“But Aunt Kari,” she pointed out, her voice groggy. “I don’t have school today. Spring Break, remember?”
“I know, squirt,” Kari shot back. “But that’s no reason to break your routine. You sleep in now, you won’t want to go to bed on time later. It’s a whole ordeal. Besides, don’t you want to see your daddy before he heads off to work?”
Felicia fell silent and Kari could see her sleepily pondering the question. She couldn’t help chuckling at the girl’s seriousness. Finally, Felicia gave a firm nod. “Sure,” she said, pushing the blankets away and sliding to the edge of the bed. She seemed to pause for a moment before she hopped off the bed, as if she were scared to do so. But the moment was so fleeting that Kari didn’t even begin to put much thought into it.
***
Although it was barely six in the morning, Allen had already gotten up, showered, and was halfway through a small breakfast by the time Kari and Felicia came down the stairs. The routine was commonplace enough that it no longer surprised Kari, but she did still find some amazement in Allen’s ability to devote a sizeable chunk of the night to pleasuring her in a carnal nature before getting up after only a few hours of sleep and still look ready and eager to get to work.
Dude loves what he does for a living, Kari thought. Nothing wrong with that.
Allen was a line chef at one of the ritzier restaurants in downtown Baltimore. The job required long hours and – to hear Allen describe it – sounded like way more stress than Kari would have ever been interested in subjecting herself to. But the pay was solid and if he kept at it the way he’d been going for the last year or so, it was possible he might one day earn a promotion to executive chef, either at his current restaurant or another one. And Kari couldn’t deny that Allen’s passion for cooking was almost as strong as his passion for trying to get into her ass.
“Morning, Daddy,” Felicia said as she shuffled into the kitchen, still not fully awake. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby,” Allen replied, pausing his speedy munching on toast to bend down and wrap his daughter in a tight embrace. He gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head before rising to his feet and resuming his meal. He looked over to Kari, giving her a knowing grin. “Nice to see you’re able to walk a straight line.”
“Shut up,” Kari snapped, glancing to Felicia.
Felicia’s brow lowered with confusion as she looked between the two adults. “Why wouldn’t you be able to walk straight?” she asked Kari.
“Because,” Kari said, giving Allen a dangerous glare. “I fell out of bed last night and landed on my butt.”
“Oh no!” Felicia proclaimed. “Did it leave a bruise?”
“No, honey,” Kari said. “I’m fine.” She turned her glare on Allen again. “I’ll just have to be more careful in the future and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Allen laughed. “Yea, you’re a real klutz sometimes.”
Kari gave Allen a punch to the arm that was a little harder than she meant it to be. “And you’re going to be late for work.”
He checked his watch. “Oh, shit,” he muttered before looking to Felicia – who had a stern look on her face and her hands on her hips. “I mean crap. Sorry. I’ve got to go.” He gave both Kari and Felicia another round of hugs and kisses before heading for the door.
Once he was gone, Kari turned to Felicia. “What do you want for breakfast, squirt?”
“Coffee,” Felicia replied firmly.
“You can have juice,” Kari countered. “You want solids with that?”
“Monstr’o’Berries.”
Kari lifted an eyebrow at Felicia. “You can have Cheerios. Besides, you know they only put out Monstr’o’Berries around Halloween.”
Felicia let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine,” she groaned before her face brightened back up. “Thanks, Aunt Kari.”
“No problem, kiddo,” she said. “Go grab a seat at the dining table and I’ll bring it out to you.”
* * *
After Allen and Felicia had moved in, Kari had to move her private work space out of the second bedroom in her home. Luckily, the garage was big enough to divide off and still leave room to park the car and store the Christmas decorations when they weren’t being used, so she had. A rod holding a pair of shower curtains divided the front half of the garage from the back half, where Kari worked. A bit of interior decoration and the back area of the garage hardly looked like a garage at all. She had a comfy day bed set up, lighting, a dresser to keep her sexier outfits and toys, and of course the computer she used to conduct her business. The mini-fridge allowed her to keep a few beverages and snacks chilled so she could keep herself locked up in the garage for hours while working without having to get dressed to sneak past Felicia to the kitchen.
