Chapter 38

The phone call had awoken Eddie and Tamara in the early morning hours. Carol had been up, going to the kitchen for a drink, and spotted what she took to be a woman, skulking around the house. She'd dropped to the floor silently and called Eddie immediately.

"Stay down and out of sight," he replied, pulling on a pair of pants as he spoke. "I'll be right there." As he drew on a black concert t-shirt, he began to calm himself. If it was who he expected it to be, being agitated would only make him more likely to do something stupid.

He vaulted over his back fence, moving across the intervening yards at a low, stealthy pace until finally he reached the security fence at the Grimes house. Taking another slow and steady breath, he slid along the fence toward the front of the house, where Carol had spotted the intruder.

As he came around the corner, down near to the ground, he saw her ... and there was no doubt in his mind. The skinny figure was Angie, the stupid slut was at a living room window, carefully working it up. The crowbar she was using didn't worry him so much as the large handgun she had tucked in the back of her pants. If she heard him before he got into position that could make things ... difficult.

Quietly he crept around until he was behind her to the side. The only thing left to do was make his way over the porch railing and it would be over. His teeth were bared in anticipation of the fulfillment of a long-time desire.

After he was in position, there was nothing at all she could do to stop the inevitable ... not even her swinging around and hitting him with the crowbar as hard as she could ... she might break his arm as he blocked her, but that was all. He made his move.

She turned around only at the last minute, so intent was she on the window sill that she missed his reflection until it was too late.

One massive arm shot around her, pinning her arms to her sides. The hand on the end of the other arm covered her mouth as he drew her away from the window.

"Hey Angie," he whispered, "been waitin' for you to try something like this. Glad you finally accommodated me."

He slid her to the ground, putting her on her back, his knees on her arms and sat on her midsection. He let his weight settle on her ... on her waist, driving the pistol into her back ... on her arms, watching her eyes widen as the pain grew.

"I come around that corner and by God, bitch, I was so happy to see that big, bad ol' gun in your pants. I'm gonna give you one chance, one chance only, to convince me you deserve to live ... you understand me? You scream or fuck it up in any way, I'll have you dead and thrown over my shoulder before the echoes die.

"You understand me?"

The hatred in her eyes distracted him from her nod, but it registered on him all the same. He eased some of his weight off her belly and leaned back to take some of the pressure off her arms. Then he took the iron hand that had been clamped over her mouth away, slowly.

"There isn't anything I can say that'll change what you're gonna do to me, is there?" she croaked, fear clogging her throat.

"I don't think so, but I'm wrong at least three or four times a day. This could be one of 'em."

He watched her face, watched the uncertainty become certain, saw her begin to draw in breathe for a scream.

The only sound heard on the porch was the wet, sickening crack of her neck breaking as he torqued her head around on her shoulders far faster and much farther than it was meant to move. He watched the light fade from her eyes.

"So, there are times when being a monster isn't such a terrible thing. Am I right, creature?"

"Shut the fuck up," Eddie murmured under his breath. He heard the sound of footsteps in the living room, heading for the door and he quickly got up. He met Carol as she opened the door.

"Honey, you don't want to come out here."

"Yes I do, Eddie," she replied. "I was sitting by the window, I heard everything."

She walked out on the porch, her large white shirt making her appear ghostlike.

"You got someplace to dump the body?" she asked, her voice hardly more loud than a breath.

"Yeah ... but you probably don't want to know the details."

"You know me better than that, Eddie. Gimme the details."

"Okay, guy I know runs a reptile and alligator farm as a roadside attraction. Big ol' pond full o' gators'll make real short work of her."

"And he's cool with that?"

Eddie looked into her eyes, steady and cold. "Ain't gonna be the first time."

"Good, as long as he's okay with it."

Carol spit on the slowly cooling body at their feet.

"Love you Eddie ... not just for this, but for everything."

"I know ... love you too, Short Stuff."

"Be very careful." She hugged him tightly. "Now if you wouldn't mind, get this piece of shit off my porch."

"Yes ma'am."

