Chapter 21

Doris Alex and I were having a lunch a couple of weeks later when Alyssa sat down at our table.

"So is there trouble in paradise?" she asked with a mischievous smile as she stole one of my fries.

"Excuse me?" I asked curiously.

"You and the girls," she said as her smile turned wicked. "Is there trouble in David's love nest?"

"Alyssa," Doris Alex whispered dangerously.

"Oh come on! It's different with you," Alyssa said turning up the wattage on her smile. "I know you're banging David, but you're also smoking Dr. Ryan so David was always sharing you."

I sat back and crossed my arms. Alyssa turned to me.

"Now, I've always seen Rachel with David somewhere behind her almost like he was watching over her or David with Melisa beside him," she said raising an eyebrow. "But recently it's Rachel and Melisa with no David to be found anywhere near them."

"Why does my sex life fascinate you?" I asked tilting my head.

"Dahhling, I just need Rachel out of the way to hop into bed with you," she said standing up. "But if Melisa's ditching you too, even better."

"You'd have to go through me then," Doris Alex said quietly.

Alyssa turned to her.

"Is it like that now?" she asked quietly.

Doris Alex shrugged.

"You'll find me a harsher task-mistress than Melisa," Doris Alex warned.

"Yeah, but you're my type," Alyssa said reaching over to stroke a curl of Doris Alex's hair.

She finger waved a goodbye to us and walked out. Doris Alex looked after her thoughtfully.

"You should fight for her," she said finally.

"Alyssa?"

"Melisa," she said shaking her head and turning towards me. "You should fight for her."

"I didn't know I had to."

"Rachel is trying to draw her away from you."

"No, Doris Alex," I said. "Melisa is drawing away from me."

"Only because you won't bring her back," Doris Alex insisted.

I shrugged.

"You have to say yes when I ask," I said. "But that doesn't mean you're hoping I'll ask."

"Melisa belongs to you. Pull her back!" Doris Alex said harshly.

I looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Brother," she whispered looking down.

"Melisa feels something for Rachel that has nothing to do with me," I said.

Doris Alex slammed her fist on the table and looked out the window.

"Funny," I said. "Part of converting a Sibling is giving them the choice, isn't it? Melisa never had that."

"She made a choice!" Doris Alex insisted.

"When her father put his hands on her, he made a choice. She ran from that to us," I said. "Leave them alone, Sibling. Melisa has choices to make."

"You could lose her," Doris Alex said looking at me hard.

I smiled and touched her face gently.

"And now you'll tell me I could also lose Rachel."

"Rachel is NOT a Sibling."

"If Melisa walks away, she never was either."

I seemed to be the only one that did not take Melisa and Rachel getting closer as a reason to panic. To be fair, Professor Ryan only looked slightly concerned. It was the Siblings whose anxiety grew by leaps and bounds on a daily basis.

I knew Brothers did not let Brothers walk away but the Siblings acted like it was not an option for one of them either.

"Aren't you going to something about Melisa?" Dr. Lawren asked.

I hit dead center at the small of her back with a perfectly placed sting of the crop. I liked that spot on her body; it made her wriggle attractively against her bonds.

I bought the crop and bondage gear myself. I checked it every time I visited for cleanliness. It was her job to make sure they were perfect and ready in case that was what I wanted. I only had to walk out one time when the pieces were slightly out of place in their case; Susan was diligent in her duties after that.

She was handcuffed to a stand in the middle of her living room. I preferred to tie her to the bed but I wanted her fully spread and standing that day.

I placed the crop an inch to the left of center.

"She's supposed to be converting Rachel," she said. "Not the other way around."

An inch to the right.

"Fucking little twit! She doesn't even know how to seduce a non-Sib."

An inch below.

"God! You're not even pissed about it."

An inch above.

"I would have LOVED to fuck you and Jason at the same time."

I placed the crop dead center again. I walked around front and smiled at her a second before bringing the sting of the crop down on her bellybutton. Her eyes burned after that and she cursed me. I stared into her eyes with patience until she silenced.

A half-hour later as the crop caressed her clitoris, she came screaming my name.

"People are talking," Michael said as he led me through the frat house. "The Taus that stayed over the summer are finding the situation fucking funny."

I raised an eyebrow as I turned towards him. The work on the house had gone well. It would definitely be finished by the end of the summer. I was pleased: money did make a difference when you wanted things finished on time. I wondered if I could get in a visit to the sorority house before I went to dinner.

"Want to walk over the Sorority house?" I asked him.

"David, the Greek rumor mill is going ballistic. The Taus are making fun of this whole thing."

"So?"

"David!"

"You really need to get past this fraternity bullshit, Michael. Who gives a shit what the Taus are doing? If I have to think about any one of them specifically, I'm going to dissect him to figure out why I find that particular Tau so fascinating."

Someone laughed behind me. I turned to see a couple of the other fraternity officers standing in the room.

"Don't you guys think this room needs to be bigger?" I asked.

The chapter room was too small I thought; only half the brothers would be able to gather inside.

"Do you know what you're doing, David?" Professor Ryan asked me after class.

Rachel and Melisa had rushed out. They separated the work load for the final project into two sections. I was responsible for one and they were working on the other.

"Yeah, I mean the project is pretty easy compared to the some of the others," I said looking at my notebook.

"I mean with your First," he corrected.

"I didn't think that title would apply anymore," I said curiously.

"A First is always a First, Brother," he said with a warm smile of remembrance.

I nodded.

"Melisa's not a normal Sibling," he said carefully. "Like I've told you, she might need special handling. I wish the Siblings had found a way to indoctrinate her without involving other Brothers. It really would have been the best of all worlds."

"I'm not a normal Brother," I said just as carefully.

He nodded.

"I think it's better to let Melisa decide whether the white ring is really something she wants to live her life by," I explained.

"You think that's what this is?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," I said honestly. "But that explanation keeps the Sibling buzz to a minimum."

He looked shocked before he broke out into loud laughter.

"Can we take a timeout?" Rachel asked.

I put my book down and nodded.

"What's up with you?" she asked staring at me.

I looked at her confused. I thought she meant for us to take a break from putting our final project together, obviously she meant from our lives.

"I don't get you," she said almost on the verge of anger.

"What's not to get?" I asked even more confused.

"You and Melisa," she clarified for me.

"Ahh..." I said.

I had not expected Rachel to bring it up, especially with Melisa asleep on the couch a few feet from us.

"You're possessive, David," Rachel said studying me. "But you haven't said or done anything and I know Melisa hasn't slept with you since we started... you know."

I smiled and shook my head.

"Fucking!" she said annoyed at me.

"You two are fucking?" I asked with feigned innocence.

"David!"

"Come on, Rachel," I teased. "That's like fantasy number 2. You have to give me time to adjust."

"That's only fantasy number 2?"

"It couldn't be number 1, I'm not involved."

Her teeth clicked as she snapped her mouth shut.

"I thought you felt something for her," she said looking a little hurt by my flippancy.

"Are you really worried that I don't feel something for HER?" I asked before opening my book again.