Chapter 25: Ness

The jet sat looking sleek and impressive on the apron at the local airstrip.

I didn’t really know anything about private jets, but I’d at least heard the name ‘Gulfstream.’ The G500 emblazoned on the tail of the Steadmans’ gave me a likely model number, but beyond that, I was in the dark. Jules had said that it cost more than fifty thousand a month just to run. Those kinds of numbers were staggering to me. Not for the first time, I wondered just how rich the Steadman family was.

We unloaded all our bags from the Uber, intent on helping Gerry carry them through the main cabin into the baggage compartment at the rear of the plane. He didn’t put up much of a fuss; it was nice to know Dean didn’t hire overly servile employees. When we stepped into the cabin, it was like walking into a luxurious living room. There were cream leather seats and dark wooden tables. The carpet was so deep our feet sank into it.

Gerry closed the door. “Get yourselves settled in,” he said. “It’s only a short hop - about ninety minutes - so make yourselves comfortable. We’re only going to be climbing to about fifteen thousand feet today. By the time we get up there it will be almost time to start coming down. Once we’re airborne, I’m sure Jules will be able to show you where to get a drink if you want. There are two bathrooms: one here, and one aft by the baggage compartment.”

He went onto the flight deck. Jules showed us to the back – or “aft,” I supposed – and we stowed our gear. As we headed back, I happened to notice that Amanda’s aura was spiked with yellow.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Not a huge fan of flying,” she said.

“You should have said,” said Jules. “We could have driven up, no trouble.”

“No,” said Amanda, “I wanted to do this. I’ve never been in a private jet before. I just get a little nervous.”

Mary and I both hit her with our power at the same time. I went with love and trust; Mary opted for relaxation and security.

Amanda giggled. “Wow! Double whammy.”

We settled in as we heard the engines spooling up.

“Please take your seats,” said Gerry from the flight deck. “We are ready to taxi and have clearance to take off as soon as we are in position.”

The plane began to move, and in a few minutes, we were in the air. Amanda gripped my hand for a short while, but once we leveled out, she let go and relaxed. Jules got us each a bottle of water and we admired the view from the windows, far larger than any airplane window I had ever seen before.

Before we really had the chance to settle in properly, Gerry announced that we would be landing in about ten minutes and asked that we make sure we were seated and that there was nothing loose in the cabin.

Jules took our empties and put them in the galley trash, and then we settled down. I was treated to another hand squeeze from Amanda, and then, with the lightest of bumps, we were once again on the ground. The journey had taken no more than eighty-five minutes. Gerry had obviously put the pedal to the metal, or whatever the flying equivalent was.

After a short taxi, we heard the engines spooling down, and then Gerry emerged from the flight deck. Had it been a longer flight I would have been interested in getting a look in there, but there hadn’t been enough time.

We carried our luggage to Gerry’s car, and he drove us the thirty minutes from the airstrip to the Steadman farm. A quick calculation told me that if we included the Uber ride, the flight, and the journey at the other end, our travel time would be about two and a half hours, which was significantly less than the nine or ten hours - depending on rest stops and traffic - that it would have been by road.

As we approached the house, I could see mischief in all the girls’ auras and wondered what they were up to. Gerry pulled up outside and I got out of the car. The girls all piled out. Once again there was a cacophony of barking as the four dogs came running around from the back of the house.

The girls pushed me against the car, surrounding me and ‘protecting’ me from the savage beasts descending upon us, giggling madly all the while. I looked across to see Pops, Cheryl, and Ness all laughing at the pantomime.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Well played.”

I disentangled myself from the three girls only to get entangled in another as Ness flew across the yard and jumped up, wrapping her arms and legs around me.

“Hey, you,” I said, hugging her tightly, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Ness told me as I carried her back toward her parents. Then realized that I needed to help with the luggage.

“We’ve got it,” said Jules. “I think you’re carrying enough just now.”

“Ness,” said Dean. “Put him down.”

Ness reluctantly released me as Dean and then Cheryl first hugged me, and then the other girls. Divested of the teen, I took some of the bags from the girls and we went inside.

“You’re all in the same room again,” Cheryl said, and we took our things up there.

