Chapter 1

Author’s Introduction

This story is my first such attempt. It is an odd one for me to write, and it came about after a strange coincidence of reading Pan’s “When the Need Strikes” and then watching a news story about a quadriplegic right before bed. That night I had a strange dream, and the beginnings of a story that would not let me alone until I wrote it, and as I wrote, it got stranger and stranger yet. While one of the main characters is a quadriplegic, frankly I don’t think of that as an erotic element at all, but rather a necessary plot element. I do not claim any of the fetishes in the story as personally stirring for me, but, having written it, I thought I’d share. I hope you enjoy.

Julie and Jim knocked on the huge wooden doors of the classically-styled mansion, and waited. Both were dressed in their best: Julie in the dress she had worn to her high school graduation, and her brother in his best work interview suit. It took about two minutes for the door to finally open, revealing a busty woman in a French maid uniform.

“Yes? How may I help you?” asked the maid.

“We were hoping to speak with Lord DeGraves,” said Jim, masking his surprise at the brevity and revealingness of the maid’s dress.

“Susan Collins suggested we should speak with him,” added Julie, hoping that dropping the name would help.

“Perhaps Lord DeGraves will see you, in that case,” said the maid, “He did not say anything about expecting visitors today. Follow me, and I will inquire.”

Julie and Jim crossed their fingers, and then crossed the threshold, casting startled glances at the maid’s moving backside as they followed her. Well, DeGraves was supposed to be a bit kinky, not to mention weird, old, and rich...

They were ushered into a hallway and told to wait before a door. After a minute it was opened by the maid, who said “Lord DeGraves will see you now.” They entered an office to see an old man sitting behind a desk, with only a single chair before it.

“Please, both of you sit down,” said the old man. The two looked a bit confused for a moment. Then Julie shrugged and Jim sat in the chair with his sister perched a bit uncomfortably on his lap.

“Thank you, Bethany,” said DeGraves. “Please fetch some tea for our guests.”

Bethany bowed and left the room, with all eyes on her backside as she did so. Julie coughed and shifted a bit uncomfortably on Jim’s lap, and Jim looked a bit guilty as she did so. It had been an impressive backside, and a very lovely frontside, for that matter.

“Now, tell me, what brings you to my home? I understand that you said that Susan Collins referred you to me?” DeGraves asked, giving a rather lewdly measuring look at Julie.

Julie flushed a little, but said “Susan was a classmate of mine in high school, and when she heard of our situation she suggested you might be able to help. She said that you helped her and her mother become shoe models, and her father make his photography hobby pay off for them. Something about shoe catalogs and advertisements, I think. She said that ... wait, let me start over at the beginning. You see, our parents were in a car accident a little more than three years ago. It killed our father. Mother’s seat belt malfunctioned, and she was thrown through the windshield and then the car rolled over her. It tore and crushed her arms and legs, and she was left a quadriplegic. They had to amputate almost everything. She doesn’t even have stumps. The money from the settlement with the insurance and carmaker is almost gone now, and Mom is ... Mom is...”

“She still needs medical care and people to attend to her needs,” supplied Jim. “We need some kind of financial help for her. Julie’s friend said you might be able to do something, but we’d have to make some kind of deal with you?”

DeGraves sighed. “I am not a philanthropist,” he said firmly.

“We’ll do anything we have to for her!” cried Julie. Jim looked down for a moment, then nodded.

“We’re getting desperate,” he confirmed. “Mom is ... having problems emotionally, feeling like she is a burden to us, and she has asked us to help her kill herself more than once. We can’t do that, we love her. We need to find help for her!”

DeGraves looked at Jim and started to say something, then stopped. He studied Jim’s face intently for a minute, only stopping when Bethany entered the room and served the two their tea, and then left again. Jim watched her go as covertly as he could.

“Hmmm,” he said as they sipped, and regarded Julie’s face with the same deep and serious regard. “What is your last name?” he asked.

“Galwin,” said Jim. DeGraves seemed almost to flinch at the name, but the impression was subtle and fleeting.

“And your mother’s name?”

“Beverly.”

“Excuse me a moment,” said DeGraves as he stood and left the room.