The whole way to Hannigan's Reptile Farm Eddie was whistling a happy tune.

Harry awoke in the middle of the night to a sensation he was firmly convinced was proof there was a Deity and that Deity loved humanity. Someone, and by the feel he was pretty sure it was Kelly, was sucking his cock. As she took it all the way down, he became damn sure it was Kelly ... no one gagged quite like her.

"Very good," he heard Carol whisper, "but try it a little slower. It's not easy re-training your gag reflex but believe me, it can be done and it is worth the effort."

His cock was suddenly out in the air, cooling from the saliva coating it. "Really?" Kelly whispered. "I mean, I know he enjoys it ... a lot. Is there that much difference in reaction overall?"

"Watch and learn, although he's awake now, so the results will be somewhat tainted. Harry honey, just react normally. Give me a soft hum to let me know how it feels. Don't downplay and don't ham it up."

Harry began the hum as her warm mouth wrapped around his dick. As she worked on him the hum rose in intensity, but still remained very close to its original pitch and volume.

Then she slid him down her throat and he let himself go into the sensations, the volume and pitch of his hum rising dramatically without him even knowing it. Her throat worked on him, saliva dripping into his pubic hair and within minutes his balls were emptying down her throat.

As Carol slowly disengaged from him, milking every last drop out of him, he opened his eyes to find Margo snuggled up next to him, looking at him blearily.

"Do you have any goddamn idea what time it is?" she asked.

"Uh ... no," Harry replied. He turned his head and saw a faint tinge of daylight through the bathroom windows. "Way too early would be my guess."

"You'd be right ... way too early. As punishment, Kelly still owes you two deep-throating practices, at some point today, and Carol owes me a screaming orgasm right now for the whole 'hum' thing."

"Oh damn, Madam," Carol said, grinning. "Muff diving after sucking Harry off? My life is just one hell after another."

"She's a morning person, Harry. We love a morning person," Margo said as Carol scrambled onto the bed and buried her head between Margo's legs.

"I know ... it's our cross to bear. Come on, Kelly ... let's go hit the bathroom and then see about kitchen stuff."

"Coffee ... if you love me, coffee," Margo said.

"Beloved wife, coffee is a given ... I will always make coffee ... in fact, when we write our wedding vows, I'm putting that in them ... anything else you need?"

Margo wriggled sensuously from Carol's attentions. "Nothing else, my love ... other than the hour and need for coffee, life is just perfect right now."

Jackie Wagner's alarm went off and she opened her eyes, momentarily confused at finding herself in a room that was still strange to her.

Lisa snored softly on the bed across from her. They'd been roommates at House Odessa for over three years and she was glad the two of them had left together and ended up in the same House. It had all been fine and good to talk about leaving, and even to break away from Laney and pledge herself to this new, upstart House, but it would have been a lonely and frightening prospect without Lisa ... she was the sister Jackie'd never had.

After she had returned from her shower and gotten dressed she kissed Lisa softly on the cheek and headed downstairs. She was thinking of the change of address forms and such she'd need to file for the three of them with the post office Tuesday morning when the smell of coffee hit her.

Harry and Kelly sat at the table nursing huge mugs of the heavenly elixir. "What are you doing up this hour?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Being inordinately unhappy about it," Kelly grumbled. "Carol woke up, woke me up to pay off part of a debt I owe Harry, that woke him up, then his moaning woke up Margo."

"I suspect they'll join us after Margo has an orgasm or two," Harry added.

"Do you mind if I..." Jackie said, motioning towards the coffee pot.

"Of course not, you silly woman," Harry said. "But it'll cost you a kiss for each of us."

"Oh damn," Jackie said, paying the coffee tax gladly. "You'll never know how different it is being here than being at Laney's." She threw slices of bread in the toaster and rummaged in the fridge for margarine. "Do we have any grape jelly?"

"Second shelf, right rear," Kelly answered. "Good to know there's another jelly lovin' woman in this house." She eyed Jackie's round bottom. "Come to think of it, that jelly's givin' me ideas."

