Chapter 31: Unbound

I had butterflies in my stomach as we drove to the airstrip to meet the jet. I had decided to take my truck and park there so that we wouldn’t have to inconvenience anybody else when we got back. I was so nervous, I very nearly forgot Ness’s birthday present. Only a timely comment from Jules spared me that embarrassment; it was a cautionary tale, but I wasn’t in any state to learn the lesson.

The jet was parked on the apron when we arrived at the airport, but Gerry was nowhere to be seen. Jules called him. He was on his way and would be there in about fifteen minutes. Despite that small delay, we were in the air less than forty minutes later.

The flight was uneventful; we arrived at the farm just under three hours later. Mary and Amanda had both been steadying me with their power, and Jules had held my hand most of the way up. I had no idea why I was so nervous, and yet I felt nauseated. The closer I got to the farm, the worse I felt.

When we pulled up at the front of the house, things got so bad that I nearly puked; I couldn’t even sense whether the twins had eased up. I sat in the car while all the girls got out, and then I sidled out. Terra was standing by the car, waiting for me, her tail wagging gently. While the other dogs were mugging the three girls, Terra simply walked up to me and pushed her head into my hand. I knelt in front of her and petted her head. She huffed gently into my face and then dropped her head and pushed against my chest. It made me feel better.

I looked across to the house, and Pops and Cheryl were standing on the porch, smiling. Of Ness, there was no sign.

I picked up my bag and one other - I don’t remember whose - and walked across to them. Pops gave me a brief hug. I got a longer hug and a peck on the cheek from Cheryl.

“Good to see you,” she said. “You look about how Ness does right now.”

“Where is she?” I asked.

“Hiding in her room,” said Pops. “She’s been like a cat on hot bricks all morning.”

“I know how she feels,” I murmured - half to myself, but they heard all the same.

“Go talk to her,” said Pops. “Her birthday is on Tuesday. Use the time before then to talk through everything. Jules also tells me that you are going to try and remove the bond while you are here?”

“Yes,” I said. “I want to do that today, before I do anything else. That way I can rebuild the connection and make sure everything is good before we leave. I am confident it will all go to plan, but even then, it’s going to be uncomfortable for all of us, at least for a short while.”

“Okay then,” said Pops. “Go talk to Ness and bring her down for dinner.”

The girls stayed with Dean and Cheryl, and I walked with trepidation up the stairs. Ness’s bedroom door was closed, and I knocked on it timidly.

The door opened and she stood there, gazing up at me.

“Caleb,” she said quietly.

“Can I come in?” I asked. She nodded, stepping away from the door. She went and sat on the edge of her bed. I felt a distance between us that I hadn’t felt before. I wondered if Jules had been right about her having found someone else.

“Ness,” I said. “You and I have a lot to talk about.”

“It’s alright,” she said. “I figured it out. There’s no need to worry.”

I stopped, a little confused. “Figured what out?” I asked.

“That you were going to come and have this talk with me,” she said. “About how it was not such a good idea us being together, and how we are just...”

“Ness?” I interrupted her. “What are you prattling on about?”

“I felt it,” she said. “In the bond. How you were getting so nervous about talking to me.”

“And you thought that meant I didn’t...”

“Doesn’t it?” she asked, almost angrily.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” I said. “Ness, I love you, and desperately want you to be with us. I was scared to talk to you because I have things to tell you that might mean that you might change your mind. I so want you, and I so want this week - your birthday - to be perfect for you.

“If I’m honest, I’m a little scared about our first time together too. I am so desperate for you to have the experience that you deserve that I’m scared I’ll disappoint you.”

“So, you still want me?” she asked in the smallest voice.

“For as long as you want to be with us,” I reassured her, “I - we - want you.”

She flung her arms around me and bawled into my shirt for a few minutes while I held her, trying to comfort her.

“We still have stuff to do,” I said, “and to talk about. But it is all going to be up to you. The decision will be completely yours, after our talk, if you still want to join us.”

“You’re talking about you having sex with other people, outside the group?” she asked.

