"Hey," Alexa yelled down the stairs excitedly. It was a little louder than we had been raising our voices inside the house. I knew what that meant. "The ceiling light in the kitchen is flickering. Did you do that?"
"Yes," I said with a smile as I rushed to the bottom of the steps. "I think I got it working. Make sure everything is turned off up there. We don't need to put a drain on the battery or make unnecessary noises yet."
"Can I turn on the frig?" she begged with her hands clenched in a prayer grip.
"Not just yet," I replied with a chuckle. "But hopefully you'll be able to this afternoon. And be able to do some cooking. We'll have to see how well it charges up. Just because we are getting power doesn’t mean that the system is fully operational."
"It's getting really sunny outside," she tried to support her plea.
"There are other factors involved," I attempted to explain. Then I heard a buzzing in the basement. I followed the sound until I saw the light on inside the refrigerator behind the bar. The unit was stuck in place from not being moved for a while, but eventually I was able to reach behind it to get it unplugged.
I received congratulatory embraces from all my women once they received the good news. Getting the power working was a significant step in making this place our home. It was almost like we were unsure if we were staying until we saw the light bulbs start glowing. Everyone's big smile was accompanied by a sigh of relief. I knew that feeling myself.
I decided to celebrate by shooting a game of pool. If it were later in the day, I'd have myself some liquor, too. But I had too much work to do to let alcohol slow me down. We rotated through a few games, four of us playing at a time while the other two pulled guard duty. I was ready for lunch by the time that I felt like I'd had enough recreation.
"Another patrol just went by," Bianka informed us as we sat at the dining room table for what we hoped was our last meal of uncooked food. "That's a little over four and a half hours. I'm guessing that is how long it takes them to complete their circuit and swap out with another couple."
"Not the same guys?" I asked.
"No, two women this time. Still unarmed."
"Good," Riley said. "Maybe we can live here undetected after all. We might be on the fringe of their territory. Just a little caution and following some easy rules could keep us from ever being detected."
"Mason," Jada said to me. "You and I both know that this won't last forever. One day we'll have to face this religious group and make a legitimate claim on our place here."
"We've worked hard to make it nice," Stella added. "We deserve it. They weren't even using these houses at all."
"Yeah," I replied. "It is easy for us to feel this way. But that doesn't mean that others will agree. We should continue to lay low for the most part. I think we can live quite comfortably under these circumstances. When the time comes to face the Children of the Phoenix, we'll be ready. I just don't think it will be all that soon. Though that very well might just be wishful thinking."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
We had stocked up on weapons and ammo when we visited our old place but failed to find any bow and arrows left when we salvaged the fishing gear and water filters. Evidently no one in this neighborhood was into archery either. We certainly weren't about to try and make our own. So, that limited our hunting options. Fire a gun and hope we got back inside with our bloody kill before someone found us as the source of the noise. Or get a hell of a lot better at knife throwing.
Actually, Bianka was already pretty good. But even with her toned arms she couldn't propel a blade at a good speed any farther than about twenty or thirty feet. That might work for squirrels and rabbits, but not larger game. We would have to be satisfied with smaller portions for a while.
I was getting better with my deflection ability. I could toss a pebble into the air and propel it fast enough to stick into the bark of a tree. My aim was limited, but I could easily compensate by throwing more stones. There certainly was no shortage of them. But would they go fast enough to kill a deer or other large animal? I doubted that they would.
We had two good fishing rods and a couple of nice nets that we had become proficient with on the same river. Therefore, I had high hopes in the fishing department. Personally, I didn't mind eating more fish than meat. It would certainly be better than canned food.
The first spot we tried with our rods and limited supply of lures yielded nothing. It was right beside the walking path and the water was flowing good over a cobble bar. I had to walk through some thicker vegetation to sit on a boulder that penetrated the stream to improve my chances. Beyond it was another large rock with a deeper pool beyond. I was betting to find some good-sized fish there.
On my first ten casts I joyously caught three trout, each over a foot long. After that it slowed down a bit. The remaining fish became harder to fool. I then moved upstream and had more success for a spell. In an hour I had caught eight fish in total. Five of them were trout and the other three chubby looking things that I didn't know the name of offhand. Whitish with some pink striping, and big ole mouths. All were between nine and fifteen inches long. Not bad for my first outing at the new fishing hole.
Riley only caught one fish with her pole, and it was a bit small for eating. I couldn't break her heart and tell her to throw it back. I could see how proud she was that she caught something. Those kinds of celebrations were rare for her and I cherished watching her excitement.
The fish that Bianka caught by wading out into the safer parts of the river with the net were all small, but she managed to snag twenty-one of them. It seemed like more cleaning than eating to me, but we weren't in a position to be particularly choosy. The good news was that we should have a decent supply of fish for our diet. With the freezer up and running we wouldn’t have to hurry through them either.
