Chapter 5

I awoke early the next morning. I had slept nearly all day Saturday and all of last night. Between all of that sleep and that wonderful orgasm he gave me I felt almost fully recovered in the morning.

I lay there in the darkened room just before dawn and thought about Mark. For the moment the sexual harassment at work, the way I behaved on the subway, even the time I had spent with Ian and Craig were no more than slightly disturbing but strangely exciting events in my past. Karl and the people he had sold me to were another matter. I had to force myself not to think about that slice of hell from my recent past. I couldn't deal with that. Not yet. Not now.

I preferred to lie here with Mark's arms around me, his hand cupping my breast, and his cock nestled in the crack of my butt and listen to his deep, even breathing. I was in no hurry to start the day. Cuddling up to him here like this was just so pleasant. When we got up there would be problems to solve, decisions to make. This was nicer.

It was probably another hour before I began to detect a change and I realized that Mark was waking up. I waited to see what he would do before I spoke. What he did was very nice. He gently kissed my neck and my shoulder and then lay quietly, apparently under the impression that I was still asleep.

I put my hand over the hand that was cupping my breast and said, "Unless you have something else in mind, Sunday is the one day of the week I make a big breakfast. How do you like your eggs?"

He pulled me tighter against his body and asked, "Are you sure you feel like cooking? I can cook and I'd be more than happy to prove it."

I replied, "You are a guest in my home and you have been taking care of me since you got here. I feel just fine. And it would make me happy to make you a nice breakfast."

He laughed quietly and said, "Ooh! Snippy! I could just order you to let me cook your breakfast you know."

I answered, "Yes, you could. But maybe you should save your wishes for things like, 'take off your clothes' or 'let's fuck, ' you know, important things."

He kissed my shoulder and said, "I like my eggs sunny side up. I'll give you a head start in the bathroom. But don't dawdle because I don't think you'd like me as much if I started to wet the bed."

I sat up reluctantly and said, "Let's do it this way. I'll go start coffee while you use the bathroom. Then I'll come back and use the bathroom. We can take a shower and get dressed after breakfast."

He said, "Sounds like a plan. I'll hurry."

I went to the kitchen and started coffee in the nude. I don't usually spend much time in the nude when I am home alone. But for some reason I didn't feel any special urgency to get dressed. I was so preoccupied that I didn't realize at first that except for some miner tenderness in my butt I wasn't in pain! I felt great!

Once the coffee maker was doing its thing I started back to the bathroom. Mark was coming in my direction wearing his shorts and t-shirt. He stopped me and took me in his arms. We kissed and then he said, "You certainly are beautiful in the morning. I'll be right back. I'm going down the hall to get my Sunday paper before the neighbors steal it."

I used the toilet and then I brushed my teeth. I put on a pair of loose shorts and then thought long and hard about what kind of top to wear. I didn't want to look too sloppy. I wanted to be attractive, sexy but not obvious. But it needed to be casual and understated.

Unfortunately, whatever it was that met those criteria I didn't own it. I ended up putting on a loose fitting, midriff baring crop top. The only place I had ever worn it was as a cover up when I went to the small pool behind the two buildings of our tiny apartment complex. This was the first time I ever wore it without my bikini bra under it. I looked at myself in the mirror and I was pretty sure that Mark would like it.

Mark did like it. I could tell by his smile when he looked up from the Sunday paper and saw me. And considering what I have been through lately I was pleasantly surprised by the warm feeling I got when I saw his face and knew that he thought I was pretty and sexy.

I made breakfast and then we spent most of the morning doing the crossword puzzle in the paper. Then we had a light lunch and began to get to know each other better.

I learned that Mark owned his own small business. He was still struggling, mostly because it was hard to find the right people to work for him so that he could expand the business smoothly without compromising customer service. He had designed a few innovative metal fabrication techniques and patented the machines and the processes and his business was becoming very well known. He was getting inquiries from around the country now. He was nervous about that. He wasn't sure that he was ready. But he didn't feel like he had a choice. He summed it up by saying that by the end of the year he would either be filthy rich or unemployed.

He may have been nervous about his future. But he impressed me. I admired so much about him. He is incredibly intelligent. He is ambitious and not afraid to take reasonable chances. He is also level headed and seems to be keeping everything in perspective. His sudden success wasn't going to his head.

I learned where he was born and raised and where he had gone to school. I learned about his political views. I already knew that our views on religion were similar. We discussed goals, personal goals as well as business goals and we talked about what we were looking for out of life.

It turned out that despite his well ordered business life, his personal life was more haphazard. He wasn't sure what he wanted or expected in that area. It was important to him that his wife, should he ever find her, be intelligent and patient with a good sense of humor. But he didn't have some idealized version of "the perfect woman" that he pictured in his mind. He wasn't looking for a cookie cutter wife, two kids, and a picket fence. In other words, he didn't know who he was looking for, but he was pretty sure that he would know her when he found her.