“Among other things,” I said. “Let’s go downstairs and settle everyone down. Your parents are worried for you, as are Jules and the girls. Cheryl has dinner ready. Then we need to sort out the bond. Then the four of us need to spend some quality time together and discuss all we need to talk about. After that, you have a decision to make.”

“You know I already made it,” she said, looking at me earnestly.

“I want to make sure,” I replied. “There is so much that I need you to be sure of, and something else that Jules reminded me of the other day. I want you to know one hundred percent what you are signing up for - because once I have you, I’m never letting you go.”

She gave me a lop-sided smile then. “I thought this meant we had already decided all that.” She held up her hand, where she was wearing the engagement ring.

“That’s a statement of intent,” I replied. I held out my hand. “Come on, let’s go down.”

“You go,” she said. “I want to wash my face first. I’ll be down in a second.”

I walked back down the stairs and joined the others in the kitchen.

“Where’s Ness?” asked Mary.

“Just washing her face,” I said. “She felt my nerves through the bond and convinced herself that I was going to break off our engagement.”

Cheryl put her hand to her mouth. “Why would she think that?” she asked. “And why were you nervous?”

“Lots of reasons,” I said. “We need to have a serious chat about our lifestyle, after which Ness may decide that it isn’t for her. I need to drop all the bonds in order to remove the one that is causing us issues. I am certain I can do it, but there are nerves about that too. And...” I didn’t finish that thought.

Cheryl looked at me “And?”

I shook my head. “Never mind,” I said.

“He’s afraid that he’ll disappoint her in the bedroom,” said Jules. “There has been so much build up to it she must have major expectations. And now, he has to deliver.”

“I can’t see that being a problem,” giggled Cheryl.

I groaned and put my head in my hands. At that point Ness came into the kitchen. She went and hugged the twins, then Jules. Then she came and stood in front of me.

“I don’t have any expectations,” she said, lifting my chin and gazing into my face. “I just need to know, in that moment, that you love me. If I feel that, then I will be the happiest girl alive.” Before I could react, she gave me a quick kiss on my lips. It was almost chaste.

She sat down beside me at the table, and we began to eat dinner.

We fell into our normal routine after that. We all helped to clear up after dinner, and then, as expected, Dean grabbed the beers and headed out onto the deck. I duly followed. It was cold, but that didn’t seem to bother him, and it didn’t really bother me either.

“I hear that a white supremacist compound got raided in Montana,” he said as I sat down and picked up my beer.

“Where did you hear that?” I asked.

“Vince,” he said. “He said that there is a lot of chatter about a new power user. You’re being noticed, Caleb.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” I asked.

“Both,” he said. “Keep your eyes open and your wits about you. Watch your six.”

“I try to,” I said. “The girls are all learning martial arts with me now. I’ve got a new trick to give them a head start, too. They’ll still have to work their muscles, but they’ll be fast-tracked on the knowhow.”

“Good idea,” he said, “and also, wow, that’s one hell of a new trick. Can you shoot?”

“I’ve never really tried,” I replied.

“I’ll teach you,” he said. “I guess the FBI will want you to learn, but I can show you things that their instructors will not. I know people have strong opinions about guns, but I hope you don’t think that your powers are going to let you take some special moral stance. You go into law enforcement or the military, and you don’t have that luxury anymore, period. If the brass says you carry, you carry. If they say you don’t, you keep one close anyway.”

I got the feeling that he was avoiding talking about Ness, and I understood. No father wants to talk to the daughter’s boyfriend about him taking her virginity.

We finished our beers in silence, and then, contrary to normal habit, we went back into the house and joined the girls in the living room. It was too cold for them to come out onto the deck.

As we sat down, Amanda looked up and asked, “When are you going to deal with the bond?”

“I was thinking we could either do it tonight, or tomorrow morning.” I replied. “Tonight may be better, because then we will have an entire night to recover.

“Even if I get it perfect,” I warned them, “breaking the bond will be upsetting for all of us - not debilitating, though. I will rebuild it as soon as I can, but you are used to the feelings coming through the bond, and you will feel their loss. We all will.

