I nodded, and she went on, “And second, we have to stay out of each other’s bedrooms. No peeking.”
I said, “Certainly!”
She said, “So, maybe we can ask before we take a look at each other. We can see all of us clearly enough that we might know what we were doing if we were with a mate. So, we can look to see what direction we are in, but not so closely that we see what we look like. We will knock and ask permission if we want to get closer to each other. No peeking in. Sex is such a playful thing to me, but I promise that I won’t do it. And neither will you, even by mistake.”
I said, “Yes. Agreed. No arousing and teasing each other.”
Lucy interrupted and said, “Well, not much. A little maybe.”
I frowned and said, “And no peeking. Knock first. But knock quietly. Really. It’s harder to control than you think. I’m worried about what it would be like if something happens and we ‘scream’ for help. We might knock the other unconscious just when we need them most.”
Lucy said, “And we’ll practice very carefully. This seems like such a game, but I know that it isn’t. But we have to have some fun, don’t we?”
I said, “We do. But, if you are going to tempt me, make sure that one of my wives is nearby to relieve the pressure you build up in me. Please, don’t wind me up and then you be the only one around. And especially not naked.”
She smiled and said, “That sounds like a good idea. A perfect plan. That way we can have our fun, and we stay safe and don’t rush at each other. Gerald is OK with our relationship, but neither you nor I want it to break our necessary boundaries. So, no arousing teasing, knock and don’t peek, and be very gentle as we practice.”
We were starting to walk back to the farm now, and Lucy said, “Ronin, do you love Brenda and Alice? And Harmony?”
I said, “Lucy, I love them all. I love them so much. All of them. And every one of them more than any of the others. I love Brenda the most - in a certain way. And I love Harmony more than any of them - in a certain way. And I could say the same thing about all of them. I love Val more than any of the others though - in a certain way.”
She grinned and said, “I’m so glad to hear it. I have a gift for you.”
And without warning, Lucy turned and kissed me. She kissed me hard and passionately, pushing her tongue between my lips. And as she did, I was flooded with feelings of love. A brilliant light burst upon my mind and I was pushed into the world of elven senses and found myself being caressed from very side by very strong connections, pulsating with love for me. I nearly fell to my knees, but Lucy held me up as she continued to kiss me. I looked at the massive tendrils of love connected to me and followed them to their source. And the source was each of the girls. It was like tree trunks of passion flowing from them to very part of me. Every one of them straining to let me know that they loved me.
And Lucy kept kissing me, and I kept feeling the love of the girls squeezing me in a fur blanket. When Lucy slowed down and finally broke our kiss, I was gasping. And I found my right hand cupping her butt cheek, and my left hand fondling her breast! She just smiled at me and gave me another kiss, on the cheek this time. She held me in her arms, and I was too stunned to move my hands from where they rested on her perfect body.
She whispered, “Ronin, you taught me to see connections between us. Now, I can see love between lovers. What you saw was the love that they have for you. You think that you love them, but you don’t know how much every one of them loves you. I have seen a lot of lovers in my work, but I have never seen women love a man the way that all five of them love you. You can literally do anything you want with them. I’m sure that they have told you that they will always be ready to love you. What you don’t realize is that, because of how much they love you, every one of them is ready to make love all the time. It’s not a permission that they give you. It’s the reality of their love and readiness. That’s the gift I want to give you. I want you to see that they love you and you never, ever, need to ask about it or wonder about it. They love you more than you love them. It’s impossible for a good man like you to believe it, but do your best. And, Sweetie, I like having you want to touch me, but we aren’t far from the farm now, so I guess we should be careful.”
I looked up from my dream state and slowly pulled my hands away from Lucy’s body. I looked to see where we were, and if anyone could see us, and then I bent down and kissed her without asking.
She cooed and said, “Yes. I love you too. Remember what you saw.”
I said, “Can I ask you to show me again if I want to see it?”
She smiled and said, “Ronin, you are more my son than I could have ever wanted. Yes, absolutely yes. Ask me for anything. What did you tell the girls, Tanya and April, that you would do for them? I know you. You probably promised them the moon. I saw your connection to them. I bet you made them an outrageous promise.”
I smiled and said, “I told April that I would build her a castle and fill it with unicorns.”
Lucy said, “And you meant it. And as much as little girls want to believe in them, we both know that unicorns don’t exist. But that didn’t stop you. Ronin, you need to know that I feel that way about you. I will do anything for you.”
Suddenly curious, I said, “Lucy, when did you start to love me?”
She said, “A week before you came. I didn’t know what I was seeing, not like I would after what you showed me today, but I saw you. And I see your next questions. Yes, I saw you coming and I felt like I loved you. And yes, I called Val and Harmony and told them that you were coming and that I was going to give you to them, even though I was really giving them to you. First Val, because you needed her first. They both knew that Harmony had to wait until you were ready. And, I kept watch. And when I knew that you would save us, and that you had enough love, and especially when Val told me that you could handle it sexually, I gave you Alice and Brenda. No, I didn’t make them love you, but I did maybe help them not be afraid to love you. I did all of that. Because I would build you a castle full of unicorns, even if you don’t know that you need one.”
