Chapter 30

A Rose by any other name would taste as sweet.
- Bill S.

While Rose might have beaten me to answering the door, I still stood up and headed to the foyer to greet my guest.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was Chad's house," I heard the familiar voice say.

"Yeah, it is. Come in, come in," a surprised Rose replied.

As I entered the foyer, I said, "Thanks for coming by on such short notice, Erin."

Erin gave me a bemused smile as Rose and I escorted her into the living room. "You've got a cool pad," Erin commented.

I shrugged and showed Erin to the couch. I sat down in a chair, and after Erin politely declined anything to drink from Rose, the redhead gave me an inquisitive look. I tilted my head towards the couch, and Rose joined Erin.

"You live here, too?" Erin asked Rose.

Nodding, Rose grinned and said, "I'm the maid."

I just rolled my eyes at Rose's response. Despite my repeated protests, she considered herself my maid first and foremost. Erin matched her grin and said, "Mmm. I wouldn't mind seeing you wearing a low-cut French maid outfit."

Rose let out a chuckle and said, "Only on the weekends do I wear that. Plus, you can only look, but not touch; otherwise, my girlfriend will get jealous."

"Ah. Was she the pretty girl that was sitting on the other side of you at the basketball game?" When Rose nodded, Erin then asked, "Cool. You two monogamous?"

"So far, but we have somebody in mind if we ever want to try a ménage à trois." Rose then shifted her gaze from Erin and focused on me. The wink I received from the redhead made me really wonder if she was serious or was just playing around.

My reaction caused Erin to chuckle. She then turned her attention back to Rose, "I'm sorry, I don't usually flirt with people when I don't know their name. I remember it was after a flower. Was it Violet?"

"Rose!" the redhead vehemently exclaimed. Erin recoiled, but Rose was quick to apologize. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to shout. It's just that is my mom's name..."

As Rose voice trailed off, I filled in our confused guest. "We prefer not to mention the individual who gave birth to Rose in this house," I stated with pointed gravity.

Erin nodded in understanding. "I doubt I'll ever forget your name again, Rose," Erin said, earning a weak smile from her.

Saving my friend from any further embarrassment, I stood and said, "Perhaps I had better show you the reason why I invited you over."

Erin agreed and stood up. I caught the look Rose gave me and nodded my head slightly, so she stood up as well. Erin smiled and asked me, "You sure Rose isn't one of your Subs? She seems to respond well to your nonverbal commands."

"Nope, just a well-trained maid," answered Rose with a smile. I did not know if Erin's comment was so intended, but it seemed to lighten Rose's mood.

As I lead the two young women towards the closet underneath the staircase, the sound of the garage door being opened could be heard. "Mrs. Caspar's home," observed Rose.

"Quick, should I know her name? Did I meet her at the basketball game?" Erin asked Rose.

Rose giggled and replied, "No, you didn't meet her. She's Lori and Traci's mother."

Erin arched an eyebrow at me and asked, "How many women do you have living here, Chad?"

"Just Rose, Traci, Lori, and Marge."

"Got room for one more?" Erin joked.

It was my turn to raise my eyebrow. Erin chuckled and replied, "Remember when I told you I ended a long-term relationship? What I failed to mention was that the two of us are still living together, and let's just say that the past few months have not been too pleasant."

Nodding, I asked, "Would you like to meet Marge?"

"Sure," Erin replied. "That wouldn't be Marge spelled with a small 'M', would it?" she asked with a grin as we entered the kitchen. When Marge came in, she said hello to Rose and me. Spotting Erin, Marge greeted the black-haired woman with a warm grin.

"You must be Erin," Marge said, holding out her hand. "It is a pleasure to finely meet you."

Erin blinked and quickly moved to shake the offered hand. "I guess my reputation precedes me," Erin joked

Rose was the only one in the room who did not notice Marge stroking her thumb on Erin's hand before releasing the handshake. With as much flirting as Erin had been receiving from my friends, I was beginning to worry that she might think that we were all a bunch of sex-crazed maniacs.

"No, you just match Chad and my daughter's description of you. That is, unless Chad brought home yet another lovely girl."

I rolled my eyes at the look that Marge gave me. "We were going downstairs. Care to join us?" I asked.

I was in for another surprise when Marge nodded her head. She had declined such invitations in the past. I led the three ladies to the closet, but Rose wanted to be the one to open the hidden door. I turned on the lights and waited until all three had descended before starting the tour.

