Chapter 33

Ken woke only an hour later. Jane and Ari were asleep, but someone was up on the mansion grounds. He put on some shorts, then padded outside into the cool night air. As he had already known, the Garden wasn't empty. Eric was there.

"You OK?" he asked.

The big man started and turned. "Sorry, I didn't hear you. Yeah, I'm fine."

Ken sat on a bench and said, "You don't sound fine. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Eric was silent for a moment, then said, "Things have been a little weird, you know? I mean, sometimes I doubt that all this is happening, and sometimes it's like I've lived it all my life. And Sally. She's changed. But she's the same too." He paused, then went on. "It's freakin' me out a bit. I mean, she's the same woman that I've loved for years, but she's also become my... I don't know, my fantasy woman? It's like I don't need to say anything to her about what I want, she just knows it. The sex has been great, hell the sex has been almost unbearably intense, and I love her more than ever. But there's a part of her that I can't seem to touch, as weird as that sounds. Like we're closer than ever, but farther apart, too."

Ken nodded. Lea had warned him that she would have to approve of any wife that he wanted. Ken was beginning to see a graphic example of why. "Tell me," he said, "have you thought about what it might mean to become part of the Circle?"

"You mean swear myself to this Goddess?"

"Yeah," replied Ken.

"Constantly. It's all I've been thinking about. But it's a big decision, ya know? It seems like it should take years to decide."

"I see," replied Ken with a smile. "You mean, years of study in some monastery, years of denial and sacrifice so that you can focus solely on your religion, learning the deeper truths of your God?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds a bit pompous, but yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"I do not require that sort of dedication from my Priests," said Lea.

Eric almost jumped out of his skin, but Ken had felt Her presence as She arrived. "If you wall yourself off from life, from other people, how can you experience them? How can you guide and advise them, if that is your goal?" She turned to Ken, kissed him and smiled. "Kenneth, you taste of Jane. I like that." Her smile grew and She said, "You are torturing my High Priestess."

"Yes, I am."

"She is enjoying it a great deal. I'm glad you are seeing to her needs, as she grows sad when she is ignored." Lea turned back to Eric. "Not everything in life has to be hard. Not everything is about sacrifice and denial." She approached the man, her elegant form dwarfed by his. "What more proof do you need for your... scientific... mind? Your heart, I can already feel, wants to join us. It is only your brain that cannot accept."

Eric was silent, and Ken knew that Lea was purposefully throttling down Her presence, so as not to overwhelm him. If She didn't, he knew that Eric would be on his knees begging to serve Her in an instant, but that was not Her way.

"I'm afraid," he almost whispered.

"I understand. I do not fit with your knowledge of this science that you worship." She smiled at him, then stretched on tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "Think on this, then: Where is the science in love?" With that She was gone, and Ken and Eric were alone.

"Well, I'm for bed," said Ken. "You might be interested to know," he continued, "that Lea first appeared to me twenty-three days ago."

Ken left Eric there, but passed Sally in the study. They shared a smile, and she went to her husband and he... he went to his wives.

The next morning found Ken in bed alone. Jane was still sleeping deeply at the foot of the bed, despite her rather uncomfortable position. She was awake when he got out of the bathroom, though. Ken unclipped her ankles, put a regular collar around her neck, attached a leash and pulled her to her feet. Then he unclipped her wrists and said, "You may brush your teeth, and that's all you may do. Then come down stairs."

She still had welts on her skin, and he could feel she was sore as hell, but her body was buzzing with sexual energy. He watched as she entered the bathroom and grabbed a tooth brush, his, of course, and put tooth paste on it. There was a loud moan just as he turned to leave the room, and he looked back. Lea was in the bathroom behind Jane, a nipple bar in each finger, pulling hard. He left his Goddess to play with Her High Priest and went downstairs. It wasn't easy, as his solid cock could testify. Jane took a few more minutes than expected to make it downstairs, surprise, surprise. Ari, Eric and Sally were all awake and in the breakfast nook. Arianwen and Sally were naked, and Ari was wearing a collar.

"Good Morning, Master Ken," said Sally. "There's French toast and bacon here. I can make you something else, if you'd prefer."

"Nope, this sounds wonderful," he replied as Ari flowed into his arms for a good morning kiss. She tasted of maple syrup and smelled fresh and clean.

"How are you this morning, love?" he asked.

Her reply was another grin and another kiss, this one a bit more heated.

"I'm looking forward to the party tonight, Master," she said.

"Yeah," said Eric, "she's been driving us completely crazy this morning."

Ari had insinuated her way onto Ken's lap while he tried to eat, much like a house cat would. Ken liked cats, but had to admit that having the slim, nude teen on his lap was much more fun. She seemed content to have him reach around her to eat. Especially when some syrup landed on her chest, and he licked it off.

"Did you sleep well?" Ken asked Eric and Sally.

"Yup," said Sally with a big grin.

Hmmm, her thoughts said that while they had slept well, it hadn't been for long. Sally had kept Eric pretty busy in the Garden after Lea left. She was loving the fact that she was able to know when Christine needed her, no matter where she was in the house, because it freed her for other things. Plus, they were blessed with a child who actually kept regular hours.