I gasped as I entered the white room. While we’d been at uni, they had replaced the bed. Now there was one just like ours there. It dominated the room, but the room was large enough to handle it.

“Wow,” said Mary as she came into the room. “We’ll have to break that in.” Then she blushed when she turned around to find both Dean and Cheryl standing right behind her. They both grinned.

The wardrobe and drawers had been similarly upgraded, giving us much more room to store our clothing. The last time we’d been here, Jules had had to use her room to store her stuff.

“This is your room,” said Cheryl. “We’ll keep it for you for when you visit.”

“Visit?” I said. “I’m moving in.”

They both laughed, and Ness looked at me wistfully.

After putting our stuff away, we went down to the kitchen, and Ness began cooking lunch.

“Need a hand?” I asked as usual, but she just snorted at me. None of the girls had let slip that I was now a very good cook. Cheryl and Dean still thought that I was learning just enough to make a meal on Ness’s birthday, but I had decided I would spring that particular surprise this time around.

We were going to be at the farm for three weeks over the holiday period. I had to shop for everyone, since the only present I had bought so far was Ness’s. My bank balance was about to take a sizeable hit.

“Jonas’s family is coming over this afternoon,” Dean said. “They wanted to say thank you and didn’t get to see you before you left last time.”

“Okay,” I said. “Where can I go hide?”

He laughed. “Just be gracious and accept their accolades,” he said. “You did something good for them. They want you to know it’s appreciated.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m just not comfortable with that kind of attention.”

“Then stop saving people’s lives,” he said with a pragmatic air. “Problem solved.”

In that instant, I could practically hear Jules saying the exact same thing, in the exact same way, and it amused me. “You are your daughter’s father all right,” I said, and he laughed again.

We sat on the deck, just catching up. Terra seemed to have adopted me, and she sat beside my chair while I stroked her head until I felt her ears perk up. Then she was off with the other dogs, barking as they ran toward the front of the house.

“That will be them,” Dean said.

We all walked out as the Bridge family was getting out of their truck. The dogs investigated the newcomers thoroughly. None of the Bridge family were intimidated in the slightest, having been up to the house many times before. The family walked over to where we were standing, and Jonas grinned at me. “Hi Caleb,” he said.

“Hi Jonas,” I said. “How’s the arm?”

“It’s good as new,” he said. “They took the cast off two weeks ago. I was really glad of that ‘cause it was itching like a...”

“Jonas,” Gary, his father, interrupted. He had obviously known what his son was going to say and didn’t think it appropriate in mixed company. I would guess Jonas got away with more colorful language when he was working with the farm hands than when he was at home.

Gary stepped forward and held his hand out to me. “We didn’t get properly introduced. I’m Gary Bridge. I work for Dean and Cheryl. I never got the chance to say thank you for what you did. You saved my boy’s life.”

“You would have thought of something,” I said.

“That’s just it,” he said. “We couldn’t. We all thought there was no way to get the door open without getting the tractor out of the ditch.”

“I was lucky,” I said. “My dad is an agricultural mechanic. I saw him do something similar - although not in those circumstances.”

“Well, lucky or not,” he insisted, “you saved my boy, so thank you.”

I turned to his wife, Jodie, who just threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

“Thank you,” she said, a catch in her voice. “I don’t know what I would have done if we’d lost him.”

I returned the hug, albeit a little awkwardly. After a few minutes, she released me and stepped back.

We all trooped back out onto the deck and Jonas regaled us with his tale of how he had been rescued. It was obviously not the first time he had told it, and there were some embellishments that I was certain had never actually happened, but he’d made it his and he told it well.

I recalled him telling me he was too busy to get involved in his own rescue, and he grinned, although I did wipe the smile off his face when I asked if he was going to get driving lessons for Christmas. He scowled at that.

“I can drive,” he said.

“I have a tractor that says otherwise,” said Dean. “You know Caleb fixed that too? Otherwise, I was sending you the bill!!”

“I thought Jeremy fixed it?” said Gary.

“Jeremy got it running again,” said Dean. “Caleb and I straightened the cab out, and he did the welding where needed.”

“You want to hold onto this one,” said Jodie to Dean.

