Chapter 17

With eyes closed, Ed floated in the pool on his back, with arms and legs spread out enjoying the sensation of near weightlessness that the water provided. Kelly and Beth were seated by the pool, drinking a fruit beverage that they called a Smoothie. Earlier, Ed had tasted it and thought it a rather bland drink, preferring his iced tea with just enough sugar to taste the sweetness. Languidly, he moved his arms forcing his body to move through the water at a very slow speed. The water moved over his body massaging it like a gentle hand. He smiled at the whispering touch of the water over his cock and balls. There was no way to get that same sensation by wearing a swim suit.

A slight disturbance at the door didn’t attract his attention to a degree sufficient to open his eyes and see the cause. Kim stood at the door watching Ed in the pool amazed at the total sense of relaxation that he emanated. She glanced over at Beth and Kelly, taking in their naked bodies and how they held hands. A shiver of disgust ran through her body at the demonstration of intimacy between the two women.

When Kelly waved her over to join them, she reluctantly moved in their direction. She sat down in a chair that was far enough away from them that she could hide her disgust and close enough that she wasn’t being rude. The last thing she wanted was to chase away Ed because she couldn’t get along with those two Lesbians. Even the thought of that word bothered her.

In a friendly voice, Kelly said, “Make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink? We’re having Strawberry Smoothies and Ed is having iced tea. We have all kinds of soft drinks in the mini-refrigerator.”

Tensing at the suggestion to make herself comfortable, Kim interpreted it as an invitation to get naked so that the Lesbians could drool over her body. Instead of becoming more relaxed, she sat up straighter with a body language that conveyed her displeasure. She answered, “No thank you. I’m fine.”

Kelly and Beth exchanged frowns at the behavior of their guest. Ed, hearing the conversation, opened his eyes and saw that Kim had arrived. Swimming to the edge of the pool, he said, “Hello, Kim. Are you sure that you wouldn’t like something to drink?”

Having committed herself to a course of action, she felt it would create a problem to change now. In a warmer voice, she answered, “Yes, I’m sure. Thank you anyway.”

Smiling at her, Ed said, “Would you like to take a swim?”

“I’d rather not get undressed in front of those two Lesbians,” she replied. Even as the words left her mouth, she knew that she had made a major mistake. She realized that she had just delivered a horrible insult to all three of them.

Fully expecting an angry response, she was shocked by the sad tone of voice in which Beth replied, “Oh, you poor woman. I feel so sorry for you.”

With an extremely sad expression on her face, Kelly said, “It’s such a shame that a young woman like yourself has such a limited concept of love. I truly hope that you understand some day.”

In total agreement with his wives, Ed added, “Maybe one day you will meet someone that can teach you the truth about what it means to love.”

She felt like she understood the relationship here very well. These women were willing to let her have sex with their husband because they didn’t want to be bothered to take care of a man. Kim turned to him and, with anger that was all out of proportion to what was called for, asked, “How can you defend these dykes? You must be so horny being married to women that won’t sleep with a man!”

Her question prompted laughter on the part of all three. He replied, “My God, I’m in here recovering from getting double teamed by them. I couldn’t get it up now if my life depended on it.”

Kelly asked, “What made you think that we don’t have sex with our husbands?”

Laughing so hard that she could hardly stay in the chair, Beth said, “My goodness, you really don’t understand.”

Puzzled by that reaction, Kim asked, “You do have sex with each other, right?”

“Of course,” replied Kelly as if there couldn’t be any other answer that made sense.

“Almost every day,” answered Beth while sharing a caring look at her wife. She added, “I also have sex with John and Ed every day that they are here.”

“Lesbians don’t have sex with men!” countered Kim as though she had proven some point. Again an anger rose within her that she didn’t understand.

Ed said, “Well, I guess that means that they aren’t Lesbians.”

Furious that Ed didn’t understand the perversion that sat in the same room with him, Kim screamed, “Real women don’t have sex with women. Only Lesbians have sex with women. Only Lesbians force young girls to have sex with women!”

Her outburst had opened doors that had long been locked. Memories of a vile aunt that had abused her when she was much younger flooded back. Months of beatings had been followed by a year of serving as a pussy slave to her aunt and her aunt’s circle of perverted friends. She knew from personal experience that there was nothing loving about sex between women.

It was her Grandfather that had rescued her from that life of hell. He had healed her and, more importantly, protected her from the predation of her aunt. She knew that men loved women and treated them with respect. Sex between a man and a woman was glorious and loving. Sex between women was hateful. Women tortured each other sexually and only a Lesbian would enjoy that kind of thing.

Kelly and Beth looked at each other, neither knowing how to comfort the woman. Any sign of affection would be interpreted as a violence against her. The two of them looked at Ed. For the first time, they had an insight into the kind of obstacles he had faced in rescuing those damsels in distress. Even if it was John that rescued them, it was Ed that comforted and healed them.

Ed stayed in the pool, realizing that exposing her to any intimate embrace would make her feel vulnerable in front of his wives. She would cling to him expecting him to chase away the women and that was the worst thing that he could do for her. All he could do was watch her with concern as the tears ran down her face. Facing inner the demons that had been planted in her when she was young was something that she had to do for herself.

It felt like an eternity had passed before she recovered enough to look around. She saw the trembling lips and tears in the eyes of Beth and Kelly as they shared her pain. They were holding hands tightly, sharing their sadness and their strength to overcome. If she hadn’t known that they had sex with each other, she would have been happy at their support. In her confused state, she saw their actions as guilt.

