Chapter 33: Tough Love

Authors note:

Once more thanks go to Dr Mark for his help, advice, and editorial expertise.

Please rate and comment. It helps me to know what people are thinking.

PM

The house was empty and cold when we returned. I turned the heat on and we went into the kitchen to discover a note on the counter from Louise.

Beside the note was a box containing my business cards. On the top of the box was an envelope. I opened it. It contained my invoice for the print services and web design. On the back of the envelope was a telephone number and a name: Barney.

We needed to go shopping since the fridge was empty. We took my truck to the supermarket to stock up. On the way there, we saw a gun range and decided to call in and take a look.

The guy behind the counter, was stunned to see three beautiful women walk into his range. He didn’t seem to notice me.

“Can I help you?” he asked the girls. They all looked at me, at which point he finally seemed to realize that I was there.

“Hi,” I said. “We would like to learn to shoot. We’re not yet old enough to buy a handgun. Do you have club weapons that we can use for instruction?”

“We certainly do,” he said.

“Might I see one please?” I asked.

He looked at me, puzzled. “You want to see one?” he queried.

“Yes,” I said. “I want to see one.”

“Wait here,” he said and went through a door behind the counter. He returned a moment later with a handgun. When he placed it on the counter, I immediately identified it as a Glock 19 thanks to Dean’s memories. It had no magazine in, but the slide was closed.

“May I?” I asked, and he nodded.

I picked up the gun and checked the chamber. Then I broke the gun down. It was in a poor state. Everything was dirty, and it looked like it hadn’t been maintained in some time.

I left the gun in pieces on the counter.

“I’ll leave it apart for you,” I said. “It needs a good cleaning. Thanks for your time.”

The guy just stared at us as we left, probably getting an eyeful of the three girls’ rather spectacular asses as they walked out of the door. When I got back to my truck, I wiped my hands on a cloth I kept in the door pocket.

“There’s another range five blocks up,” said Amanda, looking at her phone. “Shall we go check that one out?”

I drove to the other range. It was quite a bit smaller, but the parking lot was almost full. The other place had been less than a quarter full. I hoped that meant we’d found the better one.

There was an older man manning the desk as we walked in. He looked at us and waited patiently for one of us to speak. I gave him my spiel and he nodded.

“Why?” he asked.

“Why what?” I asked.

“Why do you want to learn to shoot?”

I grinned. “My father-in-law told us we had to,” I said. “I’m also looking to become a law enforcement officer when I graduate.” He didn’t look overly impressed.

“Listen, son,” he said, “you’re not the first college kid to come in here with some honeys on your arm looking to impress. This is a serious range, and we expect our members to act accordingly. Guns are not toys, and people who think they are end up killing people.”

“These are not ‘honeys,’” I said coldly. “They are my fiancées, and I am not here to impress anyone. I have had a little instruction from an ex-marine on handling a weapon, and he has advised I join a club and practice.”

“You’ve had some instruction?” he asked.

“Yes, but since I am not yet old enough to purchase a gun of my own, nor are my ladies, we would need to rent guns in order to learn and practice. May I see a club pistol?” I said.

He gave me a hard look. “Wait here,” he said.

He, too, went through the door behind the counter and returned with another Glock 19, again with no magazine. He placed it on the counter. “Show me what you learned,” he said.

I picked up the gun, being careful to point it at the floor, and opened the chamber to find that it was empty. I then dismantled the gun onto the counter. It came apart easily, and all the parts were well maintained, oiled and in very good condition. I reassembled the gun and placed it back on the counter.

“What branch of law enforcement?” he asked.

“FBI,” I said. “I already consult with them.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You got ID?” he asked, and I showed him.

“Hell, boy, why didn’t you lead with that?” he asked. “We already have several agents as members, and you get discounted rates.”

“I’m not actually an agent,” I said.

“Close enough,” he said. “And your...” he stopped, suddenly realizing that I had introduced all three girls as my fiancées. “Did you say fiancées?”

“These ladies are my fiancées,” I repeated.

