Chapter 28

After clearing up the ice in the garage, and closing the carport doors, I went back into the house to get warm.

Alyssa and Kelly were gone.

I quietly moved further into the house, listening.

Laughter came from the master bedroom.

Laughter? Either someone found some laughing gas, or Kelly and Alyssa were getting along. I seriously doubted the gas, so I accepted the tranquil sounds and turned back to the door leading up to the playroom. I wanted to do a thorough search up there while I had the chance.

Since I seriously doubted either of the women would look for me up here, I thought a bit more magic would help speed this up. I was sure looking for the locket itself wouldn’t be possible. The defenses would keep it hidden. However, looking for hidden compartments, doors, closets, etc. wouldn’t be out of the question. Standing in the middle of the playroom, I closed my eyes, focused on my intent, put my will to it, and let the power flow.

I opened my eyes. At first, nothing jumped out at me. Then I noticed the subtle glow around the edges of two hidden doors. The one on the north wall was the one Kelly had shown me earlier. I looked inside again, but didn’t see anything other than what I saw earlier.

When I left the half-bath, the other hidden door stood directly across the room from me. I went to it and looked inside. Just as Kelly said, the space was empty. In fact, it was unadorned. They hadn’t even added the padding or soundproofing. I left that space and checked around and under the furniture. Nothing.

I was beginning to wonder if Dad had either buried the locket in the yard or put it in a safety deposit box somewhere.

I left the playroom. Other than the boxes in the garage or the shed out back, I couldn’t think of anywhere else to look. I had to talk to Dad, and I couldn’t trust that the roads would be clear enough today to go anywhere.

The bedroom door opened. Kelly, still wearing her collar, and Alyssa came out. Both of them had smiles on their faces and shot me glances. I suddenly felt like a lone gazelle on the plains and two lionesses were on the hunt. Not a bad analogy, but not necessarily good either. I looked from one to the other. “What’s going on?”

Kelly shook her head and looked at Alyssa. Alyssa asked, “What makes you think something is going on?”

I shook my head and the two of them giggled. No, this wasn’t good.

Alyssa waved toward the garage. “How much shoveling did you get done?”

“See for yourself,” I said, knowing they probably wouldn’t believe that I was finished.

Kelly made it to a window first. “Oh my God! He finished the whole thing. Hell! The road’s been cleared too.”

Alyssa joined her. “Good,” she said. “We need to make a run into town.”

I sat next to the fire. If they were going into town, I could use Magic to turn this place upside-down and back again before they returned. “Have fun with that.”

Kelly turned to me and smiled. “We includes you.”

I looked up. “Er, that’s not a good idea.”

She sauntered over, pushed me back into the chair, and crawled onto my lap. “Why not?” she asked with a purr.

I couldn’t see past her to know how Alyssa reacted to this. “I can’t take the chance that someone will see me and throw a fit.”

Kelly shook her head. “When are you going to learn, Seth? You have just as much right to be in town as anyone else.”

“I don’t think you understand,” I started.

“No,” she said, standing up again. “It’s you who doesn’t understand.” Then she grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “You’re going to town. Staying home all alone in this house isn’t going to happen.”

I looked past her to Alyssa. “Do you remember how the woman in Shirley’s responded to me? She acted like I had the plague.” No, I didn’t mention that the woman was Mrs. Hartwell, Lisa Hartwell’s mother.

Alyssa smiled. “That’s because they don’t carry men’s clothes normally. You saw their selection. After you bought what you could wear, I bet they threw out the rest, or donated it to Goodwill.”

If the Sheriff hadn’t threatened me, I wouldn’t even be arguing with these two. Yes, I had information on the Sheriff, but that wouldn’t do me much good unless I could get that information to the right person. In Newton Grove, I wasn’t sure there was a ‘right person.’ Yet, I didn’t want to piss off the only two people happy to see me right now.

I nodded. “I’ll go, on one condition,” I said.

Kelly tugged on my hand. “What, baby?”

“I’ll stay in the car so you two won’t be thrown out of the store, wherever we’re going.”

They looked at each other and then nodded. “Okay,” Alyssa said.

I nodded too. Taking me along on this trip was pointless, but I couldn’t make them understand that.

Like two over-grown girly-girls, they both ran off to get ready for the cold. Kelly stopped at the door to her bedroom as Alyssa ran upstairs. Then Kelly looked at me and crooked her finger.

I glanced up at the balcony. Alyssa had already disappeared into her room. I followed Kelly. I was certain this wasn’t a good idea either.

She held out her hand and I took it. She led me to her closet and went in. Then she spun and pulled me close to her. “How am I supposed to have any fun while shopping without you there?”

