Chapter 18

One would think that one would get used to having naked women around all the time, mused Ken as he watched his wife's sleek form moving across the kitchen. One would be wrong.

Jane was just stunning to watch move. Like a big, lazy cat, very sleek and sexy. Her large breasts had just enough sway, and her clit piercing occasionally glinted between her thighs. Yup, his cock could attest to how attractive she was.

She was also a terror on the practice floor. Actually, all of the Circle were. It was like they drank in every move that Ken showed them, and were able to mimic it almost effortlessly. Of course, just being able to copy a martial arts technique didn't mean much. You needed to be able to use them, as well, and Ken's infrequent, quickly-healing bruises would attest to the fact that they were becoming quite adept at using what he was teaching them. Still, he occasionally worried. They only had sparred with other Circle people, aside from Gary, and it was a little different. For one thing, there was less worry about actually hurting someone, even Gary, because they could heal him quickly -- as had happened when Annette broke Gary's nose with a mistimed blow. Almost before he had registered the pain, Annette had been right there, her power flowing into her husband, stopping the blood and knitting the bone. She hadn't been able to heal all of it, but Ken had provided the extra energy needed to heal the bone.

Still, sparring and using this stuff for real were very different, and while he hoped that it would never happen, he had to acknowledge that, at some point, one of them might have to defend themself. Soon, he knew, he'd have to find them another teacher. Not because he couldn't teach them the moves, but because he wasn't sure he was giving them the correct attitude to go along with the techniques. Sensei, he knew, would be able to do that. He wondered what the man would charge (assuming he'd even do it at all) to teach them once a week. At least Sensei had hinted that Arianwen could come to him for training, which was something. However, Ken knew he wasn't an instructor, and Sensei would have every right to toss his ass on the street once he found out what Ken was doing.

Well, it hadn't been that long... perhaps if he got Sensei in there sooner rather than later, whatever screw-ups he'd shown them could be corrected. In fact, now that he thought about it, rather than putting this off, he'd better confront his own teacher, ASAP.

Arianwen and Genie came downstairs, Ari heading immediately to the coffee pot. Unlike Jane, Ari was used to getting up early, but the teen loved her coffee. Ken watched his diminutive wife kiss her wife, then come over to him and give him a sweet kiss. As she sipped her coffee, she insisted on a place in his lap and snuggled close.

"Morning, love," he said.

"Mmm," she purred.

Ken was unsure whether she was purring about the coffee or him, but didn't really care. She purred again as he gently massaged her shoulders. Ah, another beautiful morning at the Mansion.

"Master," said Jane, "will we be doing anything for the full moon?"

"Don't know," he replied. "I mean, we just had a very large ritual."

"True," she replied, "but it's nice to celebrate the full moon, even if we only get together for a short while."

"I don't have any objections to it," said Ken. "Did you want just Circle, or did you have others in mind?"

"Actually," she said, "I was thinking of seeing if maybe we could get Bill interested."

Bill had attended the last ritual, but Ken thought that it had been because his wife-to-be had convinced him to do it. On the other hand, Lea's ritual kiss was enough to peg anyone's meter, and perhaps Bill would be interested in trying again.

"Should we ask Genie?" asked Ken.

"Might not be a bad idea," replied Jane.

"I think he'd love to be included," smiled Genie when Ken brought it up to her later. "He's feeling... a little left out."

"Oh?" asked Ken.

"Yup. I mean, he's not blind, and he does live here. He has a very good feel for who's Circle and who's not. I know he wants to be with us, but I think that he doesn't have any idea how to go about it," she replied.

"Shit," said Ken. "We've been excluding him, haven't we?"

"Not on purpose," said Genie. "But he's living with us, after all, and we're all so tied to each other that I know he feels excluded."

Ken nodded in agreement. Ellen had said as much to him not long ago, minus the exclusion part. But then, she and Kim didn't live at the mansion, either.

"Also, he thinks that this is sort of a Heinleinean group. In those groups, in addition to being brought in because of who you were with and how others felt about you, often people had other things to contribute. "

"Like?" prompted Ken.