“That’s going to really screw with Clive,” he said, and grinned. “There’s only one place on the membership form for ‘partner.’ Family membership is two hundred and forty dollars for the year. That is for two adults and their dependents. You can add extra adults living at the same address for fifty dollars per person per year. Lanes cost ten dollars an hour, plus weapon rental, plus ammunition. You get a fifteen percent discount on all costs with your ID. We provide ear protection and safety glasses, or you can buy them from us. Most don’t like to use the communal ones; they are all cleaned between use, but still.

“There is a mandatory range safety session which costs forty-five dollars per person, which you must attend before you can go on the range unaccompanied by an instructor. Once you have done that, you can book a lane on our website, call up, or just walk in first come-first served. I would advise booking though. We are a busy range, and you might not get a lane if you don’t.”

I paid the membership, and we each bought a set of safety equipment, which we could keep in a locker on the premises for the princely fee of just one dollar per week. The locker was big enough to keep all five sets in. I had bought a set for Ness too. The locker also had a separate inner locked compartment where, had I had my own weapon, I could have stored it.

“Let me give you the tour,” he said, “and then Clive can fill out the paperwork with you. CLIVE!!” Another man, about the same age came out of another door. “I’m taking these folks around. Get some membership papers together and watch the counter.”

Clive nodded, and I saw a glance between the pair that said that they were more than business partners.

“My name is Dan Cartwright,” he said, holding his hand out. “But most here call me ‘Hoss.’”

“Really?” asked Amanda, grinning as she glanced down theatrically at the front of his trousers.

He laughed, “If only,” he said. “You’re probably too young to remember Bonanza?” We all nodded. “Well, Google it. You’ll see why.”

“I’m Caleb,” I said, and he shook my hand. The girls introduced themselves and he shook each hand.

“I’m telling you now,” he said. “I can’t remember names, and since you gals are twins, I have no hope of getting it right, so forgive me.

“You’re in luck. We have a lane free, so what I suggest is that I give you a quick safety briefing, then I’ll get one of our weapons and give you each some complimentary ammunition. Then we can see what level I think you should start your training at.”

He explained the range rules, and gave us each a printed copy, before going to a gun safe and pulling out a weapon in a carrying bag.

After we donned our safety gear, he took us through a door onto the range itself and we walked behind several people who were shooting. Then we got to the empty lane.

Once there, he took the weapon out of the bag, making sure to keep it pointed downrange, and laid it on the table, with the slide locked back and the ejection port on the top. He pulled four magazines out of the bag, loaded them with ammunition, and laid them alongside the gun. He pointed at me, held up one finger and pointed to a magazine, and then stepped back, inviting me to shoot.

I moved into the space and picked up the weapon. Picking up a magazine and making sure to keep my finger off the trigger, I inserted it and unlocked the slide. I then sighted downrange at the target, which looked about ten yards away.

I fired twice, then paused to see where my shots had landed. They were high and to the left of centre mass. I corrected and fired twice more. They were better, but still not spot on. The next two shots were dead center, as were the final two sets. Once I was out of bullets, I ejected the magazine, checked the chamber and laid the gun down, as he had. I stepped back. He nodded at me approvingly. Then he pointed at Mary. She stepped up.

Mary had paid attention, and she too handled the gun safely, although she struggled with the recoil and her shots were all high and scattered. Amanda was also safe, and surprisingly she was better than Mary, but she struggled with the recoil too.

Jules handled the weapon like a professional. Like me, she fired in two-shot bursts, and, like me, her first set was high and slightly wide. Her correction was better than mine, though, and the rest of her shots were center mass. She cleared the weapon and placed it on the table.

Hoss picked it up and put it back in the bag, along with the empty magazines. We followed him out of the range and back to the front desk.

“You said your father-in-law was the marine?” he said to me, and I nodded.

“I’m guessing your daddy?” he asked Jules. She smiled. “For you and Caleb here, I’m going to say that once you have done the range safety course, you can just come and practice. That’s all you need. Book online, rent a weapon and buy ammunition. You will be fine with the Glock or a Sig. I would suggest for you ladies,” he turned to the twins, “that we start you out with something a little smaller, and you take a few lessons with either myself or Clive. You will get the hang of it soon enough, and then, like your fiancé, you will be okay with the Glock. It just takes experience.

