to do that. As the least shapely, and the thinnest, it was almost like trying to keep a smooth pole from rotating in my grasp. That sounds bad, but I didn't mean it that way. Riley was all kinds of sexy in her own way. A bikini model, though, she was not.
"WHEN we get Alexa back," she corrected me, her face mere inches from mine.
"Yes, sorry," I replied. "When we get Alexa back, I'd like for some things to be a little different."
"Like what?" she asked, giving me a peck on the cheek. I could tell that she wasn't looking to make out. She was just taking advantage of the proximity to show some affection while we talked. I kissed her on the lips quickly in return, again not intended to the be the start of something passionate.
"I don't want you be in her shadow anymore. You are every bit as good of a wife as she is," I told her.
"Thank you," she replied. "But I vowed my dedication to Alexa as well. I can't just stop supporting her."
"I know. But in many ways, that era has passed. I think that I need you, and even Alexa needs you to be someone else now."
"And who would I be?"
"You," I told her with my serious face. "The way that you are right now. We don't need to label or rank my wives anymore. However, in a lot of areas, you are the best primary wife."
"Mason," she said my name, concern in her expression. Maybe she thought it sacrilege that I place her above the great Alexa. Maybe she was moved by my compliment. Or, she didn't feel comfortable stepping into a leadership position formally. Everyone already looked to her that way, though. She might as well embrace it.
"I think that it is for the best to stop placing Alexa on such a high pedestal," I told her. "In her absence, I can see certain things more clearly. I don't think that she likes who she is when she is charge of a bunch of women."
"Wow," Riley said, her expression matching the word.
"I'm sorry to have to say it. You know how much I love her."
"No, that's not it," she said. I waited for more as I watched the wheels turning in her mind. "You are absolutely right. I never thought of it exactly in those terms before, but it is true. She has been trying to be someone else for your sake, and for the sake of all of us."
"So, you agree?"
"Absolutely, Mason," she said to me, maintaining eye contact, our faces still only an inch apart. "We'll help her adjust when she gets back. Depending on her emotional state, it might take a while, but I'll help you."
"Thank you, babydoll."
"Babydoll?" she asked, her face lighting up. "That's the first time that you called me that one."
"You are my sweet doll," I said, then added a soft peck on her lips.
"You mean the skinny one in the store that little girls hate becomes it makes them feel fat in comparison?"
I smiled, unsure of what to say to that. Without thinking of anything better, I replied, "Yes, that one." I slid my hands down over her tiny ass cheeks and gripped them.
"You are so bad," she said with her sexy bedroom smile. Then she gave me a real kiss on the lips.
"I think that I'd like to be bad with you, right now, here in the kitchen."
"You would?" she asked, showing concern again. I had never taken her out in front of other people before. It wasn't my style, and it certainly wasn't hers. I pictured her slender body bent over one of the bar stools and decided maybe it was time. My hands gripping her narrow waist to keep her steady. Her long legs pushed higher by her toes to hold her at the right height and angle. I could even place my face down there between her ass cheeks before we get started. I’d just have to pull off those large cotton briefs that replaced the panties she tossed on the bedroom floor earlier. "Today is not a good day for me, sweetie," she informed me with half a wince.
"Oh," I pulled back suddenly. "Is that why you are wearing the big underwear?"
"Yep, that's why I borrowed someone's grandma's underpants. But I can take care of you in other ways, if you want. Just let me finish lunch first."
I must admit, it was always an instant turn off for me to find out that a woman was having her period. I mean, in some ways, it should definitely be a turn off. But, instead of just a casual, oh by the way kind of cock block, it felt more like discovering that she had a sexually transmitted disease. It was wrong of me, but I couldn't help it. Either I had a traumatic experience with code red in the past, or my daddy taught me to be that way. I did remember him saying to never trust something that bleeds for a week without dying.
"Oh, no," I said, trying desperately to hide my distaste for the situation. "That's okay. I don't want to make you... Rain check?" I felt like an idiot. There was no way to go back and change my reaction.
"Yes," she laughed at me. "Rain check, definitely. When I am no longer cursed, I'll come looking for you."
Dammit! I felt like such a fool. I closed my eyes in embarrassment.
"It's no big deal, Mason. Did you want me to get you one of the other girls? I don’t mind."
"No, that's okay," I replied. Obviously, the moment had passed. And that moment was with Riley. I wasn't just uncontrollably horny looking for any available hole to put it in.
"Stella still isn't ready for penetration, yet, but you should continue to help her progress so that she is comfortable with you sexually when the time comes."
"No, that's okay," I said again.
"I understand," she told me, pulling me close again. "But tonight, when Bianka is gone looking for Alexa leaving you behind, you won't be able to sleep. I will need someone to keep you occupied."
"I'm okay," I said, not wanting to think about that. "I can wait a few days for you. I'd like to have you in my arms tonight anyway, though."
"Two more days, maybe three," she replied. "I'll be there tonight, but you should consider a distraction, whether it is with me or someone else."
With that she turned around and continued to work on lunch. I didn't have anything else to say about the matter
, so I let her be.
I spent much of the afternoon helping Stella and Ling with farm work. I got to meet several of the reborn women and was impressed with their dedication to the colony. They were all very grateful to receive the cure and they treated me like a celebrity. Hanging around with them was going to give me a big ego.
After dinner I tried to spend some time with Bianka before she left. I had full confidence in her ability to successfully complete the mission, but it didn't stop me from worrying about her. It had become our habit to hang out on the swing for a spell each evening before she went on guard duty. I made sure that we had plenty of time for a conversation before she had to get ready to go.
"You know," she said to me. "Just because we are getting very close, it doesn't mean that we have to tell each other... the thing."
"Are you referring to saying I love you?" It was an awkward moment earlier when we did say it, even though others couldn’t hear us. She wanted to make sure that it didn’t set a precedent.
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