“Don’t worry, we are,” said Jules, Amanda, and Mary in perfect synchronization. Ness looked on with that wistful expression again.

Jodie’s mouth dropped open as she looked from girl to girl. Then she looked at Dean, who just shrugged.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said.

When it was time for the Bridges to go, Dean and I walked out with them to their truck. Jodie and Jonas got into the cab, but Gary walked to the back.

“Dean said that you wouldn’t accept anything from us for saving our boy,” he said, “but at least have a drink on me?”

He unloaded two cases of beer, handing one to me and one to Dean.

For an instant I considered telling him I didn’t drink since I was underage but dismissed it. The humor would have been out of place. Instead, I thanked him, shaking his hand once again.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Dean said as the truck drove away. I raised my eyebrow at him. “Whatever wisecrack you were about to make, that is...”

I nodded. “Me too.” I picked up one of the cases. “Buy you a beer?” I asked, and he grinned.

“After dinner.”

As usual, Ness made an amazing meal; to our surprise, she tolerated some help cleaning up afterward. As Dean and I relaxed on the deck after that, his resolve finally faltered. I knew he wasn’t the type to butt in, but the situation was, admittedly, complicated.

“What are you going to do about Ness?” he asked. “She’s spent the last three months pining for you. I’m not going to say you’ve been leading her on; that’s not quite fair. Still, you’re like her own personal superhero. She hurts, you help. She’s in danger, you risk your life to save her. Can you really blame her?”

“This must be so strange for you,” I said. “I guess you must have been dreading your girls bringing boys home, and then I show up and turn everything upside down. Your eldest daughter is shacking up with a guy and two other girls and your youngest wants to join the party. Jules is asexual, but Ness isn’t. I’ll skip ahead a step by reminding you that Mary and Amanda have been Empaths their whole lives. Jules and Ness grew up ‘normal,’ and you know I’m not casting judgment either way. It’s just a fact.”

He looked at me. “Don’t you want her?”

“Want her?” I asked. “Of course I want her. That’s why I shouldn’t be the only voice in the mix. Ness’s matters, obviously, but she’s young, and she didn’t grow up with any of this. That leaves you and Cheryl. I think your voices matter here.”

He absorbed that with a slow nod and took a pull from his beer. “I saw how much love is in your relationship,” he said. “Nobody could ask for more. If you are what Ness wants, then we - Cheryl and I - are more than happy for her, for them both, and for you all.

“So now that you’ve got the parents’ blessing,” he said, “what are you going to do with it?”

“Did Cheryl tell you about the birthday meal?”

He shook his head.

“I had planned to cook her a meal on her birthday,” I said. “I’ve been learning for that very reason. But I’m here, I have a Christmas present for her, and I think now’s the time. I want to show her how much she means to me. This pseudo-sibling relationship isn’t working; everybody knows it. As long as she agrees that there won’t be any funny business before she’s eighteen, I think it’s best we get everything out in the open.

“She still wants to be a chef, right?” I asked. I was a little nervous about those knives. They’d been awfully expensive to be a dud gift – and, I supposed, I still had time to pivot. I was planning on going shopping anyway.

He nodded. I felt a huge rush of relief.

“I’ll need to do some shopping before then,” I said. “Ness doesn’t keep the ingredients for what I want to make, and I also want to get some rings for all the girls. It’s about time I ‘put a ring on it.’ I was planning to take the girls to get theirs and give Ness hers at the same time.”

Dean looked at me for a long time. I wondered what he was thinking. I could have peeked, but there was nothing jumping out at me, and his aura was still too complicated for me to be certain of what I was seeing.

“I don’t know how you are going to keep her out of your pants until she is eighteen,” he said, “but good luck with that. My daughter is very determined when she puts her mind to things.”

“Before I brought her into the bond, we had a ‘conversation.’” I tapped the side of my head. “I made her promise that if she received any ‘invitations’ that she would not accept them. I was still concerned she might get caught up. She made me that promise. In return, she asked me for a promise. She asked me to promise that when she was eighteen I would, in her words, ‘show her what the fuss was all about.’ I promised her that if she still felt the same way when she was eighteen, then she, Jules, Mary, Amanda, and I would all sit down and discuss it. If, after that, she decided that that was what she wanted, then we would.