Jackie wiggled her bottom. "Well Mistress, save that idea for later on, I need to catch a bus here in about a half hour."

"So what's so different?" Harry asked. "Sugar, cream, light or heavy on either?"

"Medium on both, thank you sir. Well, that for instance. No Dominant at Odessa would ever have gotten me coffee. The idea of dominance and submission, superiority and inferiority so completely permeated Laney's thinking, and trickled down from him to the other Doms, that after awhile there was no love, let alone like, between the two sides. We got what we needed, the Doms got what they needed, but there was nothing even remotely approaching the sense of family you've got here."

She buttered and jellied her toast and grabbed a quick slurp off her coffee. "Perfect sir, remember how you did that and I'll be your friend for life."

"Not a problem. Two questions I've been meaning to ask you ... well ... one I've been meaning to ask you and one I've been meaning to ask one of the three of you."

"Yes sir?" she said around a mouthful of toast.

"You were there when Laney ran off the female Dominants from House Odessa. Why did he do that?"

"You want what I know happened and how everyone interprets it or what I think?"

"Both."

"What I know ... Laney'd been having a relationship with Mistress Claudette for about a year, hot and heavy, lots of really torrid orgy action. I got rode hard and put away wet a lot by both of them in those days. Mistress Claudette started showing the signs of boredom, starting bringing in male subs to their little get-togethers, within a week they were on the outs and he'd started making life a living hell for all the female Dominants of the House."

"So did he get rid of them because he was threatened by subservient males or feared his own bisexuality?" Kelly asked.

"Well, those are the popular theories ... I think they're both bullshit. He'd been hanging around some of the Karg and I think that's the real reason, and the real reason he and Mistress Claudette split. She wasn't having any of that Karg bullshit, and I think the male subs she was bringing in was her defiance of his attitude, in some weird way. She was looking for an out. That gave her one. I've heard him spout that female Dominants aren't the equal of males, they're merely the most dominant members of their gender and there was no way shit like that was going to go down well with Claudette or any of the other Mistresses of the House."

"So where did they go? And how does someone like Mina and House Shiloh remain allied with him?"

"Mistress Claudette and some of the others split off and formed their own House, House Evensong ... that's an odd one, lemme tell ya. Pagan, very much into balance and harmony ... before they formed it they had to find enough Masters to balance the four of them. Some of their playtimes are more ritual and ceremony than anything else ... from what I hear through the grapevine. The ones that didn't go with Evensong found other Houses."

"Evensong might be worth looking up," Kelly said.

"Not that I'd think this of you, but don't go looking for them if you're just looking for a tool to use against Odessa. A couple of Houses have tried, as part of pulling off what you're-"

"What we're..." Harry interjected.

Jackie smiled, walked over and gave him a warm and lengthy kiss. "Alright, what we're attempting ... Evensong don't play that shit. If you're serious, and they like you, that's fine but these assholes saw them as little more than a weapon, the whole 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing ... no, you have to be Evensong's friend all on your own. Then you can discuss if you might have common cause against Odessa."

"Why do I think you have more contact with Evensong than you're letting on?" Harry asked, studying Jackie intently.

Jackie returned his gaze. "Because I do ... we're co-religionists. I attend their Circles whenever I can. Of course, that was hard to do, living at Odessa ... going off to visit with other Houses, especially one on the outs with Laney..."

"Won't be hard here," Harry said. "Of course, we'd appreciate it if you could make House functions, but if you want to attend an Evensong Circle, then we won't be too upset that you're not here. Get with Carol and let her know when their Circles are scheduled, we'll see if we can avoid conflicts."

"Have I told you lately that I really, REALLY like it here?" Jackie asked, grinning from ear to ear. "Alright, as to your next question, why Mistress Mina and House Shiloh, as well as some other female-dominant Houses remain allied with them ... well, with Mina I think it's a deep-seated inferiority complex. Somewhere deep down there she feels he's right, women are inherently inferior. With some of the others like House Wexler, I think it's a matter of allying with the strength. They're not ideological matches so much as they want to be on the winning side, be in favor."