“I’ll need to break your bonds first,” I said to Ness and Jules, “and then I’ll remove our bond. Then I’ll be able to rebuild the connection between us all. I think I’ll have to do it one at a time, but it should be fairly quick.

“Okay then.” I took a deep breath and braced myself. “Are you ready?”

They all nodded. I felt Mary and Amanda’s power flare, and love washed over everyone there. I saw Cheryl’s eyes widen. The twins weren’t holding back.

Closing my eyes, I visualized the bonds. There were two broad, purple highways connecting me and the twins, and two smaller, narrower tracks, branching off those highways, that connected to Jules and Ness. I disconnected those first.

I heard someone gasp- Ness, I guessed - but I didn’t let it distract me.

I looked at the two highways and examined their insertion into my mind. I followed them to each of the girls’ minds, and examined those insertions too. They were exactly as I had seen them in my dream. I imagined that without causing any discomfort, pain or upset, the insertions withdrew from all our minds simultaneously. I visualized the bond as a sentient creature, gently withdrawing its tentacles from where it was gripping into us, slowly and carefully, so as not to cause any harm. Suddenly, the bond was gone. I felt the loss. The connection between Amanda, Mary and I was no more. Were it not for the love and support coming from the twins, I was certain that it would’ve hurt - not the debilitating agony that we had suffered when I had rendered myself psychically invisible, but just the loss of connection - almost like the death of a loved one.

I needed to rebuild a connection between us. I wasn’t going to refer to it as a bond, because we weren’t going to be tied together. It was going to be a much better, more useful connection.

I envisioned a connection with all the girls - Mary, Amanda, Jules and Ness. I imagined that we would be able to send thoughts and feelings to each other in exactly the same way as we had been able to before. In essence, I wanted to give our group Telepathy, even though four of us didn’t natively have that power. The power for the ‘network’ would come from me, Mary and Amanda, and would be negligible when split three ways. I envisioned that we, with the permission of the people involved, would be able to see and hear what they saw and heard, and know exactly where they were at any time. If the connection was blocked for some reason, then it would have no detrimental effect on anyone, other than the fact that they would be aware that someone was missing off the ‘network.’ Any one of us could choose to block out the network completely if we wanted privacy, or we could simply choose not to ‘send’ any information, but keep the connection so we were available should one of the others want to contact us. I tried to think of everything I would want, but realized that I didn’t need to be to exhaustive. I could always add things on later if I thought they were necessary, and they were possible.

Once I had the model of the ‘network’ in my mind, I imagined that it was so - that we had that very connection, and that each of us was fully aware of it, and of how to use it.

I opened my eyes. All four girls were looking at me wide-eyed.

I looked at Pops and Cheryl. “It’s done,” I said.

They both breathed sighs of relief.

I felt Mary and Amanda allow their powers to tail off. Jules and Ness were looking at each other, and I sensed that they were having a conversation - Telepathically. I grinned at them.

“You like?” I asked, and they both looked at me. Jules had tears in her eyes.

“Yes, thank you,” she said. “It’s wonderful.”

“Ness?” I turned to her.

Ness did not answer. She just flung herself into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “The best birthday present ever,” she said.

I grinned. “Okay then,” I said. “I’ll take the other thing back.” Ness stopped for a minute and looked up at me. Her eyes were huge brown pools. I was forcibly reminded of the cat, Puss in Boots, from Shrek.

“Well, it is a special birthday,” she said. “Aren’t I allowed more than one present?”

Pops laughed. “It’s nice not to be the target of that look for once.”

I grinned and kissed the end of her nose and then hugged her to me. Then I looked at the twins.

“What do you think?” I asked.

Mary looked at me, and then completely disappeared from the network. I opened my mouth to speak but then she appeared again.

“It’s perfect,” she said. “All the advantages of the bond and none of the disadvantages. I can still feel you - still feel the love you have for us.”

“And I can speak to you too, without you having to initiate the conversation,” she continued Telepathically.

“Caleb,” Jules sent, “is there something else in this connection?”

“Like what?” I asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know,” she returned, “but I’m horny.”

“When are you due ‘on?’” I asked her. Normally Jules was not interested in sex except when she was on her period, and then for a day or two after it ended.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I stopped taking the pill and it’s not regulated yet.”