“When we talk, we’ll adapt that promise.”

“She’ll demand something in return,” he said grinning. “You get nothing for nothing from my daughter.”

“And you have an idea what that something is likely to be,” I said with suspicion.

He grinned. “She and Cheryl have been talking while you were away. I get everything secondhand, but if it is what I think it is, and given what you said before, then we’re fine with it.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” I asked.

“What?” he said chuckling. “You think I want to make things easy for you?”

I was about to argue further, but the kitchen door opened, and all the girls came out. Our ‘man time’ was over for the night. We sat and chatted on the deck for another hour or so, and then I decided it was time for me to retire to bed. The dogs would be expecting a show early in the morning, and I couldn’t disappoint my public.

After I had my shower, Mary was waiting for me in the middle of the bed. “I thought I’d come help you sleep.”

“You’d come, then help me sleep?” I asked with a grin, and she smiled.

“Where’s Amanda?” I asked and her smile slipped for a second.

“She’s still with the ... oh no, you can’t...”

I grinned widely at her as her hands were gently but firmly pulled above her head, and her legs spread. TK was such a useful tool.

“Caleb, if you - OOOHHHHH!!” she said as I began feasting on her pussy.

I felt a huge jolt of arousal through the bond from Amanda, and a little confusion and amusement from Ness and Jules.

I lapped at Mary, alternately running my tongue up and down her lips and then sliding inside her before licking up to her little button and sucking it into my mouth, giving it a tongue bath. She had given up trying to talk and was just moaning quietly as I worshiped at her delicious altar.

I moved back down and began the process again. While I was lapping at her slit, I wet a finger and began circling her asshole with it. She twitched. The next time I pulled her clit into my mouth, I gently slid a finger through her tight, muscular ring and began to pump slowly. Up and down I went, lapping at her slit, sliding my tongue into her soaking channel, and then licking and sucking at her clit. I reached up with my other hand and began rolling and tweaking her nipple. I wanted her to cum, and cum hard.

I added a second finger to the one pumping into her ass, stretching her out, and attacked her clit with more purpose. I pushed my fingers in as deep as I could get them, and then angled them forward, massaging her G-spot through the wall of her rectum, stretching both her asshole and stimulating that sensitive bundle of nerves. She began to grind into my face.

Using my TK, I kept up the stimulation of her nipple and added another to duplicate the sensation on the other side. She had her pubic bone pressed hard against my mouth, trying to grind her clit harder into my tongue, as I kept slow but deep strokes in and out of her ass. I could feel she wanted to hold my head to her pussy, but her hands were secured, and that frustration was intensifying the entire experience for her.

I could feel her belly tightening as her grinding got faster and faster. Then, with a sharp cry, she came. I had managed to get my mouth over her pussy, catching a mouthful of her cum as I felt her asshole twitching and squeezing my fingers rhythmically throughout her orgasm.

I slid my fingers out of her ass and moved up her body, capturing her mouth with mine. Once again I fed her her own cum as I slid my cock deep inside her in a single thrust.

Her eyes bulged as she came again, stronger this time, and I felt her pussy clenching and slurping at my cock, which was still buried to the hilt inside her. My TK was still holding her hands, and also still working at her nipples, as I began to stroke almost leisurely in and out, battling her tongue with mine as hers sought out the last of her cum from my mouth.

I released her legs, and she immediately wrapped them around me, pulling me deeper inside of her and grinding her pelvis against mine as we met. Her pussy was letting out wet squelching sounds as I pressed into her, and I could feel every bump and ridge of her hot, tight tunnel as it caressed my sensitive glans.

I knew I wouldn’t last long, but that was fine by me. I sped up my thrusting and Mary began to grunt and moan with each stroke, digging her heels into my ass, trying to get me to speed up more. She was also climbing toward a third orgasm, and she didn’t want to wait.

“Fuck me,” she whispered, finally breaking away from my kiss. “Fill me up with your cum.”