Kari kept the doors into the garage locked while she was working for the same reason. The last thing she wanted was for Felicia to barge in on her while she was in the midst of fulfilling some internet perv’s wet dream, as she was currently. She was thankful for the added soundproofing she’d done to the garage as she moaned loudly for the watching webcam. Her plaid skirt was hiked up and the white button-up shirt she wore was wide open. One hand kneaded the flesh of her breasts while the other slid the pink dildo into her exposed pussy. The schoolgirl outfit tended to bring in good money with plenty of private sessions and today seemed no different. She was on her third private chat of the day and had only been working for a couple of hours so far.
The chat window dinged, alerting Kari to a message from her private viewer. She let her eyes slip open and looked to the chat, reading her request. She let out a sigh before replying. “If you want anal, you know you’ve got to pay for it,” she reminded. She continued to pump the dildo into herself, but slowed her movements as she waited for the inevitable bump to her running tip tally that would signal her need to switch things up. At the digital sound of a cash register rattling and a quick check that the amount donated was correct, Kari slid the slick dildo free of her wet slit. She set the toy off to the side and picked up another dildo. It was a bright radioactive green color and a bit slimmer than the one she’d been using previously. She grabbed a bottle of lube and squirted some onto the toy, smearing it across its length before squirting some more lube onto her fingers and bringing them down to her puckered sphincter.
Kari gradually pushed her fingers into her ass, slowly spreading herself open to prepare for the dildo. When her asshole was nice and lubed up, she picked up the green dildo and began to fit it into herself. Her free hand rubbed at her clit, giving herself some much needed pleasure as she worked the toy up her asshole. She kept the moans steady, not letting on that she wasn’t the hugest fan of what she was doing. She was a professional after all. She worked the dildo up to a steady pumping speed and rubbed her clit faster to match it, hoping that the time would run out before her paying customer decided to pay her to do something more extreme.
The time on the private show clicked away and not a moment too soon. She was in the process of straightening her outfit and hiding all of her naughty bits before returning to her public room when there was an insistent knocking at the garage door leading into the house. She’d made sure Felicia had her lunch and was plenty entertained and safe before heading to her sex den to get some work done. Felicia was self-reliant and clever enough to keep herself busy without causing any trouble, so if she was knocking at the door, it meant something important was up. Kari threw up a ‘Be Right Back’ screen saver onto the public room and slid off the day bed. She pulled on a fluffy robe that concealed her outfit completely and drew the privacy curtain closed behind her to keep the makeshift sex room hidden from Felicia’s young eyes then headed for the door.
Flipping the lock, Kari opened the door a crack so she could see Felicia peeking in. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Someone’s knocking at the door,” Felicia replied. “A man and a woman. They look fancy.”
Kari hadn’t expected any visitors, certainly not of
the fancy sort. “Alright, thanks,” Kari said, opening the door wider so she could exit the garage. She shut the door behind her, making sure it clicked shut. “You can grab a snack and go back to playing, if you want,” she told Felicia. The girl nodded and headed towards the kitchen as Kari headed for the front door. She checked the peephole and confirmed what Felicia had told her. A man and a woman. Although, she wouldn’t say they were dressed all that fancy. The guy had on a plain black suit. The woman a sun dress. They certainly looked like a mismatched pair. Bit late in the day for Jehovah’s Witnesses, she thought before opening the door. “Hey,” she said to the pair. “Sorry, I was in the back working.”
The suited man took the lead. “I’m Special Agent Nicholas Stark with the FBI,” he said before nodding to the woman beside him. “This is Doctor Zoey Green with the CDC. Are you Kari Davis?”