"Money, for one. I mean, not really in the Heinlein stories, but in real-life group marriages -- and I know he's been researching this -- people often add their money to the group they're joining. I know that he's worried about that, which is why he's spent so much time with Joan and Lenny. I think that he hopes that, with something to offer other than his relationship with me, he'll be accepted."

Ken was a little disturbed. Inclusion into the Circle had nothing to do with how much money you had. However, Ken could see how someone could come to that conclusion. This would have to be dealt with. No one could buy their way into the Circle, and Bill didn't have to. The man was close to being Circle, but yet so far away. Why was that, Ken wondered? Was it his devotion to logic? What did he really think of the rituals? If he thought they were a bunch of bullshit, then why would he be interested in coming to another one, as Genie said he was? This was something he really needed to find out.

He found Bill lounging by the pool. Well, Bill's version of lounging, anyway. That meant that the laptop was right nearby, and Bill was typing away. When Ken saw what was on the screen, all it looked like was lines of text. Until he looked a little closer, that is. Then he noticed that the text looked like something out of the Matrix movie. However, he knew if he got Bill started on a technical conversation, he might not get to the heart of what he wanted to talk about.

"How's it going?" asked Ken as he sat down.

"Good, good," replied Bill in a distracted tone of voice.

Ken sighed. Sometimes he wondered how this guy could keep the interest of a Priestess. They didn't, after all, come equipped with keyboards.

"We're having another ritual on he eleventh," ventured Ken. "You interested?"

The typing stopped, and Bill peered at Ken.

"What do you mean by 'interested?'"

Ken chuckled. "As in, would you like to attend it?"

Bill sat back and looked at Ken. "Do you have any idea just how smart Tina is? Or Genie?"

Ken blinked at the non sequitur.

"I know that they are both very bright."

"Hmm. Did you know that they are both convinced that they are worshiping a real Goddess? As in one you can see and touch?" asked Bill.

"Yes."

"Do you believe this Goddess exists?"

"Yes, I do," replied Ken.

Bill nodded. "So does everyone else in the Circle." He chuckled at Ken's look. "I'm not deaf, you know, and I do realize that you've got a Wiccan variant going on here. I've know a fair number of people who were Wiccan, although I'd have to class most of the ones I've met as 'crystal worshiping fluff bunnies'. No one here falls into that category."

"What category do you fall into?" asked Ken.

"Well," said Bill, "I have a real hard time believing that any being that created the whole universe would want us to worship it."

Ken remained silent, since it was obvious that Bill had more to say.

"On the other hand, that doesn't mean that there aren't other forms of life that are, or have aspects of, a God or Goddess. Perhaps created by life rather than creating it," continued Bill. "Or perhaps having a symbiotic relationship with their worshipers, each part receiving something from the other, making a more complete whole."

Ken swallowed. It sounded to him like Bill had just defined the nature of the Circle. Here he had come to Bill to get his feelings on ritual and the Circle, and Bill had just given Ken a whole new way of looking at things. Surely, it couldn't be as simple as what Bill described, could it? Oddly, he could sense Lea's mirth in the back of his mind.

Nope, nothing that simple could possibly involve Lea.

"So tell me," said Ken, "how have you felt since moving in here?"

Now it was Bill's turn to blink as he tried to follow where Ken was going.

"I don't understand," said Bill.

"Do a little research. See if you can find out how often a man can cum in a day. An average guy, mind you, not the inflated BS that people like to spout. Ask Arianwen; she's into bio and could point you to some interesting sites, I'm sure," grinned Ken. "Also, think about the last time you biked. Were you out of breath? How hard did you push yourself when you rode and how did you feel when you finished?"

Ken leaned a little closer and said, "How much sleep have you been getting now-a-days, Bill, versus how much time you spend doing research for whatever it is you're working on so hard? Think about all of that. Then, let me know if you'd like to come to the ritual."

Bill looked up at Ken as he stood, saying nothing. Ken could see that he'd given the man something to think about.