"Alright and now for the question I've wanted one of you to answer ever since I first saw you ... how did you three lovely women end up at the bottom of the sub hierarchy? I saw the others Laney had with him at the club ... it wasn't because any of you were outshone by the others. None of them were more beautiful than the three of you."

"Are you trying to get me to call in sick today, get me to stay home and fuck you silly? No, no Jackie you can't ... you're the only counselor there. Skeleton holiday crew ... alright ... tonight, me treat you real nice," Jackie said, smiling. "Well, I doubt you'll ever find this out personally, but the whole 'the sub is really the one in charge' thing? That can get to be real evident if you're also using them as household servants and you and they know they're free to leave at any time ... and you've pissed them off mightily. All three of us had gotten sick and tired of his shit, and yeah, with Lisa and I part of it was being passed over for younger and it seemed, dumber models. With Sheila it was mostly her sense of fairness ... watching our needs, as well as some of the others, get neglected because Laney is having a mid-life crisis. We were balky, ill-tempered bitches and although we were that way with just cause, it was still our own actions that got us in the dog house.

"And speaking of his mid-life crisis, you want to know what one of your greatest slaps in his face is gonna be? Galena. He'd sacrifice one of his balls to sink his cock in something that young and tender. Then you have her show up as a Domme? Oh, he'll just go bugfuck over that shit."

"Damn, you're so perceptive, I betcha you're just the most whiz-bang counselor they've got down at the VA office, ain't ya?" Kelly said, laughing.

"I do alright," Jackie replied, laughing with her. "I mean, c'mon, there isn't all that much you can do with a Master's in Psychology except counseling or teaching ... not if that's all you have."

"Why didn't you take it any further?" Harry asked, pouring himself another cup of coffee.

"Didn't really want to, not at the time ... I'd spent all the years in school I felt I could cope with. It was time to get out into the world. These days I can't really afford it."

"Well, if our arrangement works out, after October lets talk about you going back to school, if you want to."

"Oh Goddess, you really do want me to treat you real nice later!"

Jackie Wagner floated to the bus stop on a cloud of happiness.

The large pond, almost a man-made lake, covered about one and three-quarters acres. Kevin Hannigan watched as Eddie carefully cut up the body he'd brought that morning, splatters of blood sliding down the large rubber and PVC apron Eddie had borrowed for the task.

"Yeah, that thing's real handy ... keeps my clothes somewhat presentable when I'm hacking up chow for the 'gators," he said as he admired Eddie's work with the hacksaw.

"No shit ... you didn't have this last time and what a gawddamn fuckup of a mess that was," Eddie replied, finishing severing Angie's left leg. "Standing out here naked, burning my clothes ... and that stuff you loaned me to get home in ... shit ... I didn't buy you replacements out of the goodness of my heart. I'd popped damn near every button and split quite a few of the seams ... you're tiny."

"Well, had to make do with what I had, and I don't stock clothes for old friends who happen to be gorillas ... pick up that stringy bit there, I don't want any trace of her left around."

"Got it. So how's business been?"

"Tolerable ... tolerable ... had a good summer, now it's startin' the slack time of the year ... with Ethan old enough to mind the store from time to time, it's been getting easier for me and Ronnie to have a life."

Eddie began the cut on the corpse's left arm. "God, I remember when Ethan was born ... and he's what, fourteen now? How time flies..."

"Ain't it the truth?"

An hour later a phone call put the residents of the Grimes house in conference around the kitchen table ... a serious conference. They got on the phone with Jackie at her office. Then they called the woman that had initiated the conference and agreed to her proposition.

Tamara was awakened by the sounds of Kim and the children in the kitchen. They were being very quiet, but years of belonging to Family men had left her very alert. Going back to sleep after he left was getting easier, but she slept poorly when he wasn't there. She got up out of bed, looked at the empty spot beside where she'd lain, and headed out to the kitchen. She hoped Eddie was alright.

Tattie had left Julie, Vashti and Svetlana at the house and gone to the hospital by herself. She was waiting for Dr. Robert Niven when he came in.