I wasn’t in any mood to argue, and I sped up further, pounding into her, feeling my balls tighten as we both rose toward our peaks. Mary beat me to it. Fortunately, I had captured her mouth again in a deep kiss. Otherwise, I think they would have heard her scream in the north pasture. The feeling of her writhing and spasming beneath me, added to the clenching and grasping of her pussy around my cock, was more than enough to tip me over the edge. I rammed in as far as I could and released my cum deep inside her. Spurt after throbbing spurt of spunk jetted into her, and that feeling prolonged her orgasm. I released all the TK, and she wrapped her arms around me, holding me to her, as we both came down.

Then she giggled.

“Amanda is not going to know whether to be pissed or not,” she said. “Jules found it hilarious watching her trying to sit still whilst cumming. I think Ness figured out what was going on. I’m not sure about Dean and Cheryl.”

“Mary,” I said, “I’m sorry. I know I’ve said it before, but Jules reminded me the other day, and I really wanted to tell you that I am sorry I doubted you.”

“Hush,” she said. “It’s in the past and forgiven. I am sure, though, that, as you said, we may butt heads again. I don’t like dumb men.” She threw my own words back at me with a smile. “As long as you remember that I do love you - that we all do - then whatever our differences, we’ll get through them.”

I felt her power flow over me: love, forgiveness, and trust. I basked in it until I released my hold on my consciousness and slept.

Reliable as ever, my bladder alarm woke me almost on the dot of four. After I had dealt with my morning routine, I made my way out to the deck, where once again the dogs were waiting for me. The dogs’ routine had slightly changed though. Terra would greet me first, and then only after would the other dogs approach. Then they would settle down, tongues lolling, almost laughing at me. I remembered what Louise had said: “Dance, monkey, dance.” I grinned at them and then settled down to train.

Since it was Sunday, the others didn’t get up till late. It was nearly seven by the time the Steadman family joined me on the deck. Jules grinned at me and then began to chuckle when she recollected what had happened the night before. She offered, and I took the memory of the scene from her perspective.

Amanda had been sitting talking to Cheryl when suddenly she’d jumped and flushed. For the next forty minutes, she had tried in vain to maintain her composure and continue the conversation with Cheryl, who, for some reason hadn’t seemed to notice what was going on. When Mary had come, Amanda had obviously come sympathetically. She’d whimpered the first time, clearing her throat theatrically as if she had caught her breath or something. Mary’s second orgasm almost immediately afterward had caught her completely off guard, and she had hissed and jumped. She’d rubbed her leg, feigning a cramp when everyone had looked at her. She’d been completely undone by the final orgasm, letting out a long low moan and shivering in her seat. She’d looked around at the assembled company. Only Ness had been looking at her, eyes narrowed. Dean and Cheryl had both been looking at something else, although both had seemed to be suppressing smiles.

Cheryl grinned at me as she said good morning. “You have a wicked streak in you, Mr. Stott,” she said with a laugh. “Poor Amanda didn’t know where to put herself.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I said with wide-eyed innocence.

She continued to grin. “If you say so.”

By the time I had showered and changed, Ness had made breakfast and the other girls had gotten out of bed. Amanda was trying, without success, to glare at me. Each time I caught her eye, her face would break out into a grin.

We went riding again. Blaze had apparently missed me too. He came out of his stall and straight to me, looking for the carrots he knew I would be carrying. I had seen the two Steadman girls doing it, and had figured it was a good way to get to know the animal that might decide to drop me on my ass at any given time. He remembered that I had made a habit of it last time I was up, and I didn’t disappoint him.

“Dean told me he had a chat with you last night,” Cheryl said, bringing her horse alongside mine. We were riding in loose formation. Ness and Jules were racing each other and were way ahead; the other girls and Dean were going at their own pace. I had been daydreaming, just enjoying the scenery, and Blaze had been plodding along, taking occasional breaks to crop a tasty morsel of grass or bush as he passed. I didn’t begrudge him. He’d bite it off and then continue while chewing at his snack.

“He said that you and Ness talked,” I said. “That you might have an idea of what Ness wants?”

Cheryl nodded. “She wants to sleep with you.”

Even Blaze stopped walking at that. Apparently, he was as shocked as I was. The revelation wasn’t a surprise. It was that her mother would just come out and say it like that.