“Perhaps a quick check?” I suggested. “Maybe you are just starting?”

Jules stood and went upstairs. She was grinning when she came down. “You were right,” she said to me. “I have started, and I didn’t feel so much as a twinge.”

Cheryl looked at her. “What?”

“A friend of Caleb’s is a Healer,” Jules said. “He ‘cured’ my problem, so Caleb doesn’t have to block my pain anymore. Now that he’s gotten rid of the bond, Caleb will be able to learn to do that too, and cure Ness in the same way.”

Ness looked at me wide-eyed. “Is that true?” she asked, not daring to believe what her sister was saying.

I nodded. “If it had not been for the bond, I would have been able to do it for you now. Since the bond is now gone, the next time we see each other, I am hoping that I will be able to do it then. If I can’t, then as soon as you come up, I’ll introduce you to my friend and he’ll do it for you.”

“Vince said you could be a Healer,” said Pops. “Have you found a trainer then?”

“Yes,” I said. “A man called Jeevan, or the Maharishi Guptal-Pah to his followers.” I told them all about Jeevan and his cover.

We chatted for a short while longer, but I was flagging. It had been a long and emotionally exhausting day for me, and I was ready for bed. I excused myself and went to have a shower. When I got out of the shower, Jules was in the bedroom, waiting for me.

“You okay?” I asked and she smiled at me.

“I’m horny,” she said.

“Let’s see what we can do about that then,” I said, grinning at her. “Would madame like the full service, or will my humble self suffice?”

She batted at me with her hand. “Stop,” she said. “The twins are talking with Ness and my parents. Can we just...”

I pulled her into a kiss, but allowed her to take the lead. I didn’t get the full-blown ‘I’m so horny I could fuck a regiment of marines’ kiss, nor was it the normal Jules kiss. It was interesting to note that her sexuality wasn’t an on/off kind of thing. There was definitely an ‘off’ phase, but the ‘on’ phase wasn’t as black and white. Just then, she needed a quick release, and I was happy to give it to her.

I lifted her and laid her on the bed, kissing down her body and pulling her panties down as I went. She wasn’t so self-conscious about people being near her when she was on her period anymore, and she relaxed, allowing me full access to her. I kissed her belly and worked my way down until I was over her pussy, and began a gentle lapping at her clit. It stood up immediately, and she sighed as I started to pay attention to it.

I brought my hand up and began to massage the area between her pussy and ass. I found that all my girls liked that, although Amanda would move her hips so I was right on her asshole almost immediately.

As I lapped at Jules, she too started to wriggle her hips, and I found that my fingers were moving backwards as I gently sucked at her clit. I repositioned, but immediately she wriggled again until my fingers were pressed up against her asshole, at which point she began to grind her clit into my mouth and force her asshole down on my fingers.

I was just considering wetting my fingers – for the obvious reason – when she came. She arched her back and moaned; I heard her thought as she orgasmed.

“Yes, finger my ass!”

I kept the pressure on her little star as she came, feeling it twitch and spasm as she rode out her climax. Finally, as she relaxed, I gave a last kiss to her clit and eased my fingers away from her butt. I kissed her belly and then moved up beside her on the bed.

That had lasted longer than any session with her so far. She was becoming desensitized, which I thought was good. I figured that she would enjoy sex more when it lasted longer for her. She had such a short window of opportunity to enjoy it, so I wanted to make sure that each occasion was the best it could be.

She kissed me again - that halfway-post-orgasmic kiss that she gave after she came - and sighed in contentment as she snuggled in beside me.

“Thank you,” she said.

“My pleasure,” I said, and I meant it. I loved making all my girls come, but there was something extra special about being able to satisfy Jules’ itch when she had it.

Less than five minutes later, the other girls - Ness included - came to bed. I wasn’t sure whether Jules had given the ‘all clear’ or it was just good timing, but I suspected the former. I could sense ‘chatter’ going on through the connection, but I wasn’t part of it. I could have listened in if I had been so inclined, but that had become a much bigger violation of trust. I’d specifically given the four of them the ability to ‘talk’ amongst themselves without me being involved. I let them get on with it and relaxed into sleep.