Jim looked at Julie, and Julie shrugged. They waited and sipped their tea, which they noticed was sweet and flavored with some kind of spice. It was quite tasty, really, and soothing. Julie felt a bit optimistic, and relaxed a bit on Jim’s lap. She watched her brother visually examine the lord’s office. He looked more manly, somehow. She noticed that his erection from watching the maid was diminishing slightly, which made her a little less uncomfortable sitting on his lap. She didn’t like to think of her brother in a sexual way. It was just wrong. She wondered why Lord DeGraves made them sit on one chair; that was just ... weird. She’d be happy to leave once this was settled. It did not, however, occur to her to stand up for some reason. She drew comfort from having her arm around her brother’s shoulder. She sipped more of her tea, as did her brother.

A couple of minutes later, DeGraves reentered the room and sat at his desk. He looked down at his desktop with a frown, thinking.

“As I said before, I am not a philanthropist, though others have gained financially from my arrangements and contracts. I need to meet with your mother, as well, as she would be central to any arrangement we make. Can she come here, or should I go to her, since she is, ah, mobility- challenged? On second thought, I believe I should go there to meet with the three of you. I have a couple of ideas, but I wish to make some inquiries as to how I might marshal my resources. I do need to see your mother’s injuries. I would like to visit the three of you in your home, say, Wednesday night about 7:00 if that would be all right? I might have a proposition for the three of you. Because of whom and what I am, it will be ... different. I have a reputation for making rather peculiar deals with people, and it is quite deserved. This arrangement would have to be no different, although it could be mutually beneficial in some ways.”

“Well, Mom doesn’t know why we’re here, or even that we’re here, but we should be able to break it to her and at least have her ready to meet with you by then. She probably won’t be happy about it, though,” said Jim.

The three stood, and Jim gave DeGraves the address even though he hadn’t asked for it. Bethany appeared at the door and led them out into the evening’s gloaming. As they walked toward the street, Julie rolled her eyes and shook her head when she noticed that Jim had rather obviously responded to the maid’s charms again. Jim pretended not to notice that she had noticed.

“Well, that was strange,” Jim said as they walked, partly as a distraction, and partly because it had indeed been strange.

“Well, the whole French maid thing was definitely odd,” said Julie with a sly grin. “She must have been, what, nineteen or twenty, dressed in a very provocative manner, serving that lecherous old man. Did you notice that perfume?”

Jim, who hadn’t consciously registered it at the time, recalled it immediately and stiffened, both in his gate and in his pants as Bethany’s face and figure popped more firmly in his mind. “Brat!” he cried, knowing his sister was deliberately tormenting him, having fun at his expense. Julie chortled as he stopped to make adjustments. He continued, “No, I mean, I thought DeGraves was about to show us the door, and then he ... uh... looked at me, like he’d turned over a rock and discovered some strange new insect or something. He did the same thing to you. Then he changed his mind. I wonder what that was about?”

“Our name, and Mom’s name. They meant something to him. His whole attitude changed. At least he may help us now. I wonder what this arrangement’ of his is. He seemed almost ... reluctant?”

“Dunno. Maybe you should talk with your friend, Susan? I mean, it sounds like he had one with her and her family.”

“I’ll try. She and her folks are out of town working or something. They’ve gotten really busy with that shoe career,” Julie replied. “What’ll we tell Mom?”

“The truth. She’s scaring me with her depression, and I think if she knows that we may have a benefactor helping with money and support, she may cheer up some, or at least not be quite so down. There’s hope again, at least!”

Julie nodded and they left their musings about DeGraves behind them, walking with their heads down as their worries over their mother reclaimed their full attention.

Beverly Galwin glared at her children. “I can’t believe you did that! I am so humiliated! To invite a stranger into my home to gawk at me in my condition!”

“No, Mom. It’s different than that! Lord DeGraves will help. He’s fantastically rich, and he’s helped people out. I talked to my friend, Susan, remember her? She told me a bit about him and how he helped her family find their dream jobs! He said he had an idea or two, and he’s just coming here to talk about them!”

“I will NOT take charity, Julie!”

“He said he’s not a philanthropist, Mom, I don’t think he’s offering charity.”