“Come into the office, sit with Clive and fill out your paperwork. He can book you in for your safety course too.”

He ushered us into the office where Clive was seated at a computer, and we each pulled up chairs. Hoss had to bring another in from behind the desk so we could all sit.

“So,” asked Clive, “who is going to be the primary member?”

“That would be me,” I said. He took my details. I was curious – and a bit apprehensive – to see how the pair would navigate our relationship.

“And who is the partner?” He looked at the girls expectantly.

“We are,” said all the girls in unison.

“You ... all three of you?” he asked.

“There are four of us, actually,” said Jules, “But my sister is not here today.”

“Sister?” asked Clive, looking a little shocked.

“We are all engaged to Caleb,” said Mary, showing him her engagement ring. Jules and Amanda each held their hands out to display theirs.

Clive smiled wryly. “He loves doing this kind of thing to me. I’ll bet he told you that would screw with me, didn’t he?”

I laughed. “How long have you two been together?” I asked. Clive paled and glanced at the door to make sure it was closed.

“Please don’t say that too loud,” he said. “There are still a lot of people who are, shall we say, uncomfortable with our choices. We don’t hide it per se, but we don’t broadcast it either. People choose to ignore it, but if they are forced to confront it, they might react badly.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I understand. We won’t say anything.”

He smiled at me. “Dan and I grew up together. We joined the military together, and spent our lives hiding. When we mustered out, we started this place. We’ve been together over thirty years.

“How about you?” he asked, looking at Mary.

“Just under a year,” she replied. “It’s been a very exciting time.”

“Enjoy it,” he said, “and don’t let anyone spoil it for you.

“Right, that’s all the paperwork done. We run a range safety course every Sunday morning. That is usually the quietest time. I wasn’t going to run one tomorrow since there was only one person needing it, and I usually like a group, but if you guys are up for it, we can do it at ten a.m. tomorrow. It takes an hour, and there’s twenty minutes lane time with gun rental and a box of ammunition included just to get you started. You can buy more ammunition if you want. Most people will burn through a box of ammo in less than twenty minutes.”

We booked in the class, went and stowed our safety gear, and bade goodbye to Clive and Hoss. Then we went shopping.

Dinner was a quiet affair, all of us a little subdued. I was missing Ness, but I also missed Dean and Cheryl. Obviously, Jules missed her parents and her sister. Mary and Amanda hadn’t said anything, but I could feel through the connection that they missed them too.

“Cheer up! It’s only another one month and twenty-seven days.” The upbeat thought blasted through the bond to us all: Ness.

“Ness!” we all sent simultaneously, and we caught her mirth.

“One at a time, guys. I take it you got back okay?”

This time nobody answered, thinking someone else would. Eventually Mary pointed at me.

“Yes we did. Are you okay?” I sent it to everyone so they could all hear the conversation.

“I miss you guys, but I’m good. Fiona’s mother told me what you did. She hasn’t told Fi yet. I can’t wait until her birthday to see how much she has lost.”

“Don’t tell her about the incentive beforehand, please,” I sent.

“I won’t. Clarissa already asked me. I don’t think she believes it anyway.”

“She’ll find out on Sunday night.”

“How?” asked Ness.

“I stopped her smoking. If she doesn’t have a cigarette before ten p.m. on Sunday, she will have an orgasm, and another each week for a year if she stays off them.”

“That’s awesome! Clarissa is a really nice lady. Her husband abandoned them both four years ago. She deserves something good. A few good orgasms will cheer her up.”

“They seem to have done the trick for you,” Jules sent.

“Mom too,” replied Ness. “I think she finally settled down, but you would think she had won the lottery. She keeps walking around grinning like an idiot. Daddy says we both are.”

“We miss you, squirt,” I sent, and I felt a spike of love through the connection.