I was surprised, when I got up the next morning, that all the girls, including Ness, got up too.

“Why are you all getting up?” I asked.

“To train,” they said in unison. I considered that for a moment, and then nodded. We all got dressed in sweats and then went out onto a very chilly deck. The dogs were equally surprised to see all the girls with me, but Terra still came to greet me on her own before the others followed suit as a pack. Then they all took up their positions to watch the show.

I sent all of the girls the memory of the ‘ready’ position - of how it felt and how they needed to be standing. They practiced getting into that position. Each of them were able to assume it with very little guidance. After about ten minutes they were all ready to move on.

I sent them the memory of the first kata I had learned, Taikyoku Shodan, and set them practicing it. I watched them for a while, occasionally correcting a slight misplacement of an arm or a leg. Once I was satisfied that they were doing okay, I started a kata I had learned from Kevin, and enjoyed the time, flowing through the movements.

By the time I had finished, the girls were progressing really well with their kata, and Pops and Cheryl were standing at the kitchen door watching.

“You could always join in,” I said to them. “Good for the mind and body.”

“I’m good,” said Pops. “It’s much more entertaining to watch.”

“You just like leering at the twins,” Cheryl said, “you lech.”

Pops snorted. “Says you, ogling Caleb whenever his back is turned. He’s not the only ‘ass’ person around, is he?”

Cheryl blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, and darted inside the house.

We all went and showered - me and Jules in our room, the twins in the family bathroom, and Ness in her room. Then Ness and I made breakfast.

As we ate, Cheryl spoke. “What’s the plan for this morning?”

“We have some talking to do before Ness finally commits,” I said.

“We can make ourselves scarce,” said Pops. “Give you some privacy.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t want to chase you from your home. Besides, Ness might need to come and talk to one of you about what we say to her. There is quite a lot for her to think about - and perhaps something for you guys to think about, too, but we’ll maybe talk about that later.”

Cheryl and Dean looked at each other, trying to figure out what shoe I was going to drop on them. As far as I could tell from their expressions, they weren’t able to. After breakfast we cleared up, and all four girls and I went into the den.

It was a room I had hardly been in before. It was quite spacious, and had a large television on the wall; a long sofa, big enough to seat six; and a couple of comfortable chairs.

I went and sat on the sofa, and Jules sat beside me. I knew she really wanted to take up her normal position in my lap, but had left it clear for Ness. Amanda sat on the other side of Jules and Mary sat to my other side. Ness had a choice. She could take up the offered seat on my lap, or sit in one of the comfortable chairs. I was surprised when she chose the chair. So was Jules, but she didn’t complain as she moved into her preferred position.

“I figured it would be easier to talk “if I were over here,” she said. She was taking it seriously, and I was glad of that.

I smiled at her. “Ness,” I said, “I’m going to start by stating the obvious: I love you, and I want you to be part of our family.” I stopped talking and looked across at Mary.

“Ness,” she said, “our relationship has been often described as Caleb with three girlfriends. But that’s not the case. I love Caleb, but I also love Jules, and I love Amanda. As power users, we grew up with a very different set of rules than you did. Our rules may seem strange, hedonistic, and even downright immoral to most Norms. We’ll talk about that later. But for now, I want you to know that I, too, love you, and I want you to be a part of our family.”

“You know that I love you just as much as I love Caleb, Mary, and Jules,” Amanda said. “You are a beautiful, wonderful girl, and will be a beautiful, wonderful woman. I very much want you to be a part of our family.”

Jules lifted her head and looked at her sister. “When I was standing on the top of the science building, looking down at the road below, my biggest regret was the hurt I would cause my family - cause you. We had our differences growing up, as sisters do, but I never doubted that you loved me, and even when you were a complete brat, I still loved you. When I accepted the invitation to join with Caleb, Mary and Amanda, I didn’t really understand what I was getting into. All I knew was that there were three people who knew me for who I was, and who loved me anyway. I felt loved, I felt safe, and I felt I belonged. I so want that for you. I love you so much Ness, and I cannot think of a better, safer, more loving place for you to be than with us.”