Beverly Galwin turned her face away, and Julie retreated to the hallway.

“So did you get in touch with Susan again?” asked Jim in a low voice, so they couldn’t be overheard.

“No. They’re out of town. I left a message on her phone, but she hasn’t gotten back to me,” Julie replied.

“Well, he should be here any minute, I guess it’s too late now!” said Jim, then turned as a knock sounded at the front door. He walked the few feet to open it to Lord DeGraves. “Please come in, sir! Be welcome in our humble home!”

DeGraves nodded, and crossed the threshold into the Galwin home. In his own home, DeGraves had seemed taller; now, he seemed smaller somehow. His shadow, however, seemed large in the light of the setting sun, and it seemed to chill Jim a bit as it fell across him. Jim had a fleeting impression that it filled the house. “Thank you for your courteous words, young man. Few today remember such manners. My driver will wait in the car.” Jim glanced out to the street as DeGraves passed him, to see a limousine with a lovely young lady chauffeur in the driver’s seat. Jim stifled a shake of his head in wonder another one!, he thought.

“Shall we get started, then?” asked DeGraves, looking about.

“Yes, sir. This way sir.” He walked down the short hallway to knock on his mother’s door. “Mother, Lord DeGraves is here.” Julie opened the door to the bedroom, and DeGraves entered.

“Beverly Galwin, my name is Mason DeGraves. It appears we are distantly related, on your father’s side. I am sorry to learn of the tragic loss of your husband, and of your own injuries.”

Beverly Galwin sat propped in her bed. She raised an eyebrow, and said, “I am sorry that my children disturbed you, Lord DeGraves. I wish to inform you that I am not looking for charity, even from family.”

Surprisingly, DeGraves gave a bark of laughter. “Of course you aren’t, my dear! There it is, the Sutherland pride, as strong as ever! Did you know our family goes back to the Plantagenets? Henry, Eleanor, their unfortunate children, all had too much pride and ambition. It goes back further than that, of course, but they were such icons of the pride that runs in our family! No,” he said, his smile disappearing, “I am certain that were I to offer charity you would curse me and throw me from your house! I am not, as I told your children, a philanthropist. I come with an offer, a business arrangement. It will allow you to find a higher purpose for your life, one which you can take pride in, for it is almost uniquely you who could provide the services needed.”

“You are the only living daughter, besides Julie, of course, in a long bloodline of firstborn males in the Sutherland line. You possess genes which make what you could contribute special. That contribution could well make for some truly impressive changes in the world. In return, I can make your short term much more comfortable, as I am certain you are mortally sick of lying in bed and using bedpans, relying on your daughter and son to keep you clean and so on. In the long term, upon the completion of our deal, you would be fitted with the very latest in prosthetics, allowing you more mobility inside and outside of your home, and the ability to use arms and hands, of a type. They might resemble those of a mannequin, but such appearances will no doubt change and become more aesthetic with the technological advances in the field that are happening each year. You and your children would also each be paid two million dollars, each, with the taxes prepaid upon that income.”

“As I said, your genetics makes this offer possible. Under other circumstances, I would have turned your children down flat, or maybe suggested that they keep an eye on the paper for advertisements for one of my more usual experiments or wagers, and to apply for one that they matched. But in this case, I can offer you a role with real meaning, a chance to better none other than the royal family of Great Britain. It is not charity at all, but honest recompense for something that is much-needed.”

Beverly Galwin’s jaw had dropped as he was talking, as had her children’s. She fixed Lord Mason DeGraves with a stare. “I knew of my ancestry, but what exactly is this contribution’ I can offer to the royal family?”

“Breast milk,” said DeGraves, simply. “Breast milk for the royal heirs. A very special breast milk indeed.”

“Breast m...” echoed Beverly.

Her two children just gulped.

“Yes, breast milk. Yours.”

“Is there a prob ... I mean ... isn’t ... but...”

“As I have tried to explain, yours, because of your genetics, is special. I cannot go into the medical history of the royal family. That will, I’m afraid, remain an unimportant mystery. What matters is that you can make a unique contribution to a family which influences and benefits the entire world, and that they will be grateful, even if this goes unspoken and unacknowledged.”