Confusion flooded Kari. What the hell are the FBI and the CDC doing knocking on my door? Is this a damn joke? “Uh, yea, that’s me. What’s this about?” she asked.
“May we come in?” Stark asked. “We need to ask you a few questions in regards to your sister, Madison.”
The mention of her sister caught Kari even more off guard. “Oh, yea, sure,” she said, backing away from the front door and glancing around to make sure Felicia wasn’t within earshot. The kid had been having a hard enough time dealing with her mother’s death that Kari didn’t want any conversations she might overhear complicating things further. Unfortunately, there weren’t many places in the house that Felicia wouldn’t wander into, especially considering there were new people to interact with. The concept of taking an FBI agent and a CDC doctor into her little love shack didn’t exactly sound appealing, either, whether they were the judgmental types or not. “Look,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Madison’s daughter, Felicia. She lives here with me and Allen. I’d rather she not have to hear whatever questions you have for me. So just gimme a minute to tell her to go up to her room and then whatever questions you have, I’ll do my best to answer them.”
“I could distract the child with entertainment,” the doctor offered.
Stark gave her an amused look. “You sure about that?”
Zoey nodded. “Children enjoy my company. Think I’m weird. Not entirely wrong.”
Kari had only just met Zoey, but she could see the general weirdness about her. Part of it was the fast-paced way she talked, but there was something else she couldn’t quite place her finger on. Still, it came across as a harmless type of weirdness, and if the woman was willing to keep Felicia occupied, she didn't see any problem with it as long as they stayed inside the house. “Um, sure,” she said. “Lemme just go grab her and let her know she’s got a new bud to hang with for a bit.”
* * *
After Kari introduced Zoey to Felicia, the two of them went up to the girl’s bedroom at Kari’s suggestion. Zoey surveyed the bedroom quickly. Small bed in the middle of the room, nightstands on either side, one had a fish tank which was currently devoid of any fish, windows looking out onto the front yard, television against one wall with a Nintendo gaming system and Bluray player hooked up to it, a few game and disc cases piled up in front of the small entertainment center the TV sat on, a wooden dresser that seemed a good deal older than the rest of the furniture in the room, a sliding door – half open – that led into a closet stacked with games and toys. “No fish?” she asked.
“Huh?” Felicia replied, her young face full of confusion until she looked to the tank on the nightstand. “Oh, no. Mister Bubbles died.”
“Gold fish?” Zoey asked. “If so, have some recommendations for tank improvements, if you decide to get another.”
Felicia shook her head. “No, he was a Beta fish. Orange and red. Really pretty.”
“Beta fish are quite beautiful,” Zoey nodded before giving the fish bowl another look. “Tank size and accommodations adequate for such a fish, as well. Did you know they have both gills and lungs?”
“What’s the difference?” Felicia asked.
“Essentially both are forms of respiratory organs,” Zoey explained. “Gills extract dissolved oxygen from water, expel carbon dioxide. Lungs do more or less the same, just with an atmosphere instead of water. As a result of having both, Beta fish can survive outside of their watery habitats for a short period of time.”
Felicia frowned. “I wish it wasn’t all that short,” she said. “Mister Bubbles jumped out of his tank and by the time I found him, it was already too late.”
Zoey gave the girl a sympathetic nod. “Beta fish also enjoy jumping,” she said before brightening up. “Previous comment about adequate tank not completely accurate. Could help you make screen for the top, so Mister Bubbles II won’t suffer a similar fate.”
Felicia’s face brightened as well. “Sure, that sounds fun. What do we need?”
“Plastic sheeting, rubber band, something pointy,” Zoey said.
Felicia thought about the list of materials for a moment, tapping at her chin as she considered where to get them before darting to her closet. Zoey sat on the edge of Felicia’s bed as the girl went about getting the few things needed together for their project.
* * *
“What’s this about?” Kari asked Stark as she handed him a glass of pink lemonade. “I don’t really know anything about what my sister did. We didn’t talk all that much after the divorce, for obvious reasons.”