I was even less specific. I had only one goal. I wanted to find a good man, fall in love and live happily ever after. I didn't tell him that I was beginning to think I might have found the man. Not just because we still had a lot to learn about each other. I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to run from my apartment in terror.

Although the subject had been serious we had been doing a lot of laughing and joking and the mood was light. But that all changed when someone knocked on my door. We had been putting off a couple of confrontations that needed to take place today. The odds were high that one of them was about to take place now.

I started to get up to answer the door but Mark waved me back into my seat. He got up and went to the door. I guess that neither one of us was surprised when he opened the door and saw Karl standing there.

Karl seemed a little disappointed that I wasn't alone. But he smiled and asked Mark, "Do you mind if I come in? The bitch has three holes, no waiting."

The smile never left Mark's face. But he moved so fast that Karl never saw it coming. I didn't either. I was shocked when Mark punched Karl in the face with all of his might.

Karl fell back and would have fallen on his ass if Mark hadn't caught him by the lapels and pulled him into my apartment. He brought his knee up and caught Karl right in the groin.

Karl screamed like a girl and collapsed onto the floor, holding his crotch in both hands and gasping for breath through his mouth because his nose was obviously broken.

Mark stood over him, waiting. The smile was gone from his face. It would be hard to describe the look that had replaced it. But if he was looking at me like that I would be terrified.

He waited until Karl tried to speak. It took a couple of minutes. Finally he stuttered, "Wha-wha-what the fuck?! W-w-why the hell... ?"

Mark bent down and grabbed Karl's lapels again. He drew his fist back and I thought sure he was going to hit him again. So did Karl.

Karl screamed and covered his face. He yelled, "Don't hit me again! You broke my fucking nose!"

I suddenly realized that I was standing up. I don't remember getting to my feet. I was poised to break them up. I didn't care about Karl. But I didn't want Mark getting in trouble.

Mark snarled, "You filthy low-life bastard. How much money did you get from that fucking pimp?"

The look on Karl's face changed immediately. It went from a mixture of terror and confusion to a mix of guilt and furtiveness. The weasel in him was coming to the fore.

Mark saw the change and said, "You fucking pervert, I'm still trying to decide between killing you and just putting you in the hospital. I have never hated anyone in my life as much as I hate you right now. And I think you know in the back of your pea sized brain that I could put you down right now and no fucking jury in the country would convict me once they heard what you did to that girl. Now answer my fucking question. It was not rhetorical."

I saw the gears turning in his head. He was trying to figure a way out of the situation in which he suddenly found himself. But I think that he was afraid of making himself look worse by discussing the money.

Mark started to draw his arm back again and Karl stopped trying to think. It must have been an ordeal for him. I don't think he did it often. He cried out, "TEN! He gave me ten thousand! But I gotta take her back because she is supposed to dance in the club and turn tricks in the back from now on."

His voice trailed off as he heard how awful what he was saying sounded.

In a deadly calm but terrifying voice Mark said, "You are going to give her the money. She suffered for it. I don't care if she throws it away. You are going to give her ever penny of it. And if you ever speak to her again they will find what remains of your body floating out to sea the next day. You have my solemn word on that. Look in my eyes, Karl. I have never been more serious in my life. That was not an empty threat."

Karl whimpered in fear and said, "But if I don't take her back to that club he is going to want his money back. Jesus, Mark! That guy is bad news. He'll kill me!"

Mark snapped, "You should have thought of that before you sold her to some fucking pimp. Whatever happens to you, you've got coming. Where's the money?"

The weasel look started coming back over Karl's face again. Mark must have been losing patience. He slammed his fist back down into Karl's face.

Karl screamed and covered his face again. Then he whimpered, "It's in my apartment! Christ! Stop hitting me!"

Mark pulled Karl to his feet and pushed him out into the hall with his arm twisted up behind his back. For the first time we noticed several of our neighbors standing outside my door, staring at the two men in shock. Mark ignored them and pushed Karl down the hallway ahead of him.

He was back in a couple of minutes with an envelope full of money. I closed the door behind him and ignoring the envelope I took a look at his hand. There was a lot of blood on it and I tried to pull him into the kitchen so that I could clean it up and assess the damage.

Mark shook his head and said, "I'm okay. I think all of that is Karl's. But we need to have one more confrontation. We might as well do it now and get it over with while the adrenalin is pumping."

I asked, "Should I bring the machine?"

Mark shook his head and we went across the hall to Ian's door.

I knocked. I think that Ian must have been standing behind the door listening. He paused for a moment, but I could see movement through the peephole and I knew he was on the other side of the door.

He finally opened the door and looked at us with a nervous smile on his face. He asked, "What was all that commotion?" as if he didn't know.

Mark answered, "You know damn well what all that commotion was." He pushed past Ian and I followed him in.