“I miss you guys too,” she sent back. “But not long now. Anyway, finish your dinner and be happy. I don’t like feeling you guys so down. I love you.”

“I love you,” we all sent simultaneously.

Our mood was considerably lighter for the rest of the evening, and we sat enjoying each other’s company until I decided I was ready for bed.

Jules was waiting for me again when I got out of the shower.

“Last time for this month,” she said looking at me. “I spoke with Ness, and I want to save my actual first time for when she is here. But tonight, I want to do something I haven’t done before.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Lie down,” she said. I obliged. She got naked in no time flat and then came and kissed me.

We made out for a few minutes, and then she sat up.

“I want us to cum together,” she said, and then promptly swung her leg over my head, firmly planting her pussy on my face. I felt her hand and then her mouth engulfing my cock.

She had finished her period two days ago, and so I had free rein to do with her as I pleased. My concentration was a little fractured, though, because, as I was quickly learning, her tongue had more than one special talent.

I suckled her clit into my mouth and began to massage it with my tongue. I felt her shiver. Her lingual ministrations paused for a second as she acclimatized to the new sensations, but then she continued.

For a second, I worried that I would make her cum too soon, but it became apparent that it was me who would be in danger of that. She was doing things to me with her mouth that were lighting me up like a Christmas tree.

I went to work on her, trying to catch up.

I slid a finger into her pussy, collecting her juices before moving it up and rubbing around her little star. She moaned at the contact. I shoved another finger into her pussy, and pumped it in and out of her as I continued to suckle at her clit.

In response, she flattened her tongue along the top of my cock and pushed forward. I couldn’t believe it when my cock, which had a slight natural upward curve, slid effortlessly into her throat. I felt her lips wrapped tightly around my base, her chin against my pelvis and her nose pressing into my balls. She held me there and swallowed a couple of times.

I stepped up the pace, increasing the pressure on her asshole. I eased the tip of my finger through her brown star as I began to massage her G-spot with my other hand. Her juices were running from her, and dripping onto my tongue as I lapped and lathered at her clit, racing her to the finish.

She began to move her head back and forth. She pulled back until just the head of my cock was in her mouth, and then swirled her tongue around it before she pushed all the way back down again, swallowing as I entered her throat.

Her hips started to move as I increased the pressure on her clit, writing everyone’s name at once on it with my tongue, while I slid an extra finger into her pussy and pumped harder, working up a froth. With each pump I would curl my fingers and rub across the special spot, and I could feel her starting to build. I hoped I could hold on for long enough. I didn’t want to resort to using my powers. That would have been cheating.

Her pace had increased too, and she was literally face fucking herself on my cock. She repeatedly slammed her mouth down on me before pulling back and sucking. She was pulling and teasing at my balls and then began to massage behind them, which hastened my demise. I knew that I was only going to last a few more seconds, so I decided to play dirty.

I rammed my fingers into her pussy, and, as she ground her clit into my mouth, I slid my finger, lubricated with her pussy juices, straight up her ass up to the second knuckle.

I was not the only one who decided to play dirty however, and at almost the exact same time, Jules shoved two fingers up my ass.

We both tried to cry out our orgasms. She couldn’t, because she had my cock spewing its cum down her throat. She didn’t even need to swallow; she had me so deep I was pumping it directly into her stomach. I couldn’t either, because my mouth was full of her juices. I was almost drowning in her cum as she squirted all over me, still writhing and twitching as she continued to cum. I felt her pull back and take a breath as I delivered the final spurts of my orgasm into her mouth.

I still had a mouthful of her cum, and it seemed that once again, even outside of the connection, we were aligned. She quickly turned around and kissed me, mixing our cum together with our tongues as we did. Finally, each of us swallowed our share.

I was breathless when the kiss finally ended, as was she.

“That was so fucking hot!” Amanda and Mary were standing just inside the door watching us. Jules smiled at them.

“Of course it was,” she said. “It was your idea.”

Amanda crossed the room. “I told you all that practice would pay off. Is there any left?” She pulled Jules into a kiss, making it obvious what she sought. I doubted she got much more than a taste though. I would have offered too, but Mary claimed my mouth before I could.