As usual, class was fun. As usual, Chad was an asshole. Ken had no idea why the guy didn't like him, but it was clear by now, even to Sensei, that Chad was simply not able to overcome whatever his problem was.

Ken didn't let that stop him from learning in the classes. Regaining old skills was important to him, and his years of training had returned very quickly. Sensei was, if anything, an even better instructor than his old mentor, and while he didn't show favoritism during the normal classes, Sensei did tend to spend a lot of time with Ken during the advanced class on Friday. Since Ken was the only white-belt in the advanced class, people did look at him kind of funny. Wearing a white belt in that class really made him stand out. Ken knew that he would not don another belt without Sensei's approval, and Sensei had said nothing to him about testing for his next level.

He did think it was a little odd that Sensei had not asked him to test on anything yet. The man had run him through, in one way or another, every technique up to and including black-belt level, some of them very advanced, indeed. Ken never had a problem with them, but knew, deep down, that he was not able to emulate Sensei's control of his Chi. Maybe that was why Sensei was not testing him. That was fine with Ken; he was there to learn, not buy a belt.

The first time Ken had fought Sensei had been after he'd defeated every other student in the Friday class, even at four at a time. He'd been in the zone that day. But Sensei had used his own Chi to disrupt Ken's movements and had easily defeated him. It was a lesson that Ken had taken to heart. At least lately, Ken found that he could sort of feel what the other man had done, if not emulate it. Sparring with the other students, he won some and lost some, but when he lost, it was usually because he stopped relying on his physical abilities, which were considerable, and tried to feel the flow of the fight the way Sensei had. Sometimes it worked, but far more often it did not. The only person he didn't do that with was Chad, since if he wasn't watching every second, he knew the asshole would 'accidentally' throw a punch and damage something. While that wasn't a real problem and he could heal a lot of damage quickly, he just didn't see the need to let Chad get the upper hand. He wondered if the man noticed that he was the only person Ken never lost to.

After class, Ken decided to try and approach Sensei. Arianwen had shown up, which was rare now since his wives were sure he was over his problems with being back in the arts. She walked up just after Ken had gotten Sensei's attention.

"Hi, Ari," said Ken, leaning down to give her a kiss.

She returned it with interest, despite Ken's somewhat feeble attempt, to keep it rather chaste.

She gave Sensei a huge smile, and he took her hand, lightly kissing the back.

"And how," he asked Ken while looking at Ari, "is your student doing?"

Ken was so startled that he said nothing.

"Even at this stage, it shows in her walk," smiled the man.

Ari, of course, had no idea what the hell Sensei meant, and so she quipped, "Why Sensei Turcotte, why would you be watching me walk?"

"Because it is a great pleasure," replied the man.

Arianwen actually blushed.

"So, Ken, you had a question?"

"Yes. Actually, Ari dear, could you excuse us for a few?" asked Ken.

"Sure. I just was on my way somewhere else and wanted to stop by to say hi," said Ari.

She kissed Ken again, lightly this time, then to both men's surprise, bowed to Sensei and left. Ken's eyes narrowed. Perhaps the Minx had followed more of that exchange than he'd thought.

"Shall we speak somewhere more private?" asked Sensei.

Ken nodded, and they were soon upstairs in the man's apartment, drinking cold tea.

"How many others have you been training?" asked Sensei in a neutral voice.

Ken sighed. He couldn't tell if the other man was angry because he couldn't get a read on him.

"Four others," he said. "It just sort of happened, actually. I work out every day, and my wife decided to start doing the warm ups with me. One thing led to another, and I ended up with five of them learning from me."

"It is difficult to stop one's wife at times, isn't it?" chuckled Sensei. "I take it your wife knows about Arianwen?"

That confused Ken. "What do you mean?"

Sensei frowned. "Perhaps I misunderstood your relationship with the girl?"

That meaning was clear. Sensei was wondering if Ken's wife Jane knew he was fucking Arianwen.

"Ah," said Ken. "That. It's... complicated, but there is nothing going on that Jane doesn't know about. Arianwen lives with us."