"So, talk to me about what's going on with Yuri."

"Ms. Turov ... maybe we'd better go have a seat somewhere. Could you use some coffee?"

"Yeah, but you insult the fine name of coffee by calling the swill they serve here by that name. I'll make do, though ... need the caffeine."

A few minutes later they were sitting in the hospital's cafeteria.

"Now talk, Doctor."

"He needs to be moved somewhere he can get constant, quality care. I'd be lying if I told you I had any hope whatsoever of him recovering. Mr. Philouma told me you were a woman who appreciated bluntness. That's about as blunt as I can be."

As he watched her reaction, he wondered for a moment if he was going to have to call for help ... Tatiana Turov struck him as a woman who was dangerously close to a breakdown, either physical or mental. But she got herself under control and steadied herself, muttering something under her breath.

Finally she asked, "Alright Dr. Niven, where would you suggest?"

"There are two facilities in the area; the Armitage House and the Rays of Sunshine Home. Before you get to feeling too excited over the warm and fuzzy name of the second possibility, the section Yuri would be housed in wouldn't be overly sunshine-y. For the next several years at least, probably for the rest of his life, the only way your son will go anywhere not restrained is if he's drugged to the gills. We don't know what's going on in his head, and the Russian interpreter is working hard at communicating with him, but he's apparently got no interest in communicating with us, in any fashion other than trying to hurt us. And that seems to be only because we keep him from hurting himself.

"From the background I got from Vashti ... Ms. Turov, most days I don't know if I believe in anything past this life, some days I'm sure I don't and on rare days I do believe. But there's a part of me that believes that no matter what, the kindest thing we might be able to do for Yuri is let him go to whatever awaits him."

"Do you know how close I am to beatin' the shit out of you, Doctor?"

"I have two children of my own ... I can imagine. But you want blunt, you've got it."

"I'll want to go inspect both facilities before makin' any decisions ... and in spite of the fact that I think you're a son-of-a-bitch, I'd like it if you came with me, to help me understand what I'm looking for, and what I'm looking at."

"Mr. Philouma has put me completely at your disposal. How does tomorrow morning fit with your schedule?"

"Fine with me, Doctor ... shall we meet at Café Antoine's at 9? It's going to be a rough day, I insist on starting it with real coffee, perhaps a beignet or three."

"Café Antoine's at 9 it is."

Sheila Scott looked at her Mistress, still asleep beside her.

Nicki was sprawled across two-thirds of the bed, a leg and both arms sticking out from under the covers, hair splayed out like a fright wig, mouth open and drool slowly seeping out onto the pillow ... she was utterly adorable.

Sheila got up and padded into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. She and her Mistress had stayed up very late, telling each other stories. But that was alright, they didn't have anything planned until later in the day when there was a get-together at the Grimes house. Ensconcing herself at the kitchen counter, Sheila fired up her laptop and surfed while the coffee perked.

The next week at work was going to be hectic for her. The insurance company had let go of the other secretary so she was going to be handling the whole workload until they could get someone else in. Sheila felt sorry for Candice ... in an 'at-will' state, she'd been let go for too many piercings and a tattoo that only showed when she stretched her arm and her blouse cuff rode up. Sheila shuddered to think what the office manager would do if he caught wind of her lifestyle. Well, she thought, what he'd do was actually simple to predict ... she'd be looking for another job the very next day. At least that was one low Laney'd never sunk to ... he'd never held them hostage by their lifestyle choices.

She and her Mistress had also discussed rent and such the night before ... with the extra money she was going to have, her life was about to get a little easier so she decided to do a bit of shopping online. She was sure she could find an outfit or two that would let the whole House know just how happy she was that they'd taken her in.

The orgy had continued pretty much non-stop, except for stretches of exhausted sleep and a meal or two, at the Stallings house. Tori had crashed out the night before telling the rest of her family that she didn't care what they did with her while she was asleep, as long as they lubed her first.