Cheryl looked amused. “I don’t mean she wants sex,” she said, coming back to me since her horse hadn’t stopped. “She literally just wants to share a bed with you and the girls while you are here. She said that the night after you went Vulcan on us, when she spent it cuddling up to you, was the best night ever. She felt safe, secure, and surrounded by love. She wants that.”

“I,” I began, not really knowing how to react to that. I fell back on an old favorite. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea...”

“Autonomic nervous system?” Cheryl asked with a grin. “Jules said that would be your first thought. But then she told me what happens when you and she are alone in the shower together, or rather what doesn’t happen. I honestly don’t think it will be a problem. You make people feel safe, Caleb. That night, in our room, when I was in your arms, I felt safe and loved – well, when you weren’t busy literally blowing my mind, anyway. Ness has had some of that, and she wants it again.”

“And you and Pops are fine with that?” I asked incredulously.

She laughed quietly. “Rewind six months. Tell me my daughter is going to come home and tell me she is in a polyamorous relationship with a boy and two other girls, and that my younger daughter is going to be clamoring to join even before she is legally old enough. I would have skinned you alive and pegged out the remains for the vultures, even if Dean didn’t do something far worse before I got to you.

“Jules has explained to me that there is something about your Empathy that makes you need to share, but even then, I’m not sure I would have been okay with it. But there is something else - something about you. I know that both my girls are in safe hands with you and will be loved and cared for no matter what. Ness is old enough to marry with our permission, and both Dean and I would give that permission without a qualm. I know it’s not what you want - that you couldn’t do that - and that proves to me even more how decent a man you are. So, to answer your question, yes, we are perfectly fine with Ness sharing your bed with you. That was one reason we got the bigger bed, after all.

“Ness will just have to understand that on nights like last night, she may have to wait a while to join you.”

I blushed.

“For someone that spends so much time looking at asses and screwing,” she said, “you are way too easy to embarrass. Oh, that reminds me.” There was a hint of mischief in her eye. “Do I get a rating?”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and took off after the others, bringing her horse to a gallop and rising from the saddle, pointing her delicious rump in my direction.

By the time I caught up with them, they had stopped for lunch and were laying out the picnic that had been packed before we left. We sat by a small river eating and chatting. It was a real family occasion, and I felt guilty that I hadn’t even thought about seeing my parents over the Christmas holiday.

I apparently hadn’t been the only person thinking about them.

“I was going to ask your parents if they wanted to come up next weekend,” Cheryl said, “Dianna too?”

The twins brightened at that news, but then looked at me worriedly.

“Sounds like a great idea,” I said. “Maggie, Dianna, and I have reached an understanding. Speaking to the NSA really helped, so thank you.”

“So, your gamble paid off?” asked Dean. I knew he was asking if the collateral damage I had done last time we were here had been worth it.

“It definitely worked,” I said. “I can’t say for certain that we wouldn’t have gotten there without me doing it though.”

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” said Dean. “Don’t second guess but do learn if you think you made a mistake.”

“I’ll probably never know,” I said. “But I promised everyone, and I’ll repeat it for your benefit. I’m never doing that again unless the bond is already broken. That would be the only way I could function in any case.”

Cheryl came over and gave me a hug. I whispered in her ear. “Nine out of ten.”

“Only nine?” she whispered back.

“You’d have to lose the jeans for a ten,” I said. This time it was her turn to blush.

“Do you not have enough women, that you’re flirting with mine?” asked Dean good-naturedly.

“Just a little payback,” I replied.

Monday morning, Ness was in a bad mood.

She knew that the girls and I were going to the mall to do some Christmas shopping, and she had wanted to come with us. Cheryl had told her no, and that she had to go to school. It was the last week before her break started. Colleges gave longer ones – something for her to look forward to.

I checked my bank balance on my phone before we left, and found I was in good shape. With the money that Dean had given me, my FBI ‘retainer,’ the money that I got from Josh and Louise, and my earnings from my hypnotherapy work, I had close to fifty-five thousand dollars in there. I had been spending very little other than on food. The major exception had been the stuff I had bought Rachel, but I didn’t begrudge her a cent.