“But I can’t ... I’m not ... I mean I haven’t lactated since Julie was an infant!”

“That is not a problem. Lactation can be induced in most women of childbearing age. You will be provided with equipment and supplements made from certain rare herbal compounds that will induce lactation and allow the milk to be collected quite easily. My engineers will also set up a system which will allow you to be far more comfortable and mobile within your home, and even allow you to, ah, freshen up, more or less by yourself. It will be easier for your caretakers, your children feed you and assist you to move and use the pumps required much more easily. Rather a bit like wearing a stage-production Peter Pan harness, in fact, but with a bit less swooping and drama. Heh. Ahem. In the meantime, your customized prosthetics would be manufactured, and after the completion of the contract, fitted and a degree of neural linkage between them and you would be set up, allowing you even more freedom. You would still need dedicated caretakers, but caring for you would be a very great deal less onerous.”

“This is all so strange ... I mean, I knew about our family tree, but ... we’re not even related in any way to the current royal family! Why would they need my genes... ?”

“Yes, well, while the genetics are important, they aren’t quite so important in that way. Think of it as a preciously rare and fine wine, produced exclusively in small batches, as opposed to a wine you can pick up in your local liquor store, or even in the finest of vintage suppliers. A great deal of the allure is the cachet, the prestige, of having milk from the breast of one with direct lineage to the Plantagenets, as close as one can get to feeding a babe from the breast of Eleanor of Aquitaine! There are some actual physical benefits to your particular breast milk, genetically speaking, and the tea you will all drink will naturally strengthen those, but frankly, the primary allure for the royals will be the ancestry. Their children will, indeed, be stronger and healthier for drinking your milk, and they will be made aware of this. They will not be disappointed, by any means, with what you provide! Consider for a moment, how long-lived and healthy your ancestors have been.”

“Well, many have lived to over a hundred, but...”

“Part of the reason for those long lives were the sources of the early nourishment of those ancestors, in addition to excellent genetic stocks for longevity. As I said, the royal family will have absolutely no complaints. Quite the opposite, I assure you.”

“Well, my mother used to lecture me about family duties, and sisters nursing their brothers’ children, and other things ... I thought it was nonsense when I grew up! Of course, I never had a brother, so ... This is so strange!” Beverly Galwin thought for a minute in silence. “Well. I could do this, I guess. And poor Julie and Jim won’t have to lift me onto and off of bedpans anymore? I can use a toilet again without them having to carry me and hold me on and ... Oh, God, I would be so grateful for that! And all I’d have to do is be pumped for breast-milk every so often? I’m willing. What do you think, kids?”

“Wait, let’s not go so fast, here. There are some things that are also required with this,” said DeGraves. “Are any of you in a romantic or sexual relationship with anyone?”

Julie and Jim looked at the floor. “No, sir. We spend all our time taking care of Mom,” said Julie. Jim shook his head. “I pretty much only get out to apply for jobs and shop for what we need, go to the bank, deal with the lawyers and insurance people and stuff. Taking care of Mom, well, it’s, you know, girls say “Oh, that’s so sweet that you do that!” but they all seem to have reasons not to get involved, you know? The last girlfriend I had was when I was fifteen, before the accident.”

DeGraves sighed. “Good. Well, for our purposes, anyway. I’m afraid that during the contracted arrangement, three months, none of you can have contact, especially sexual contact, with anyone outside. You must stay here. All your food and supply needs will be delivered. There will be special filtration systems for air and water. You’ll have telephone, internet, cable television, and each other, so you won’t go mad with boredom! But once the modifications are made here and you’re back in your home, you can’t leave or have outside contact except with me or my people. To do so will invalidate the arrangement, and you won’t get the money or the prosthetics for your mother. There will be a security detail posted outside the house to deal with any concerns that might crop up.”

He looked each in the eye as he went on, “This is very, very serious, now. I told you: my arrangements are different, and often quite peculiar. There will be temptations and restrictions. It will likely be a struggle to complete. This one, being for family, is the least peculiar as I can make it. Do we have an agreement?”