She'd remembered that statement with wry amusement at some point in the early morning when her son had brought her to wakefulness positioning her on some pillows and lubing up her ass. Tori had relaxed and gone with it and by the end was enjoying it every bit as much as Sam. When they got out of the shower afterwards she'd enjoyed the cuddling even more. He'd gone to sleep nursing on her breast and she'd lain there, stroking his hair, while she watched her husband and daughter sleep spooned together next to them.

But as she awoke the next morning she realized the situation had become dire ... in a horny, fantastic way that Tori still marveled at ... there was almost no food left in the house, a lack of foresight on their part, and they desperately needed to stop at their favorite sex and head shop, "Dangerous Dan McGrew's" as the only lube left to them was cooking oil and luckily they hadn't had to resort to it yet. What a mess that would make!

It was going to be a pain in the ass, getting out and about on Labor Day, but they really had no other choice.

"Jess, honey," she whispered, "wake your Daddy up and let's see about showers and getting ready to go get breakfast somewhere ... and if he gives you any shit, roll him over and bounce your pretty pussy on that piss hard-on of his a few times ... he'll get up then."

Quan and Jessica had ended up having to pull a double that Sunday and both had been too tired when they got home the night before to do much of anything. When Wendy finally got off work and wandered in about 2 in the morning after helping to close the theater she'd found them both crashed out on the bed, still dressed except for their shoes and bras. Wendy had finished undressing them down to their panties and tucked them in before crashing herself.

Jessica woke up in a much different state than she'd gone to sleep.

In the first place, she was mostly naked. Had to have been Wendy's doing, she'd been in no shape to undress the night before. She remembered kicking off her shoes and stripping her bra off from under her delivery shirt, but the apartment had been cold and she and Quan had left their shirts on when they lay down, swearing they'd get up in a minute and hit the shower.

As she looked at the clock, she realized that 'minute' had stretched into ten hours.

In the second place, she felt human again ... she hadn't felt that way since two hours into her shift on Friday. She didn't want to think about the nightmare that was going to be Chinese food delivery on the last day before the fall semester began and thanks to the Cao's kindness, she wasn't going to have to. Blissfully she and Quan had the day off since they'd pulled the unscheduled double the day before. She and one of her lovers could lie about the house all day and relax ... but poor Wendy was working another late shift.

Jessica looked at the two of them, sleeping on either side of her. She'd had a lot of time to think about it while driving the day before ... she still had very strong feelings for Kelly ... if she was honest with herself, she still had strong feelings for all of them, even if in Harry's case it was merely gratitude and respect. They'd come into her life at a point where, even though she didn't know it, she desperately needed a change, a reason to get away from a mother who would never believe her good enough or pretty enough or thin enough, away from a boyfriend who, in retrospect, had barely bothered hiding the fact he was always on the lookout for someone better ... away from a life that had been so joyless. The Grimes clan had pulled her out of that situation, broadened her horizons considerably and then, when she'd needed another life-jolt, inadvertently given her one through the simple kindness of inviting her and her roommates to a party.

And it had all led her to where she was ... lying in bed between two wonderful people who loved her and whom she loved in return.

She quietly blew her lovers kisses and slid out of bed to go begin making breakfast for the three of them. And if the smell of food didn't get her sweethearts up, well she'd just have to serve it to them in bed.

She found him sitting under a tree, out of view of the breakfast nook windows.

"You had very good dreams last night," she said, sitting down beside him.

"Good ones, but not my best ones ... you were barely in them."

"I know, you didn't wake me up to help you deal with a monster erection. So what were you dreaming about? I listened to your mutterings, but I couldn't make out anything intelligible."

He told her his dream, every vivid, realistic detail and when he was finished they sat silently together for awhile.

Finally it was she who broke the silence.

"So, is there really a Hannigan's Reptile Farm?"

"Ahyup."

"And you've dumped bodies there before?"

"Ahyup."

"And right now you're expecting me to tell you you're a monster and to leave you, right?"

"Ahyup."

"Isn't happening, so relax and accept the inevitable. I love you no matter what."

He gathered her in his arms and held her to his chest, soaking her robe in his tears.