Lucy grinned and paused for a moment and then winked at me and said, “Or did I? I can say that I did, because I would do that for you if I could. And in some ways I did. And in some ways I didn’t. Yes, a week before you came, I called Val and Harmony and told them that you were coming. Yes, I talked to Alice and Brenda and Jean and Gerald about them being the perfect choices for your housekeepers, knowing that you would love them when you knew them. I can say that I chose them and gave them to you, and in my heart, I did. I helped them see the possibilities, but they all made their own choices. Alice and Brenda are grown women. They love you. Val and Harmony make up their own minds. Jack and the little girls weren’t told to love you. They do though. Yes, I chose them and gave them to you because I love you. And yes, they chose you because they love you and gave themselves to you with no interference from me. And yes, you chose them, and…well, that’s not exactly true, is it? You accepted them and chose to be chosen by them. We all did our part, and we will never know how it might have been different, if this or that or some other thing. But the way that I see it, it was going to happen, whether it happened exactly this way or not. But, your question was if you can ask me to show you this again? Yes. You can always ask me for anything. Can I stay at your house tonight?”
I was surprised, but said “Of course.”
She said, “Good. Let’s go tell Gerald. He has Anne tonight. If I can help with arranging your house, I would like to.”
We walked hand in hand back to the fields and Lucy greeted Anne warmly and then she asked Gerald to let her stay the night with me and the girls to help the women and children get settled. He agreed readily, and without going back to the farm house we headed off across the meadows.
Everyone stayed at the house for the first time that night. All of the women were busy getting things arranged and finding rooms for everyone. The little girls and Jack stayed in one room togethe
r. I told them that we would get them separate rooms soon, but they were used to sharing a room, so they hadn’t expected anything different. They all seemed very happy and excited to be moving. And I didn’t pay that much attention to the details.
And I slept well that night.
Chapter 26 - Moving In
This morning, I woke up early, before Alice was able to come and insist that we get up. In fact, I was the first one up. It was still dark, and I went out to the courtyard to meditate. Mostly I just did breathing exercises and calmed myself, focusing on being where I was and part of my surroundings.
When breakfast came, I was surprised that Lucy brought me a plate on the patio. She brought one for herself as well. As she set the food down on the little table, she kissed me on the cheek and we sat together. The rest of the family were eating together in the dining room, getting the children acclimated.
Lucy said, “Dawn tells me that you and she slept well last night. I almost came and slept with the two of you myself. Jean told me that you had agreed to let us sleep over in your bed if we got cold or lonely,” and she winked at me.
It was true, Jean had slept with Val and I one night at the farm while Gerald was away. Of course, there was nothing sexual about it. We just slept in the same bed. Val and Jean had convinced me that since Jean was our mother, there was nothing wrong with it. But I’m glad that Lucy didn’t sleep with us last night. Lucy was different than Jean. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed. Damn, she was a confusing woman! When she was around, I never knew what I wanted.
We sat quietly, eating out breakfast and enjoying both the morning and each other’s company.
At one point, I started to have a strange sensation. Like a gentle knocking on some door in my mind. Without looking up from my plate, I turned inward and looked for the cause. As I tuned in to my extra senses, I saw a vision of Lucy, standing in front of me, smiling. The sense I got from her was one of pure approval and love. As I watched, her form reached out and touched my face. And when she did, I heard something like a voice. It was strange and jumbled. It was more impressions than actually words. But what I thought I heard was something like, ‘Hi. Sweet. Happy.’ It took several tries to hear it, and it was repeated several times. I don’t think that any real time went by, but I had no sense of time right now. I tried to respond. Thinking back to our conversations from the day before, and how Lucy had told me that I should compliment her when she took her clothes off, since she was essentially naked now in this other realm, I tried to say, ‘Nice breasts.’ And I tried to smile.
I heard Lucy take in a breath and chuckle. Then, the thought, ‘Love. Good. Pleased. Thanks.’
Then she broke the connection and said, “Ronin, you sweet boy. Well, thank you,” and she grinned at me from across the table.
I said, “Well, I guess that proves that we can learn to talk to each other that way.”
She grinned again and said, “You better only talk to me that way when no one is listening. Nice tits! The nerve,” but I could tell that she was joking and at all offended, but flattered.
The she said, “I’m teasing you. Yes, this is very wonderful. Ronin, how did you discover this? Of course, none of us has anyone to teach us, so we only know what we learn on our own, but this is farther along than anything I have ever imagined.”
I said, “Well, it started with Harmony. She taught me to see this other realm. She showed me how to look at people to see the relative elveness in them. She said that she thought that I was stronger than we had suspected, and she taught me to see us that way. Then, a few days ago at the pools, I sat by myself and tried to see if I could do more with it. I found the connections between us and started to try to influence them.”
Lucy said, “And now we can communicate both feelings and thoughts. What did you feel when I tried to contact you?”
I said, “Come show me how you did it and teach me what to do.”
