Chapter 2

Lucy had done it with 13 guys and no bond had formed. Most people would form a bond in fewer than 13 tries. And her bondless syndrome had been getting worse. She felt like she had a cold all the time. She sighed as she finished dressing for the day. The last item was a red sweater to keep her warm on this chilly fall day. But the color signaled she was likely to accept just about any proposition she got. Kids knew to stop wearing red when they turned 12 or so. When a grown-up wore red it expressed a need for sex that was bordering on desperation.

Some of the less attractive women and men began wearing red whenever they needed a bond, because they knew it might take a while, and it was no fun to proposition people and get turned down over and over again. Others waited until they were pretty desperate. Lucy was certainly not fat or ugly, but she was getting desperate.

There were lots of places where you could meet people, but it was obvious enough that it was convenient if there was a bed nearby when you met a potential mate. So instead of going to some commercial street or park, she walked down a block with row houses and a few apartment buildings.

She attracted attention at once. “A standard quickie, OK?” said a middle-aged man with a sizable belly and jowls. That was OK, right? Into his place, back in the bedroom. She started stripping and was all naked on top and stepping out of her skirt when she noticed he had taken off trousers and underpants but nothing else. Well, OK, then! She ditched her panties but kept her shoes and socks on and lay back. She then started a quick little flutter down on her clit to get wet enough. “First one of the day, eh?” said the man with a smirk. She learned what that meant soon enough. After one guy had left a load inside her, she was plenty wet for the next one. This one let himself down on her, his belly spreading to cover her stomach. He inserted and began thrusting. He was silent, with closed eyes, thrusting in and out. Then she heard him mutter, “Ninety,” and then a bit later, “A hundred.” He was counting the seconds! Two minutes was a fair test. “A hundred ten” was said with notable tension and ten seconds later he plunged deep and held still with a loud, deep “Ooohhhh!” A few seconds later he pulled out and went straight for his underpants and trousers. Lucy hurried to get dressed herself, and was soon on her way.

At the door, he said, “Sorry it didn’t work, hon. Sure is a lot of fun trying, though.”

As Lucy went out the street again she thought about how she was feeling. She had congestion and bad muscle aches, but that was unfortunately old news these past days. All her sexy nerves were engaged, her reproductive tract felt fine, very wet. The memory of that belly kind of enveloping her stomach wasn’t a great one, but she had gotten what she needed and what she had asked for. It hadn’t formed a bond but it had been a genuine attempt.

She had evidently been seen walking down the street and entering Mr. Belly’s home, because when she re-emerged there were half a dozen men waiting for her.

The nearest looked to be in his 70s, and his face was expressionless and his left arm twitched. He was wearing a red shirt. She’d never turned a guy down before, but ... this?

A tall, red-headed guy saw her dismay and said, “You can say no.” To the man he said, “You ought to give it up, Fred! Or at least wait for the girls to come get you.” Fred stepped back.

“I, on the other hand,” he said, raising his arm to show off his biceps.

Lucy frowned and turned away. She was turned off by his bravado and was tempted to just run home and crawl into bed. But -- those muscle aches!

A slouching guy who hadn’t shaved in a couple days said, “I’ll do you, but first look at my place. I’m looking for a bond to last, and when I do make a bond with some women, they’re picky and when they see my place they dump me as soon as they can. Want to take a look?”

Lucy shrugged and followed him up into his apartment. It smelled faintly of garbage and dirty laundry. The living room was a total mess, with a footpath cleared through newspapers, take-out containers and clothing that looked like it had been flung off and left where it landed. She could barely see into the kitchen, but she could see piles of dishes obscuring what was probably the sink. But she wasn’t going to live with the guy, just fuck him, right? The bondless syndrome was progressing and she felt pretty darn bad. Following the path of bare floor to his bedroom she saw there was one clear space just big enough for a man to sleep in. She thought of how the last guy had not stripped, so she just stepped out of her skirt and took her panties off. Turning, she saw him naked from the waist down -- but his cock gave no sign of being aroused. “Can you help me out, kiddo?” he asked. She reached out to caress it, and it started swelling a bit. “Could you suck it?” he asked.

She pulled back in disgust. The guy hadn’t bathed in a while. “No,” she said. “No deal!”

“Oh, come on!” he said.

She was afraid he might not let her go, but once she was dressed he just muttered unhappily while she followed the path out to the door.

When she got back to the sidewalk, there were a couple of the men who had been there before, but there was a new man who had placed himself in front of the others. An average-looking guy in his 40s. “I’d be willing to try,” he said.

Average-looking was to Lucy looking very good just then!

She followed the guy up into his place and into his bedroom. She waited for him to start stripping, but he didn’t. “I can’t actually give you a try,” he said. “I’m bonded with two women I love and I don’t want to risk losing either of them. But you looked so miserable out there I thought I’d give you a chance to recover a bit. Want a hug?”

This wasn’t going to help her achieve her goal, but a hug from a friendly, considerate man sounded very good. She drew herself up against him as they stood. She felt herself sort of melt in his arms.

“Want to just lie here and relax for a while?” he said. “It’s not even noon yet.”

She lay down on the bed. He took her shoes off, first one and then the other. She closed her eyes and was aware of the man just sitting beside her on the edge of the bed. She felt the tears coming. The syndrome. “It hurts ... my muscles are hurting so bad!”

“Oh, sweetie!” he said softly and patted her hand. With that she just let loose and cried like a little girl. And the sweet man just sat there stroking her hand.

After ten minutes she realized she had a job to do. The muscle aches were bad but to make them go away she had to take action! She sighed and got up.

“I’m Aaron, by the way.”

“I’m Lucy.”

“Would you give me your number? We never know when a bond is going to just break, and I’d love to see if you could be my second bond if that happens.” She shrugged, and he quick found a scrap of paper and a pen.

He smiled. “I’ve had a bad case of the bondless syndrome. And I don’t ever want to go through that again. And you could really use a partner too.”

“I hope I don’t have to wait for one of your bonds to break before I feel better again.”