Six million dollars, a setup for the home for their and their mother’s comfort, and the possibility that their mother might be able to walk out in the sun, go see a movie or symphony again, and to use some type of “hands” again was simply too good a deal. Their mother seemed stronger and more hopeful, and a look of dignity on her face again. The children signed their contracts, their mother gave a taped acceptance of the terms of the contract.

“Very well,” said DeGraves. “I will have a crew of engineers here tomorrow to take measurements and plan for the quarantine and movement modifications. They will install a new toilet and bidet system and the filtration systems we talked about, and an airlock system. There will be changes made to your home beginning on Friday, when you and your mother will be transported to a medical facility for testing and measurements for your mother’s prosthetics, and trained in the collection of the milk specimens and so on. My driver will pick you up Friday morning and take you to the facility. Do you have a wheelchair for your mother?”

“Yes, sir,” said Jim, nodding to the folded up chair in the corner.

“Excellent,” said DeGraves as he turned to go, then he paused. “One last thing,” he said, “do not, under any circumstances, try the milk. Consider it so rare and precious that not a drop can be lost. All right?”

The three Galwins nodded their heads. The idea hadn’t even crossed their minds.

The next several days passed quickly. As promised, a team of workmen showed up and measured virtually everything about the house. While they were working, DeGraves’ chauffeur arrived and assisted Ms. Galwin and the children into the limousine. As she was getting into the driver’s seat, Beverly looked at Julie with raised eyebrows, clearly taken aback by the busty chauffeur’s short and revealing uniform. Julie nodded and shrugged. Jim was determinedly looking anywhere but at the chauffeur or at his relatives. Julie nodded at him and smirked. His mother suppressed a smile.

The ride to a medical center building was quiet and uneventful, with only some light classical music playing in the background. The chauffeur pulled the limo down into a parking garage, then up to a small air-conditioned foyer with two elevators. She stepped out, retrieved the wheelchair from the trunk, and again assisted the children in getting Beverly situated within it, and wheeled her to the elevator on the left. She removed a key and inserted it into the slot where a call button would normally be located. Moments later, the doors opened, and she wheeled Beverly in. As Jim passed her, she covertly pinched his butt. Nothing showed on her face but the same polite smile she’d been wearing since she had shown up as he turned around and glanced at her. She then pressed the single floor button then held down the “door open” button and addressed the group. “I will return and take you all home when the doctors finish their testing and procedures. The work on adapting your home should be completed at that time. If you need anything, like if you want books or magazines, let the nurses know and they’ll take care of it for you - I hear it can be a bit boring here.” She winked, and stepped backward out of the elevator and the doors closed.

“O-kay,” said Beverly, as the elevator began its descent. “I feel kind of like we’ve stepped into a dream or something. I hope we don’t regret this!”

“Don’t worry, Mom! It’s going to turn out great!” said Julie. She glanced at her brother behind her mother’s back for reassurance, but then smirked again as she noticed Jim was straightening things out in his pants yet again. Jim looked at her and rolled his eyes. Why did DeGraves have to have servants who were such knockouts? He faced the doors as they slid apart, revealing a doctor in a white coat waiting to greet them.

“Welcome!” smiled Dr. Peter Cole, “Please come in!”

The Galwin family walked and wheeled out of the elevator. Jim glanced back and saw that there wasn’t a keyhole, just a regular elevator call button on the panel. He suddenly realized he’d been feeling like this might be a trap of some kind, and breathed easier.

“I’m Dr. Cole, and I’ll be leading the team, and I’ll be taking your mom’s measurements for her prostheses. Congratulations, Ms. Galwin! The prostheses you’re going to be measured for are absolutely cutting edge! When everything is said and done, you may very well be able to use your new arms and legs much like natural arms and legs! We’ve developed a way to tie into the nerves that control the muscles, and we have feelback that will allow you to feel how hard you grip. We haven’t figured out the receptors for sensation, yet, but in a few years we may very well be able to upgrade you for that. Now, we won’t exactly be turning you into the bionic woman! The motors aren’t strong enough to allow you to run 60 miles per hour and the batteries that run them and the processors need to be recharged after about six hours, but really, we’ve come so far ... I apologize, I get a bit carried away,” he said as a nurse walking up behind him openly giggled at his enthusiasm. “We’ve got a few days to acquaint you with all the details. Let me take you to your room, Ms. Galwin, and then we’ll show your children to their rooms.” Julie, who had been blushing slightly, felt her blush deepen.