Hunting did not go near as well. It took Bianka nearly two hours to kill a squirrel by throwing a blade. My effort was so pathetic it was a wonder the prey didn't stop and laugh at me before they ran off. Even when I tossed thirty pieces of pea gravel in the air, I couldn’t hit anything. Sometimes I barely startled my prey.
In a lot of ways, it was nice for us to have a much smaller clan than we did before. I was able to spend all my time with my favorite girls. We were no longer spread thin across a growing compound with a multitude of needs. Having more than a hundred followers at one point did make me feel like a king. But not always in a good way. It was a very stressful job at times.
I thought back to that decision to allow Jamila and Hedy to remain in the pool house. That kind of started it all. After receiving the treatment that fully healed Jamila we drew even more skanks to us. It was great that many of them were also able to regain their active healthy lives. However, the shuffle of zombie like women in our vicinity is what initially drew the attention of the Coalition. If I had sent sexy little ex-stripper Jamila on her way with her friend, things could have been much different.
"What are you thinking about there, sexy?" Jada asked. I was working in the backyard with my back to the house and didn’t see her coming my way.
"Sexy?" I responded as I turned to watch her sauntering toward me in her own signature way.
"Don't deflect," she replied. "It looked like you had some serious concerns on your mind when I walked up."
"Not really," I answered. "I was just thinking about my past mistakes and how to learn from them."
"I don't think that you've made too many mistakes from my vantage point. Are you regretting something in particular?"
"No, I just like having the small group again."
"Ah," Jada said, acting as if she completely understood by that simple statement. "Jamila and the skanks."
Maybe she did understand. I knew my decision to allow Jamila and Hedy to stay in the pool house back then met with mixed reviews. Some of them could rightfully say they told me so.
"Things look like they are settling back down for the time being," I said to her, eager to change the subject. I ha
d been caught dwelling on the past, but I didn’t want to make a conversation out of it. "Did you want to share my bed tonight?"
I expected one of two reactions to my question. The first option would have been to say no. Whether she wanted to back out of the proposition or was still overly concerned about our security, it would be understandable. The second possible response was to make a naughty comment accompanied by some of that horny body language that she previously only showed me on special occasions.
"Sure, Mason," she replied with a gentle smile. It was more like she was a coworker that I had just worked up the nerve to ask out on a date, responding much more favorably than I expected. "I'd like that. Do you think that maybe we can have a couple drinks and shoot some pool this evening, too?"
That did sound good. The new game room combined with more spare time had me looking forward to the evening recreation. If only we had brought our favorite card game with us. We had some good times playing Castles and Catapults. "Just the two of us?" I asked.
"No, the other girls can join us when they are not on guard duty," she answered. "I need to adjust our schedule if you want me to spend the entire night with you. Who do you prefer to join us for our little party? Don't say Bianka. She'll want to cover most of the night shift and should be sleeping during the evening. Pick two of the others."
"Hmmm," I thought about it. Surprisingly, I had not been put in that position often. You would think with a harem of beautiful women I would be choosing who to spend my time with on a daily basis. But it didn't really work out that way. Considering how I wanted the evening to bring me closer to Jada I decided not to include Alexa. That left Stella and Riley. They were by far the easiest to get along with in my group, so that spelled for a good time.
We plugged in any appliances that we wanted to use. The refrigerator, stove and microwave in the kitchen. The frig in the bar, too. There was some beer on the shelves that had never been chilled, so they weren’t skunked. I stocked the glass door display with a mix of lager, wheat beer and pale ale. Over the next few days, we could try to make some juice for cocktails out of ripe fruit nearby. We didn't have anything like pineapples or oranges, but apples, grapes and pears would give us enough to work with for mixing drinks. Both the bar and the kitchen frig had ice makers, too. We were quickly back to living the good life.
Fried spam and baked tater tots might not have sounded like a gourmet meal before the end of civilization, or even a week or so ago. Yet, it was certainly a mouthwatering delight in our current situation. We had some small fish filets to go with it, but we saved the bulk of our river bounty in the freezer. Everyone devoured their share quickly.
The electricity that we harnessed from the sun was more than enough for our needs. If we ever got to the point that we wanted to run the air conditioner I'd probably have to clean the panels on the roof for optimum efficiency. There might even be some with electrical problems that were not contributing at all. That would be a future project for sure.
Alexa said that she was fine with covering guard duty while I had our foursome gather in the basement for drinks and billiards. She had the unfortunate gift of sensing our pleasure, though. That had to double of the irritation of being left out on the fun. According to her, she had been getting more than her share of my attention lately, so it was no big deal. It was nice of her to say so, but I knew firsthand how it had to feel not to be included. In my early school years, I struggled to make meaningful friends.