Ian was still trying to act innocent. Mark put an end to that when he said, "We found your recorder. I imagine that it has your voice and your fingerprints on it. So cut the innocent act and sit down. We want some straight answers or you are going to get some of what Karl just got."

Mark looked up and said, "You might as well come in here, Craig. You are a part of this too."

Craig came into the room. He was blushing furiously and it was obvious that he would rather be somewhere taking a beating than in this room with us. I didn't say anything. But I thought that at least he was nice enough to be embarrassed about what he had done.

He came in and sat down near Ian. He stared at the floor and in a quiet voice he said, "I'm sorry, Kari. When I offered you the white noise machine I didn't know that thing was in it. That doesn't excuse what I did later. But I didn't plan it. It just kind of happened. And dad didn't even know I gave it to you until last week."

To be honest, I know enough about men, and boys, to know that once they start thinking with their dicks they can't be trusted. I honestly didn't blame Craig for taking advantage of the situation when his father made him that offer that he couldn't refuse. It would be nice if our species had evolved beyond that sort of behavior. But I doubt very much if most fifteen year old boys would not have done the exact same thing that Craig did.

Ian was a different matter. If he had just had sex with me and kept his mouth shut that would have been one thing. But he had sex with me, gave me to his teenage son, and offered me to Karl and Mark.

The funny thing is that the only one that turned down his offer was the man I was falling in love with!

Mark didn't say anything to let Craig or Ian off the hook. He probably believed that they had every right to be ashamed and feel bad. But we had an ongoing problem here. My mind was still under the influence of those subliminal suggestions. And although we hadn't tested it out, it seemed that knowing it didn't make a difference to the way I reacted. I could still feel the tug of those compulsions to do things like flash men on the subway. I still felt the need to let men control me.

No one had given me any orders since we found the device and figured out what was going on. But I found myself having the same reactions to the same stimuli that affected me before I found out why was acting this way.

Mark turned to Ian and said, "We need to find out what was on that recorder. What kind of shit have you planted in her mind? And how do we counteract it?"

Ian blushed and said, "I have the script that I read from when I programmed it. I'll give it to you. But I don't know how to undo it. My wife was a frigid bitch. I wanted to get even with her for making my life hell. That was why I rigged that thing the way I did. But she left us before it had an effect on her. I never bothered to find out how to undo subliminal suggestions. Hell! I didn't know if it would even work!"

Mark glowered at him and said, "Get the script."

Ian got up and left the room. He was back a few minutes later and he was blushing even more than Craig. He was scanning the script as he entered the room. He handed it to Mark and said, "I'm sorry. You might understand if you knew my wife."

Mark shot him a look that made it obvious how disgusted he was with Ian. Then he looked at the script for a moment. I watched his eyes scan the paper and then he looked back up at Ian. He said, "You retrieved the machine a couple of days ago. What did you add that isn't on here?"

It looked like he was going to deny that he had altered the script at first. But he saw in Mark's face that he was already skating on thin ice. He turned and left the room. When he returned he was holding another piece of paper. It was obvious that he really didn't want to give it to Mark.

He was even redder now than the first time he came out of the back. I was curious to see what it was that could be that much worse than the original suggestions.

Mark reached out and grabbed the paper out of his hand. He glanced at it and his face started to look the way it had when he was beating on Karl.

Ian backed up suddenly. But he just looked down at the floor and said, "I'm sorry."

Mark seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment. Finally he asked incredulously, "Why would you do this to her?!"

Ian just continued to blush furiously. He shrugged and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Mark got to his feet and Ian backed up a little farther. Mark looked at him in disgust and said, "Relax, Ian. You aren't worth the effort."

Ian slumped down into a nearby chair. Mark helped me up. As we turned to leave Craig said again, "I'm sorry, Kari. I wish ... I don't ... I'm sorry."

I looked down at him. He looked like he was going to cry. I really didn't blame him for what he had done. But I was disappointed in him. He had been my only friend here for months. I went over and put my hands on his cheeks. I squatted down and said, "That was a terrible thing to do to a friend, Craig. I guess I can understand how you got swept up and just went with the flow. But I thought that you were better than that."

The tears were pouring down his cheeks. He sobbed, "I thought so, too. I can't explain what came over me. I'm so sorry."

I guess I knew what came over him. He was a teenage boy with a hard on. Hormones came over him. His father asked him if he wanted to get laid and that was where conscious thought ended. I understood. But even so, I wasn't sure that I could forgive him. Not for a while. It was different with Craig because I thought he was my friend.

Mark and I returned to my apartment. We went to the kitchen and sat at the table. I could see that Mark was uncomfortable. He was gripping those two pages of smut in his hand and even though he knew that I would need to see them, he was reluctant to give them to me. That in itself was scary.

I stared at the papers. They were sitting face down on the table. Neither of us spoke. I was just about to reach for them when I noticed Mark's hand. It was covered with drying blood and I was still concerned with how much damage he had done to his hand when he slammed it into Karl's hard head.