The nurse stepped behind Beverly’s chair and steered it toward a nearby hall lined with doors. Dr. Cole continued, “This is Julie, your nurse, she works a twelve hour shift and then will be replaced by Martha. Anything you need, or if you have any questions, they’ll respond to your call.”

“Julie! That will be easy to remember! My daughter’s name is Julie!”

“Pleased to meet you all,” said Nurse Julie. She smiled, and her smiled lingered for just a moment longer on Jim. “And your son’s name is James and you are Beverly, is that right?” she asked.

“Yes,” and “Jim,” said Beverly and Jim at the same time. Jim found himself blushing a bit himself. Another goddess! he thought.

“Well, we’ll get you comfortable, in your room here,” said Nurse Julie, and stopped at the first door on the right side of the hallway. Your children will be in the next two rooms.” Dr. Cole opened the door and swept them into the room. Nurse Julie wound up standing next to Jim, who noticed that her perfume smelled familiar - just like Bethany’s! Bethany’s image flashed in his mind, and his erection stiffened further. Once again, he strove to make adjustments without getting noticed. Fortunately, his sister seemed to have eyes only for Dr. Cole. He glanced at his mom, who was checking out the room, and then Nurse Julie - busted! He blushed crimson and glanced down. When he looked back up, it was into a gorgeous smile.

Nurse Julie continued, “Now, the room is set up for voice command, so if you need me or Martha, just call out our name and the intercom will alert us. You can control the television and lighting by voice command, too. Dim the lights, turn them off, change channels and volume, all by speech. We’ve got a sling and harness to assist in getting you into and out of bed. It is less complex than the one I understand you are having installed in your home, but you’ll notice that over here is a toilet-slash-bidet that the harness will reach, so you won’t have to worry about bedpans. Now, if you’ll give us a minute, we’ll show Jim and Julie to their rooms, and then we’ll be back to take you for your first set of measurements.”

Dr. Cole smiled, “Come on, let’s get you two settled in.” and waved toward the door. The four of them walked out, and Cole and Julie stopped at the first door while the nurse and Jim went to the second.

Dr. Cole smiled at Julie, as they entered her room. He said, “It’s basically your standard hospital room, though the bed is much more comfy. The shower and toilet are behind that door, the sink is right here, and the controls for the television and nurse call button are right here. There’s a table over there that slides under the bed so you can work or eat. There’s a PC computer over there, so you can play some games or whatever. And the sofa over there is fairly comfortable, too. Light switches behind the bed and at the doorway; your mom got all the neat voice-controlled stuff, I’m afraid. Oh! There’s shampoo, soap, lotion, toothbrush and toothpaste, and baby powder and so on over by the sink. Any questions or concerns? I promise, we’ll take great care of your mom, and make you and your brother as comfortable as we can during your stay!”

She had only been halfway listening, and as she was far more focused on Dr. Cole’s face and body. Wow, she thought, he is incredibly handsome! I’d like to examine him in detail! He’s got a nice butt! I wonder what’s under that coat. And shirt. And pants... Julie blinked as Cole finished his speech, and said, “No, I don’t think so, we should be good, thank you, Dr. Cole.”

“Well, Julie should be finishing up with your brother, and we need to get your mom over to start with the measurements. I’m sure I’ll see you later!” He smiled again, and left.

In Jim’s room, Nurse Julie was going through the same speech, but Jim kept smelling her perfume, and watching her breasts and legs as she showed him the room. He was gazing into her heart-stopping smile as she finished up, and completely missed his cue. Her smile widened as he realized she was waiting for him to respond, “No, thanks, um, Julie!” She touched his arm and smiled as she passed him, and he inhaled deeply.

After she had gone, he went to the sink and grabbed the lotion and stepped into the bathroom. His erection was throbbing like mad, and oh, dear God that felt good! He stroked for a minute, Nurse Julie’s face and body in his imagination. It had been a while since the last time. He realized he was groaning when he heard his door open. He was ejaculating as he heard his sister call out “Jim?”