“I thought women enjoyed shopping, especially without guys around?”

“We do,” she said, rubbing herself against me. “But you’ll be out in the car. I can’t flash my tits at you or rub my ass against you or nothing!”

I reached up and slipped a finger under her collar. “These antics are probably why you don’t leave the house with this on.”

She pouted. “I’m tired of being all stuffy in town. I want to have some fun.”

“There are plenty of ways to have fun in town,” I said. “And I’m sure most of them won’t get you arrested.”

“Fine,” she said.

“But the question remains, are you wearing this into town?”

She nodded. “Alyssa agreed to let me have a bit more freedom.”

“What did you say to get her to see things your way?”

“I wanted the chance to prove that I’m not a wild child or whatever, that I’m not completely out of control.”

I nodded. I could understand giving someone a chance to prove everyone’s opinion about him or her is wrong. “Okay.”

“Okay? You’re not going to argue?”

I shook my head. “Nope, but I am curious. Most people will ask questions if they see you wearing this.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” she said. Then she reached down and pulled off her sweater. Just that quick and she was topless. Then she shot a glance past the closet doorway, grabbed my head, and pulled my face down to a large, swollen, pink nipple.

At first, I couldn’t breathe. She had my head pressed so close to her breast that both my mouth and nose were covered. Then I grabbed the underside of her boob and squeezed it, both changing the shape and allowing myself a deep gulp of air.

Never one to deny a woman who wants me to pay attention to her breasts, I opened my mouth and drew in as much of her as I could. I knew this wouldn’t last long. As soon as Alyssa was ready, she would come looking for us. Consequently, to give Kelly a lasting impression, I used my teeth on her. I didn’t bite down so much as applied pressure. Then I pulled back and found I had left a ring of teeth marks centered on her nipple and areola.

“I should have known,” Alyssa said, standing in the doorway. “Leave you two alone for a minute and something would happen.” Then she stepped in, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me away from Kelly.

Kelly didn’t argue. She simply smiled, tweaked a nipple, and turned to find something to wear.

Alyssa dragged me out to the living room. I tried to stammer an apology, but she stifled my words by kissing me. She pulled away long enough to say, “If I weren’t wearing so much I would pull out my tits for some of the same, but this will have to do!” Then she tried to find out how much of my tongue she could suck out of my head.

I was about to suggest we sit down when I heard Kelly clear her throat behind us.

Alyssa instantly pulled away.

My head spun! What the hell? I had many questions, but they didn’t give me a chance to think straight. Alyssa got her keys from me, and Kelly had her keys for the SUV. They led the way out. Alyssa pulled out, since she was parked behind the SUV, Kelly pulled out the SUV, and Alyssa pulled back in to park. Alyssa waved me along. We were leaving in the SUV.

Kelly drove, Alyssa rode shotgun, and I sat in the back seat. The two of them went over a list of groceries they had apparently started while I was shoveling snow. Somehow, the dynamics had suddenly rolled back to what they were when Alyssa and I were growing up in the house. They didn’t ask me for any input at all, and since I didn’t know what was stocked in the house and what wasn’t, I really didn’t have any advice to offer.

I was surprised to find that though the roads were mostly clear, snowplows were still working on it. Kelly and Alyssa either didn’t notice or didn’t care. They talked about how the snow made everything look magical.

We pulled into the parking lot for the Food Lion. There were other larger grocery stores we could have gone to, but this one was the closest. There were a few other cars in the parking lot. The snow probably made most people stay at home. If you have enough food and potable water, why take the chance of driving into a ditch for anything?

Kelly pulled around and parked as close to the store as possible without parking in front of the building itself. I spotted a tractor with a snowplow parked in the corner of the parking lot. Either a local gained some store credit by clearing the parking lot, or one of the employees did.

Kelly and Alyssa turned to look at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to go in?” Alyssa asked. “It’s going to be cold out here.”

I nodded. “I’m sure. You’ll get in and out so much faster without me impeding you.”

They shared a glance. Kelly shrugged. Alyssa nodded. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll be as quick as possible.”

“I doubt that,” I said, “considering it’s the two of you shopping together.” Then I grinned to show I was playing.

Alyssa shook her head and the two of them climbed out. Kelly left the SUV running so I would have the heater, but they were right, even with the heater, it was cold.

I sat up, and looked all around the SUV. I wanted to know what vehicles there were, and what potential troubles I might face. I didn’t see anyone in the parking lot, and only a lone car sliding along an adjacent street. I settled down again, and wondered why those two felt it necessary to drag me along to the grocery store even after I told them I wouldn’t go in.