Stark took the glass and sipped some of the sweet beverage into his mouth. “Do you know much about the circumstances of her death?” he asked.
“Not much,” Kari replied. “CyberWolfe sent a man over, but that wasn’t until about a month after she took the job with them. He didn’t say much beyond something vague about a lab accident, terrible tragedy, have some money, and please don’t try to sue us.” She shrugged. “When Allen and I tried to press him for details, he said he couldn’t tell us anything. Top secret or some shit.”
“I’m sorry,” Stark said. “I know this probably isn’t the easiest thing to talk about.”
“It just pisses me off,” Kari said. “Despite our differences and despite the mistakes I’ve made, I did love my sister. Then that CyberWolfe bastard shows up on Christmas and tells us she’s gone. They didn’t even let us have her body to have a proper funeral. We had to bury an empty fucking casket. And that doesn’t even begin to cover what Felicia went through. She handled the divorce as good as any kid could. She certainly handled it better than me and Maddy did when our parents split. But this is so much worse. And it would be bad enough if she had some sort of childish obliviousness, where she didn’t fully comprehend that she wasn’t going to get to see her mom ever again, except she doesn’t. She knows exactly what death means and she’s handling it in such an absurdly grown up way that it fucking breaks my heart.”
Kari realized she’d started to cry during her rant and blushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, I haven’t had anyone to really talk to about it,” she said, getting up to grab some tissues to dry the tears from her cheeks. “I mean, Allen’s a good guy, but he doesn’t handle this emotional shit very well.”
Kari’s emotions were understandable, but Stark still felt awkward and a bit guilty for bringing up the sensitive topic. Still, considering what he had to tell Kari, he didn’t imagine things would get any better. At least the kid’s upstairs, he thought. Hopefully, Zoey doesn’t spew out something unintentionally blunt. “Well, I might be able to fill in a few of the blanks and answer some of your questions.”
“Doesn’t sound like I’m going to enjoy those answers too much,” Kari muttered.
“Probably not,” Stark admitted. “I can leave out the details and cut straight to the important parts, if you want.”
Kari took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before shaking her head. “No, not knowing is worse. If I can handle my sister hating me for the last five years of her life, I can handle this.”
“Alright,” Stark said, although having Kari’s consent didn’t make saying the wor
ds any easier. “For starters, it wasn’t a lab accident. Well, not exactly.”
* * *
“Is that man you were with your boyfriend?”
Felicia’s question caught Zoey off guard. She blinked, unsure of how to respond. The easiest answer would have been a simple no, but it was more complicated than that. They’d been together sexually and it seemed as if there might be something more there in the future. “No,” she said. “Not really. We’re working together. Partners.”
“Do you like him?” Felicia asked.
Zoey nodded. “Nicholas Stark is a good man. Saved my life, quite smart. Good kisser.” She stopped suddenly after her last statement. She hadn’t meant to let any evidence of their relationship slip out – especially not to a little girl.
Felicia’s face scrunched up in disgust. “You kissed him? Gross.”
“Exchange of saliva and other bodily fluids can be gross. Can also be wonderful, in the right context,” Zoey argued.
“You kissed him, but he’s not your boyfriend?”
“Situation… complicated,” Zoey said, not knowing how else to put it.
“Is he married?” Felicia asked.
“No,” Zoey said. “I don’t think so. Didn’t think to ask. Not wearing ring.”
Felicia’s lower lip curled into a frown. “My daddy was married when he started dating my Aunt Kari.”
“Imagine that didn’t end well,” Zoey said.
Felicia shook her head. “Mommy and daddy split up,” she said softly. “Then mommy died.”
“The two things had nothing to do with each other,” Zoey told the girl.
“I know,” Felicia said. “Except they both made me sad. So maybe they do.”
“Hadn’t thought of it in that way,” Zoey said. “Maybe you’re right.”
Felicia took a long hard look at Zoey for a few moments. “You know you’re weird, right?”
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