"Welcome to the Dungeon. I know, I know. It is a rather weak name, but it will have to do for now." I saw a look of disappointment in Erin's face, so I quickly added, "Trust me, there is a lot more to this room than you initially see."

That seemed to pique Erin's interest, so I continued. "This area here," I said, sweeping my arm to indicate the twenty-four by eighteen foot room, "is the Entry Dungeon. Its main function is as a softcore area."

Erin had spotted something on the table that was in the northwest corner and had moved to inspect it. She picked up one of six identical dildos and said, "Nice, but I'm pretty sure we don't sell this model. You buy it from the internet?"

Marge's eyes widened in recognition, but it was Rose who answered her with a grin, "No, that there is one of a kind."

Erin was puzzled at first, since all six looked the same, but then she caught on. "Ah, a do-it-yourself kit. Cool." I noticed her glancing at my crotch before asking, "Kinda cocky, ain't ya? But why so many?"

I knew my first impression of Erin had been correct: she was a delightful person. Her pun just reinforced my opinion of her. Since Rose seemed so eager to reveal the entrance, I made eye contact with her and gestured to the west wall. The redhead nodded and went to a bullwhip that was hanging in just about the center. Not removing it from its holder, Rose grabbed the handle and twisted. After it had rotated ninety degrees, she pulled, revealing a secret door.

"Cool beans," Erin said and the three of us went to join Rose in the newly discovered room.

Rose had been kind enough to turn on the lights when she entered and I explained, "This here is the prop room. As you can see, the walls are lined with clothes racks for different outfits. I also plan to keep the fucking machines in here, but so far I just have a Sybian and an Intruder."

"And if you're going to use a machine, might as well use something that the recipient is familiar with," Erin said with a chuckle. She grew a little serious when she said, "Those things can be expensive."

I smiled and said, "Slave is well worth it, but you are right, they do cost a pretty penny. If I had access to a machine shop, I'm sure I could build most of them myself, but right now I'm having to rely on the internet. You know of any suppliers?"

Erin thought for a moment before answering, "Yeah, I think I might be able to get ahold of some cheaper than what you'll find online."

"Coolio. Well, since there are no more secret doors in this room, let's go back to the Entry Dungeon." Actually, the secret door to the panic room was behind a mirror on the west wall, but only I (and the government) knew about that.

When we re-entered the softcore room, Rose headed to the north wall, but I cleared my throat to get her attention. She then diverted her route and went to the east wall. She took a red, studded collar off a hook and then tilted the hook up. Pulling on it caused a section of the wall to swing inward.

Once again, Rose entered the room and turned on the lights for us. "This is the Boudoir," I explained once we were all in the room. "I plan on having a king-sized bed in the south-east corner and a dressing counter along the wall to the bathroom."

Marge and Erin went over to see the bathroom, and when they returned, Marge asked, "You do the plumbing yourself?"

I shook my head. "Nope, the bathroom was already down here. From what I can tell, the previous owners had set up a spare bedroom down here or something. Perhaps it was used as an emergency shelter. All I did was to change the regular doors into concealed ones. Anyhow, this area is mainly for role-playing and such."

"Maybe I could move in down here," joked Erin.

"Maybe after I get to know you better," I replied with a smile.

Actually, I had learned quite a bit about Erin over the past week. She was the youngest daughter of Eric and Pam Vroom of Windsor, California. While it appeared that the Vrooms were not Baptist, Erin had attended the Windsor Christian Academy, the only private school in Windsor. That school only went up to the Eighth grade, so she then transferred to a nonsectarian private high school in Santa Rosa. Erin had been active in youth and school sports up until her sophomore year of high school, at which point she stopped. It was also during the middle of her sophomore year that she was transferred from the private school to the public one in Windsor.

A week after she graduated from high school, she moved down to San Luis Obispo and lived in a motel room for a month until she found an apartment. During that summer, she worked at three part-time jobs, but reduced it down to one, the Diamond Adult Bookstore, when she attended Cuesta Community College in the fall. She attended Cuesta for one-and-a-half years before transferring into the Engineering Department at Cal Poly last year.

Erin also appeared to be self-reliant. Unlike her siblings, it appeared that she was paying for her own school and housing. Her parents were rather affluent: her mother being a professor at U.C. Berkeley, and her father owning a small business. It also appeared that there was no contact between Erin and the rest of her family. She had been living alone up until ten months ago, when Giolla Bond, nineteen, moved in with her. Erin's landlord had informed me that she always paid the rent on time and that she was a wonderful tenant. Erin's credit rating was also unblemished.