“I think I need another shower,” I said. My face and chest were sticky with the residue of Jules’ cum.

Jules, who had curled up beside me, held me in place. “You’ll keep until the morning,” she said sleepily. “I don’t want to move.”

I chuckled, but relaxed into her arms as Amanda and Mary joined us on the bed. I drifted off, still enjoying my post orgasmic haze.

Four a.m. saw me awake and raring to go. Jules, Mary and Amanda, less so. I decided to let them sleep, and I went for a run. It had been some time since I had done that. When I got back, I showered and made breakfast. The girls - even Jules - had also gone out for a run, and returned about ten minutes after I did. I sent them to shower and then they came to breakfast. I got a kiss from each. Jules gave me her closed mouth, tender kiss, and I knew that she was done with sex for roughly another month.

After eating and clearing breakfast, we decided to kill some time washing the cars. It was about eight in the morning when we started, but apparently that was too early for the neighbors.

A small man wearing what looked to be plaid pajamas came storming across the road, shouting.

“You can’t do that,” he yelled at Amanda, who was closest. That really didn’t enamor him to me at all, although Amanda wasn’t fazed in the slightest.

“Excuse me?” I said. “Please don’t yell at my fiancée. We’re not doing anything other than washing our vehicles on our own property. What’s the problem?”

“It’s too early,” he said. “HOA rules prohibit any outside work on your property on the weekend before ten - and twelve if you are going to use power tools.”

“Is that right?” I asked, amused. I wasn’t aware that we were even in a homeowner’s association, and made a note to check if we were or not. I decided to play along for the moment.

“My apologies,” I said. “I wasn’t aware that there was even a HOA here. Would you have a copy of the rules by any chance?”

“I can bring the paperwork over,” he said, mollified. “You need to pay your HOA dues in any case. I think the realtors will have paid a quarter for you, so you are probably behind on that too.”

“That would be good,” I said. “If you drop them off, we’ll take a look.”

He bustled off, looking pleased with himself. I telephoned Dean.

“Hey son, what’s up?” he answered.

“Hi Pops, quick question. When you bought the house, was there any mention of a HOA?”

“My lawyer didn’t say anything about it, and it’s something that should be declared. Let me give him a call and I’ll get back to you.”

“On a Sunday?” I asked. “Will he even answer?”

I could hear his grin. “Son, with the money I’m paying him, he better answer.”

I laughed.

“I’ll call you back,” he said and disconnected the phone.

True to his word, he called back about fifteen minutes later.

“Hey Pops,” I answered my phone.

“Have you signed anything?” he asked without preamble.

“No,” I said. “The guy from across the street came over this morning and said we couldn’t wash our cars because of HOA rules. Then he said he would drop in the paperwork and collect our dues, which were overdue.”

“Tell him to take a hike. The house is not in the HOA. There are seven of the nine houses on the street that decided to start a HOA about five years ago. Obviously, they dared not ask the previous owner, so he wasn’t involved. There is another resident who refused to join. He is trying to con you into joining. Once you are in it’s near impossible to get out. They have no jurisdiction over the street or you. You can safely ignore the rules, and if they dare try and take you to court, then my lawyer will make even more money.”

“Do you know which other property refused?” I asked.

“Number five,” he said.

“That’s perfect, thanks,” I said. “I might touch base with them too. Safety in numbers and all that.”

“Good idea,” he said. “It looks like they think that they can either intimidate or fool a young innocent into going along with their rules. Don’t let them. I hate HOAs. Bunch of busybodies trying to tell everyone else how to live their lives. Give ‘em hell, son.”

“I will, thanks,” I said. “Love to Cheryl and Ness. Love ya Pops.” I hung up. It was only after that I realized what I had said. Jules was looking at me with a small smile on her face.

“What did you say to daddy?” asked Ness a minute later.

“Why?” I returned.

“He looks about ready to cry, ” sent Ness.

I sent her my memory of the end of the call.

“AWWWWW!” sent Ness. Feelings of amusement and love flowed through the connection.