Eric was quite happy, but in need of sleep. He didn't have the same kind of stamina that the Circle did and was thinking of a nap by the pool. "Yes," Eric smiled. He felt more at peace than he'd been the last several days. Ken saw that Eric was ready to join them and smiled at that.

"I see you've given your situation some thought," he said.

Eric looked surprised, but then nodded. "Yeah. Lea's a convincing person. Goddess. Whatever."

Jane made her appearance, her hands once again cuffed behind her. Her eyes were dilated, and Ken could see that Lea had tapped off a lot of the energy that Jane had been building up. None of the sexual frustration or need, but lots of energy. Jane knelt by the side of Ken's chair, and he noticed she smelled very strongly of sex. No surprise there.

"You OK?"

"Yes, Master. Lea can be... very intense." He noticed that all the marks on her body had been healed, but her emotions and thoughts said they could still be felt. Interesting. Jane noticed his look and said, "Mistress said that you'd most likely want a clean canvas to paint on tonight."

Trust Lea to pick up on that. Ken had been planning on seeing how much energy it would take to heal her, but now that was unnecessary.

"Ari, your sister-slave is hungry. Why don't you feed her something?" remarked Ken.

"Oh yes Master," smiled Ari. The first thing she fed Jane was her tongue. "Mmm, I can taste someone on you? Is it Lea?"

"Yes," replied Jane with a slight shudder.

"Oo," said Sally, "I want a taste!"

She bounced out of her chair and embraced Jane, their large, full breasts rubbing against each other. Ken and Eric certainly enjoyed the sight of the women kissing. They also enjoyed watching Sally and Ari feeding Jane breakfast. They were pretty sloppy, and Jane's breasts were often the target of heated syrup.

Ken excused himself from the table to make the phone calls he needed make. He told them that neither Jane nor Ari were allowed to cum, and that Ari should consider herself at Eric and Sally's disposal. Jane was to be given a pad to kneel on by the pool. Eric was quite pleased by that, since she was a fetching sight. He no longer felt the need for a nap, mainly because Sally had started feeding him some of the energy she'd collected. Interesting, thought Ken, that she had picked up on a way to do that.

Ken managed to get hold of everyone about the party tonight. He got a surprise when he called Bill, though.

"Hey Bill, how ya doing?" he asked.

"Good," he replied. "Actually, great! I have today off, and finals are over for the moment. Of course, I'm taking summer classes, but they haven't started yet."

Bill, thought Ken, was a very cheerful guy. Hmmm.

"Anything else going on?"

Bill hesitated for a moment, then said, "Ummm, yes. There was something that I wanted to talk about."

"OK. But don't let me forget to tell you about the party tonight."

"Cool. Yeah, um, it's actually about me and um, well, I kinda hooked up with someone," said Bill.

"Hey, that's great! Anyone I know?" asked Ken thinking that Sandy was the most likely candidate.

"Uh, yeah, actually. Genie."

"Really?" exclaimed Ken, totally surprised. He hadn't seen that coming. "Excellent!"

"You're not annoyed or anything?"

"Hell, no! I think it's great. You should both come tonight. I haven't been able to get hold of her at the office, but..."

"She's actually here," said Bill.

"Oh, is she? Tell her I said hi," grinned Ken.

"I will. She's a bit tied up at the moment," chuckled Bill. Now that he knew that Ken wasn't upset about him and Genie, he'd loosened up a bit.

No way, thought Ken. This couldn't be a better lead in. "I'll bet she's enjoying herself."

"Yup. I've got a lot to learn, but she's been very willing to help out."

Ken chuckled, "That's very considerate of her. Speaking of which, about this party..."

Ken told him what kind of party it was going to be, and Bill seemed very, very eager to attend. He agreed to come for both of them, but said that he'd talk to Genie when she wasn't so preoccupied, to make sure she was up for it. They hung up, and Ken got hold of Sandy.

She seemed very happy to hear from him, and he apologized for being out of touch. He chided her for not dropping by, which was how he found out that she'd been on her period. He explained that it didn't bother him in the slightest, and he doubted that Jane would care either. Sandy was a very happy camper when she found that out, because that was when she was the most horny. He explained about the party tonight.

"It sounds like fun, although," she said, "I'm not really into being whipped and stuff." Her voice lowered to a whisper, and she said, "I might like rope thing though -- I don't know."

"We can provide plenty of that," replied Ken. As he'd mentioned to Bill, he told Sandy that she could stay the night, or not. They had plenty of room.

More calls to Lenny about various matters, and another to Ellen reminding her what time they should show up. After that, he was off to a dealership for more vehicles.

This time he wanted fairly plain, workhorse vehicles, and so ended up getting a pretty good deal when he bought a Ford F350 and a windowless van. The dealership was happy as well and would have them delivered to the estate on Monday. Next, he stopped in to check on another car he'd ordered at a different dealership. It was ready for delivery and, wonder of wonders, they'd be able to deliver it on Sunday. Considering how much he'd paid for the thing -- it was souped up and tricked out as much as the dealer could make it -- it was the least they could do. Finally, at just about 1pm, he returned to the house. Eric and Arianwen had gone to get some last minute food, and Gary had left a message that he'd be there by three to set things up.