Everyone was in the mood for beer, surprisingly. We hadn't had much over the last couple months. Just liquor. The cans weren't really cold yet, so I poured each selection into a glass with a couple ice cubes. A refreshing cold drink was even better than a hot meal, especially with the intoxicating qualities.
Riley chose a lager. It had the lowest alcohol content. With her super slim body, it probably wouldn't take much to get her tipsy. Stella had never had a beer before. I selected the wheat ale for her because the flavor was the smoothest. I only wished I had a nice orange slice to garnish it for her. Jada and I both opted for the eight percent alcohol pale ale. They were strong and bitter, but somehow perfect for the occasion.
"Mason and me on a team," Jada announced as she grabbed a pool cue.
"Well, that hardly seems fair," Stella complained. But I doubted that she really cared who won. "You are the best two players from what I hear."
"Hey, now," Riley told her as she grabbed two cues and handed one to Stella. "I've gotten better since that first house. Besides, Jada and Mason never get to team up. Let them have their fun."
"Oh, yeah," Stella responded. "It's Jada's turn tonight. I'll be sure to have my ear plugs ready."
"Excuse me?" Jada asked while laughing. I could see her loosening up already. It was surprising to hear Stella make a sexual reference. The beer must be hitting her already.
"I'm sorry, but the other night while Riley was screaming over and over again, I had a hard time sleeping," Stella explained. "And I even had the bed to myself that night."
Riley looked her square in the eye and said with a straight face, "You couldn't sleep because I wasn't there to spoon you. You are just like Bianka."
Woah! I didn't see that coming. The joking around continued without anybody taking things too serious including Stella. Everyone had a second beer and there were glassy eyes all around. Jada and I won the first couple games easily. When I started lining up the other team's balls by the pockets in game three, no one said anything. But Jada gave me a wink. She knew I was trying to give our opponents a fighting chance to make it fun for them, too.
After five games Riley and Stella finally excused themselves. They didn't have any additional drinks, but they didn't need any. Both of them were lightweights when it came to alcohol and acting a bit drunk by the time that they left arm in arm, heading to the same bed.
"Have fun with that spooning tonight," Jada told them as they headed for the stairs.
"I'm going to cup one of those nice titties of hers, I think," Riley declared with only the slightest of drunken slurs. "I'll fall asleep thinking that mine have gotten bigger."
Everyone including Riley laughed at her joke. She was easily the smallest breasted among the women, and never embarrassed by it.
"Did you want to shoot another game?" I asked as I started pulling the balls out of the pockets. It was a nice eight-foot pool table with claw feet. Probably not as expensive as it looked, but the best one that I had ever played on. The slate along with the barely worn felt provided a perfect roll for my soft shots. I came up shy on a couple sharp cuts early on due to the unanticipated slow roll.
"Not really," Jada announced as she laid her pool cue on the table and walked toward me. The look she was giving me was super sexy, but not in her typical manner. It was more of a girl next door vibe, like a bashful tease. I was certainly intrigued.
"Should I bend you over the table instead?" I asked as I welcomed her into my arms.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"I'd make sure that we'd both like it, very much. Maybe we could even put one of these pool cues to use if you are up for some..."
"Not tonight," Jada cut me off. Then her lips were on mine. Soft and patient. Not the aggressive passion that I was used to from her. I decided to just follow her lead since she was in a rare mood. I knew that I would thoroughly enjoy the experience whatever she had planned. Except maybe if she was going for the dominatrix approach. I was more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of having my genitals bound and whipped.
I searched her strong body with my hands as our kiss continued on forever, unrushed. Her shoulders and back. Her ass and hips. Her breasts at times. She made no complaint about anywhere that I touched, but I could clearly see that she wasn't pushing for anything too naughty.
"I love you," I whispered during a rare breath. She replied that she loved me, too, without hesitation. "I'm liking this new side of you."
"I'm glad that you do," she answered as she pulled back a couple inches to
look me in the eye. "I can't act like the other woman every time now that I am officially one of your wives."
"Oh, it is official now?"
"Your first three said that it is," she told me softly. "They seemed happy about it even."
"Me, too."
"If you don't mind, sweetheart," she whispered to me. It was a tone that I had never experienced from her before. It slipped me into a sultry mood like a good erotic movie. "I'd like to take this to the marital bed."
"Should I carry you across the threshold?" I asked as I slipped my hand into hers and turned toward the stairs.
"Only if I get to carry you up the steps," she answered in a voice that sounded a bit more like the old Jada.
The main living area of the house was empty when we went back upstairs hand in hand. I didn't know where Alexa currently was, but I bet that she was staying out of the way as we passed through to master bedroom. I locked the door and turned around to find Jada wanting more kisses. Then slowly she began taking off my shirt. Following her lead, I pulled hers over her head. Our pants and underwear went next without any gawking or comments. Instead, we focused on each other's face, staring deeply into the eyes.
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