I checked my watch. It was after nine. I looked across at the house next door; the curtains were open, so I decided it might be safe to call on them.

I knocked on the door. A lady who looked to be in her late thirties answered. She looked me up and down. “Yes?”

“Hi,” I said. “I’m sorry to bother you so early on a Sunday. My name is Caleb. I am your new-ish neighbor. I’m really sorry not to have come by sooner to introduce myself. I wonder if you have a few minutes?”

She opened the door and stepped back. “Come on in.”

I noted that she wore carpet slippers, and that the floor was fully carpeted. I stepped out of my shoes and left them on the porch.

The floorplan of her house was a mirror image of ours. She took me into the living room where a man was seated on a sofa, reading a newspaper. He looked up as we entered.

“Alan,” she said. “We have company.”

The man stood up and stepped toward me. He held out his hand.

“Hi,” he said. “Alan Kelly. And this is my wife, Anne.”

I shook his hand “Caleb Stott.”

“You moved into the drug dealer’s house,” he said.

“We did.”

“So, to what do we owe the honor?”

“I wanted to ask you about the HOA,” I said. “I understand that you and I are the only two on the road that are not members.”

He laughed. “It’s taken him long enough,” he said. “Normally he would have been at you in the first few days you were here. I guess the previous owner scared him a little. When we bought the houses here, ten years ago, there was no HOA. That is one of the primary reasons we moved here. We had a bad experience with the HOA at my parents’ house. I couldn’t take a shit without getting a HOA infraction notice. I wasn’t going to pay a fortune for a house for someone else to tell me how long my grass should be, or what color I could paint my front door. When we moved here, I made sure that there wasn’t one.

“About five years ago, Tom Pritchard, from across the street, came around with the great idea of starting one. He had been chairman of the HOA in his previous community, and he managed to convince everyone to sign up. Once a HOA is up and running, it is almost impossible to get out of it. I refused, as did the previous owner of your place.

“Tom still comes and bugs me about stuff, like when I put my trash cans out, or if I miss cutting my lawn for a while, but I can tell him to go away. He even tried giving me an infraction notice once or twice, and then took me to court when I wouldn’t pay. He tried to convince the judge that since the majority of the residents had signed up, everyone in the street should be bound by the rules. The judge threw the case out and told him that if he continued to harass me, I would be within my rights to sue. He’s largely left me alone since then.

“I’ll bet he thinks that he can con you into signing up since you are young and naive. Like I said, once your property is signed up, it’s almost impossible to get out. My advice is don’t sign anything he gives you. Just either give it straight back or shred it and throw it in the trash.”

“I will,” I said. “Listen, I know we have been around for a while and we haven’t really been introduced, but can I invite you guys over for lunch? You can meet the rest of our household, and then we can see whether we are going to be the good friend type of neighbor or the sworn enemy type.”

He laughed. “Sure,” he said. “What time?”

“Is one too late?” I asked. “We have a thing at ten and won’t be back until after twelve.”

“One would be perfect.”

“Any dietary needs I need to worry about?” I asked. “Allergies, veganism, that sort of thing?”

“Nope,” he said. “I hate celery, but other than that, I’m pretty easy to please.”

Anne snorted at that, and I looked at her, but saw she had the hint of a smile on her face.

“Any particular preferences?” I asked her, and she shook her head.

“We’re plain folk,” she said. “I normally do meat and veg on a Sunday lunch.”

“Okay then,” I said. “I look forward to seeing you at one.”

Anne showed me out, and watched as I slipped my shoes on at the door.

When I got back to our house, I decided I needed to do some prep work for lunch. I went into the kitchen and took out the beef from the fridge. I left it on the side while I prepared vegetables. Half an hour later, the beef had warmed to room temperature. I seared it and then put it on to roast. It would be ready by the time we came back from the range and would just about have enough time to rest. I was going to surprise my neighbors with something I had tried and loved when I was a child. It wasn’t a U.S. staple, but I knew how to make it.

I was almost finished with my prep when there was a knock on the door, and the little man was back, beaming, with a fistful of papers.