“So,” I said, “now that you know that we really do want you with us, you need to know exactly what you would be signing up for.”

“Can I interrupt?” asked Ness.

“Sure,” I said, a little surprised.

“How about I tell you what I think I’m letting myself in for?” she said. “And you can let me know how close I am?”

I nodded to her, spreading my hands to indicate for her to continue.

Ness told us. It was an amalgamation of what she had learned from Jules, what she had observed from our behavior, what she had concluded from conversations, and what she’d ‘overheard’ through the bond, which included both physical and emotional sensations. I took her at her word that she didn’t accept any errant invitations we may have sent out; I knew we could get ‘loud’ fairly often.

“Okay,” I said, a little stunned at how comprehensive her knowledge was. I shouldn’t have been. Ness was an incredibly astute girl, and I sometimes forgot how much time her and Jules spent talking. “So ... how do you feel about all that?”

“Well obviously it sucks that I’m going to get old quicker than you guys and die sooner,” she said, “but that happens with other couples too. Nobody knows what’s going to happen. I could get trampled by a herd of cows tomorrow and the whole thing becomes moot. I can’t say I’m not nervous about the sex thing - not about you having sex with others, but about me having sex with girls and maybe other people too. I don’t know if I will be able to do that.”

“Nobody is going to make you do anything you don’t want to,” Jules said quickly.

“I know,” said Ness, “and that’s why it’s not a problem. I could feel the love before through the bond. This new connection is something else. It’s like I’m wrapped in cotton wool and then bubble-wrap. I feel safe, and loved, by all of you.”

She looked at Jules then. “And Jules ... you know I love you, but I’m not sure if I could...” she trailed off, but Jules just smiled at her.

“We will take it one day at a time,” I said, “and discover together what you are happy with. You seem to have a pretty good grasp of what we are about. Is there anything that you would like to ask us? Anything you’re not sure of?”

“What about pregnancy?” she said. “If you are having that much sex, aren’t you worried about getting pregnant by one of your other partners? Or getting someone else pregnant?”

“Not any more,” said Amanda. “We used to take the pill, but now Caleb’s friend made us all unable to have children until we want them. He effectively switched our reproductive system off. Caleb will be able to turn it back on when we are ready. He did the same for Jules, and for Caleb. Something else you need to know is that Caleb has sworn not to have children until they guarantee that they will not be forced to wear an amulet. We can explain about that later.”

“What about disease?” followed up Ness. “Aren’t you scared of STIs or HIV?”

“As power users,” I said, “we are pretty much immune to all diseases. As a Healer, I could recognize and kill most viruses or bugs in your system.”

Mary interjected then. “As Empaths we can feel when someone has something wrong with them. Often, we don’t know what, but if someone has a disease such as HIV that is affecting their body, it affects their aura too. We only share with those who we sense are healthy.”

“It seems that you have a pretty good idea of who we are,” I said. “It’s up to you now. Unless you have any more questions?”

Ness shook her head.

“I think you should take some time,” said Jules. “Talk to Mom. This is a big decision. You know that once we have you in our evil clutches, we’re never letting you go.” She gave her little sister a grin to match the threat. Ness chuckled, but nodded.

Jules stood, and we all followed suit.

“Can I get a hug?” I asked.

Ness stood and put her arms around me.

“Whatever you decide,” I said quietly to her, “I’ll always be there for you.”

I kissed the top of her head and then released her. Each of the other girls hugged her, including Jules, and then we filed out of the den. Cheryl was in the kitchen talking to Dean. She looked up as we entered.

“I think Ness needs someone to talk to,” I said to Cheryl, who nodded, stood, and hurried into the den.

“Is she okay?” asked Dean, a worried look on his face.

“She’s fine,” I said. “She is one bright young lady.”

“Sometimes too bright,” he agreed.

I made coffee and we sat around the kitchen table, drinking it and talking about nothing of consequence. About an hour later Cheryl came out of the den.

“We have some questions.”

“Why don’t you come out and ask?” I offered. “Unless Dean doesn’t want to know.”