We closed our eyes, and I watched as Lucy ‘knocked’ on my thoughts. I communicated, ‘Let me.’ And I very gently imitated what she had done. I felt her pleasure in what she experienced, and we opened our eyes again.
She said, “It really is kind of nice. It’s like someone you love suddenly appearing at your door. I liked that. It does take an effort though, doesn’t it? Do you think that we will be able to do this longer as we practice?”
I said, “I would think so.”
She said, “Do you think that the others can learn it? Are they strong enough? And will it be difficult for them?”
I thought for a minute and said, “Val learned to see the connections very easily. I don’t know if she can do it on her own yet, but she did it with Harmony and I helping her. We will have to see if she can do it by herself. And I think that it does get easier with practice. And I think that each thing that we learn, we can teach to the others very quickly. I showed you how to see, and you were able to do it. You showed me how to ‘knock’, and I was able to do it. Lucy, I think that we will get better and better at this, and the others will learn it very quickly. I think that you and I are the best ones to do the exploring though. And, please, be very careful. I don’t want you, or anyone else to get hurt.”
She said, “How could anyone get hurt?”
I smiled and closed my eyes and sent a pulse of myself down the connecting ribbon to Lucy, and like with Val, a small watermelon flowed along the chords and struck her.
Lucy opened her eyes wide and gasped and said, “Ronin, give a lady flowers first! My goodness. OK, yeah, we’ll be careful. That was like…I don’t know what. It was, well, it was like having my clothes disappear all of a sudden. Nice. Really nice. But what a surprise. Oh Ronin!”
She looked at me hungrily and said, “We could have some wicked fun with that. That’s something that I will never be able to share with anyone but you. What if we did share that? Oh Baby!”
I said quietly, “Lucy I guess I shouldn’t have done that. I just, well, it seemed harmless.”
She said, “Not quite harmless. So, you weren’t trying to arouse me?”
I said, “No. I just sent you a kind of message that I am connected to you.”
Lucy grinned and said, “Show me.”
I said, “I’m not sure that I should now. We said, no teasing.”
Lucy said, “Ah, we did say that. OK, so don’t tease me. Show me and be sincere. For science.”
I sighed and closed my eyes and showed Lucy what to do. Then I opened my eyes again quickly.
Lucy said, “I see. OK.”
And I was suddenly hit with a cannonball of indescribable something. She was right, it was like having my clothing disappear and a sudden feeling like I was going to be devoured by a ravenously passionate beast. And I wanted to be devoured. I wanted to wrestle that beast and have us devour each other.
I looked at Lucy and she said simply, “For science,” and she grinned.
I just stammered, “Lucy!”
Lucy looked at me sweetly and said soothingly, “Ronin, shush, be at peace now. I love you. My boy, I love you. Rest. This was a good session and practice. We’re tired from it. Feel better now.”
As she spoke, I did become calmer and more rested.
She said, “No more teasing. Thank you for loving me this way.”
I took several deep breaths and relaxed. A minute later, Alice came to the courtyard and asked if we were ready for the family meeting. I smiled and said that we were, and the three of us went to the front room. There wasn’t room for all of us in the dining room yet, not with Lucy and the three children. And the three children would join us for the first part of the meeting at least.
We started with plans for the house. Lucy said that she would go with me to look at other houses and introduce me to the right people to handle the arrangements when Gerald arrived. Jack said that he was partial to the house across the street because it would be best for an underground tunnel. The house was he priority for today. Get everything ready. Then, get the younger girls some nic
e dresses.
There wasn’t much else to plan for today. I gave everyone a hug and kiss, and Tanya and April giggled a bit when I kissed their mothers. Lucy and I went out to look for a house before Gerald came.
I wasn’t at all sure what the prices would be. I had never bought a house before. First, Lucy took me and showed me where Brenda and Alice had been living. It was about a block away. Where our house was built to surround a courtyard on all sides, their old house was similar, but just one side, not all four. The other sides were separate houses occupied by other families. Their house was just a kitchen, two bedrooms, a front room, and a bath, on two stories.
From there, we went back to our house and she showed me the house across the street. It was the same layout as ours. The street wasn’t very wide. I really had no idea if a secret tunnel was possible or not, but I would try to get one made if possible. I had promised Jack. After that, we looked at the outside of the house to the left of ours, then we looked at the one on the right.
All of them were currently occupied, but none of them had large families. Lucy knew all of the owners, of course. The proper way to do things was to talk to the property agent first. He was like the village matchmaker for the housing. He was the one to listen to our needs, and then talk to the others to see if they would be interested in selling or trading for the smaller house that had been Brenda and Alice’s.
Lucy and I met with the man for about an hour. Part of that was simply visiting. One reason was so that he could listen to my descriptions of the family, and part of it was so that he could get a sense for who I was, both as the village hero, and as a new neighbor. Then we came to a description of what I was looking for. Lucy helped me navigate everything gracefully.
The man said, “Ha, a secret tunnel, or a secret passage! Wonderful. Yes, a boy would love that. And, you being an Adventurer, why not? One of the most unusual, and surprisingly easiest housing requirements that I have ever heard.”
The Edge of Harmony: The Guardian Maidens Book 2 Page 24