The only noise in the room came from the water lapping against the edge of the pool as the implications of what Kim had said sunk in. In a voice that was so soft that it wouldn’t normally be heard, Ed said, “Only monsters force children to have sex. Only monsters take pleasure out of ripping the innocence out of the innocent. There are monsters of both genders. There are no monsters in this house that will harm you. You are safe here.”

She stared at him wondering how he could say that when he lived with two Lesbians. She had looked to him to chase away the women, but he had allowed them to stay. On their rock hunting expedition, she had watched him care for a drunk and change the man. If he could do that for a total stranger, why couldn’t he do it for her? She felt betrayed by him. If she could have stood, she would have run out of the room.

In a voice perhaps more quiet than Ed’s, Kelly said, “Believe him, Kim. He and John are the greatest monster hunters in the world.”

Beth said, “They have hunted down serial killers, rapists, white slavers, and other criminals. Thousands of people have been saved by them.”

To hear himself described as a monster hunter amused Ed. Mental images of him as a vampire hunter armed with cross and stake threatened to make him laugh, but the situation was too serious for that. He said, “You think I have betrayed you because I haven’t chased the wicked Lesbians from the room.”

The fact that he echoed her thoughts grabbed her attention. He continued, “I haven’t chased them away because they aren’t monsters. They would never hurt you. I know that you don’t believe me when I tell you that, but it’s the truth. You also won’t believe me when I say that lesbians are real women that have found it easier to love other women than to love men. They aren’t evil, just human beings looking for someone to love who can love them back.”

With a bitterness that was cutting, Kim said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t know what you are talking about.”

Wishing that John was here, Ed slowly climbed out of the pool. The total relaxation of his swim was replaced by a pensiveness that was almost painful. His naked body dripped water on the floor of the pool room. He walked over to where the towels were kept and dried himself and then wrapped the towel around his waist to cover his privates. As he did that, Beth left the room. It was several minutes later that she returned wearing a bathrobe and handed another one to Kelly. Kelly slipped the robe on and then walked to the other side of the pool. While they were arranging the chairs so that they were directly across the pool from Kim, Ed got on the telephone and requested that Bob come to the pool room.

Kim watched the activity with confusion and then looked to Ed for clarification. Holding up a hand to prevent discussion, Ed went around the pool to engage in a whispered conversation with Beth and Kelly. She was startled when another man entered the room and took a chair at the far end of the pool.

Walking around the pool to Kim, Ed said, “There are some things that I do not talk about because I find them extremely painful. I know that you don’t trust Kelly and Beth so I have asked them to sit on the other side of the pool from you while they tell you some things that I have seen. I have asked Bob to sit at the end of the pool to act as a moderator. I will leave you with them, but I will be close enough so that if you call out I can return. Listen to what they have to say.”

Trembling at the idea of being left alone with the two women, Kim said, “Please stay here.”

Holding out his medallion, he said, “Touch this and you will know the truth of what I say.”

Although she had not noticed the medallion around his neck until that moment, she remembered what had happened when Harry had touched it. Trembling with fear, she reached out and touched the medallion. As she did, he said, “You are safe here. They will tell you the truth and you can believe what they say.”

A warm feeling of total safety flooded through her. It reminded her of the safety that she felt in the arms of her Grandfather. She felt the power of the medallion as it emphasized the truth of his words. She nodded and said, “I will do this.”

Ed left the room, looking back at her once before leaving the room. Outside his energy left him as he sagged against the wall and slid down to sit upon the floor. He could hear everything that was said inside, the distance between the participants in the discussion forced them to speak louder than normally.

He listened as Beth said, “Ed has rescued many damsels in distress. In fact, he has saved so many young women that we kid him about it.”

Interrupting, Kelly said, “I think we should tell his story from his first rescue and proceed in chronological order.”

Sitting outside, he couldn’t see the expressions and gestures that accompanied the discussion. It surprised him that they started with the earthquake in California since he hadn’t viewed himself as rescuing any damsels. However, listening to them tell the story, he had calmed down the kids rescued from the fire, the women traumatized by the destruction around her, and had served as a model for other men to emulate. They did give much of credit for that to John, but he felt that they had overstated his role.

He could hear the gasps from Kim as she learned about the amputation murderer and the white slavers. They didn’t spare any details about the nature of the monsters they had caught nor what they had done to their victims. The discussion painted a very clear picture of good versus evil with Ed and John serving the good.

The time passed slowly until the pair reached the story of the victim that had been held in the convenience store. They included that he had taken care of the mother as well as the daughter. They told how he had detailed to the mother and daughter how they were to act with the police, giving them a sense of control over the situation.

The picture that they painted was of a man that knew evil when he saw it and that it was not possible to mislead him. He was shocked when they described his service to the Gods and Goddesses. They told how he had been blessed with the ability to always know the truth when presented with statements. The real surprise is when they said that he didn’t necessarily know how people felt about him, and that it was the one blind spot that he had.

In the end, Kim knew they told the truth, but still couldn’t accept it in a way that would help her conquer her demons. She said, “I hear what you say and know you believe that it’s true, but I’m having a hard time accepting it.”

Kelly said, “Bob, could you call Ling and ask her to bring my scrapbook? I give her permission to use the security override.”

Kim watched nervously as Bob went to the phone and made a call. Once he was finished on the phone, he stood next to the door for Ling to arrive.

Ling arrived after a minute and looked down at Ed. There was no rational situation that she could identify that would explain his position in the hall. She asked, “What is going on?”

Ed answered, “They are helping someone heal.”

Entering the door, she looked at Kelly. In a very business oriented tone of voice, she asked, “Do I have your permission to use the security override?”

Negligently, Kelly replied, “Yes, you do. The scrapbook is in the drawer of my desk upstairs in the study.”