Chapter 5

Carol Riley sat on cushions on the floor of the living room, drinking a glass of wine and watching the rain fall outside.

It was 1 A.M., Sunday. Her life had so completely turned around in the space of four and a half days as to be almost unrecognizable to her.

If she was still with Rick, what would she be doing right now? Probably blowing him in front of his friends so he could show what a big man he was. There'd be another beating in her immediate future. With Rick there had always been another beating in her immediate future.

Instead, she was sitting naked in her living room, her living room in her house, Harry had said so, watching the rain through her wide open front door and listening to her owner make love with the woman she was pretty sure would end up his wife some day, a wife who would love him and cherish him the way he deserved.

And love and cherish their faithful pet, Baby Girl, the way she deserved as well.

Speaking of loving and cherishing, she was looking forward to some more of that once the two of them had their time alone. What was happening in the master bedroom was the consummation of something begun fifteen years earlier. She didn't belong in there right now.

Didn't mean she couldn't listen in and enjoy.

Carol giggled to herself. She was ecstatically happy.

Harry Grimes woke up from a brief nap.

It couldn't have been too long; the candles in the room hadn't visibly burned down at all.

He found himself in the middle of a plethora of miracles.

He had been well on the road to burning out, becoming a loveless shell of a man.

Miracle Number One: Carol Riley had rescued him. Her condition led to-

Miracle Number Two: reconnecting with Margo Wohler and her being willing to talk to him after they way he'd dropped her out of his life. And Carol's condition led to-

Miracle Number Three: reconnecting with Eddy Janak and him being willing to talk to Harry after the way he'd dropped him out of his life.

Miracles One and Two together led to Miracle Number Four: he and Carol were in a position to help Margo when she most needed help.

Miracles One and Two together also led to Miracle Number Five: his and Margo's realization of their feelings for each other and their acting upon those feelings.

Harry turned his head and looked at Margo, curled up next to him in the bed. There was Miracle Five, right before his eyes. The beauty in the bed next to him, happy, free... she loved him, she loved Carol, and they loved her.

Others might argue that these weren't miracles, but Harry didn't give a shit. He knew miracles when he saw them.

He carefully got out of bed and headed out in search of something to drink.

Margo Wohler stretched as she woke up. Her hands hit the headboard and as the stretch continued her legs hung off the end of the bed to her knees.

Harry needed a bigger bed.

She sat up on the edge of the bed and gazed around the room. Some of the effects from her fantasy were easy to explain, easy to find.

The whipping post, the pile of cushions on the floor, the cat o' nine tails, the bowls with crushed apples, lemons, limes and open heaps of spices, the metal bowl where they'd been burning pot like it was incense... the cd player? She reached over and popped out the disc. 'Nature's Secrets: Soothing Sounds of the Sea'. Those clever little rascals.

She sat and thought about her night, and the two lovers that awaited her elsewhere in the house. She wondered why she was feeling so secure, so safe? It was sad to admit, but that wasn't like her. Normally she'd awaken from a first sexual encounter a bundle of insecurities and paranoia, just about as neurotic as you could be without being a sitcom character from New York. It took her time to settle in, to feel like she belonged somewhere, but while this wasn't her place, she felt she belonged here, she felt welcome here.

And she felt that this could be her place too, if she wanted it to be.

Had Harry proposed to her while they were making love?

No, no he hadn't. They'd both had much to say to each other while they loved each other, but there had been no mention of that.

So where was that feeling coming from?

Harry was cuddling his Baby Girl close to his chest, just relishing the nearness of her, as they watched the rain from the front door of the house. Carol, for her part, was in paradise, cherished and loved, held close by the man who owned her, body and soul.

They both looked up as Margo entered the living room.

"Cap'n', Twat, why are you sitting in the cabin door watchin' the rain?"

"Because we can, Mounds. Ye have some better idea?"

"Yes Cap'n, follow me to the aft gang plank."

As they did so, the Captain commented to Twat, "Have ye noticed what a fine ass Mounds has on her, First Mate Twat?"

"Indeed I have, Cap'n, indeed I have. I'm thinkin' I'll be spendin' some time lickin' that ass."

"Ye an' me both, Twat, ye an' me both."

Ahead of them, Mounds' cunt gave a twitch as that sounded like a luscious idea to her as well.

On her way through the kitchen she snagged a bar of soap and strode out onto the back deck and down the boards lying as a ramp from the deck to the grass.

The rain had let up enough that the outlines of the neighbors' houses could be seen, but due to the lateness of the hour there were no lights on.

They followed Margo out to the middle of the lawn, away from the trees.

"Alright you curvy bitch, what now?" growled the Captain as the rain ran down his face.

"Now," Mounds said with a smile, "we take a bath out here in the rain." She began to scrub the Captain's body with the bar of soap and soon she had acquired Twat's enthusiastic help.

"You're both daft bitches, says I," growled the Captain, "you'll be leavin' soap in all me naughty bits an' I'll be itchin' like I just got back from shore leave in Port-au-Prince."

"Nonsense Cap'n darlin'," said Twat, "we'll just go get us a bucket or two, let 'em fill up, have ye lay down on the deck, use 'em to sluice ye out and do the same for us girly types."

The Captain stood and let himself be bathed by two lovely women, Mounds taking the top half and Twat the lower. Given the temperature of the rain, there wasn't much erotic about it, although he and his Second Mate kissed passionately while she washed his hair, but it was still a hedonistic dream as two sets of loving, soapy hands carefully cleaned every inch of his body. There was something earthy... lusty... about standing naked, out in the open, hidden only by the hour and the rain.

As Harry stood naked in his back yard in the middle of the night, in the rain, taking a shower with two beautiful women, his mind turned to thoughts of not only of a hot tub, but a pool as well and certainly a high fence. A bigger shower in the master bath had already taken on critical importance.

Soon the Captain was clean and work began on Twat's bath.

As she and the Captain washed Twat, Mounds said, "Ye see, Cap'n, ye can watch the rain or ye can be out in the rain."

"Mounds, you've a goodly head on your shoulders as well as a goodly brace o' cannon on your chest."

"Thank ye, Cap'n. What be the name o' our ship, sir, if you don't mind me askin'?"

"You're crewin' on the 'Free Booty', Mounds."

"It's a good name, Cap'n; it's a good name for her."

The Captain, down on one knee, was lovingly soaping Twat's lower parts, paying special attention to her ass, leading to moments of confusion as both parties wondered was he washing or caressing, while Mounds went high and once again made out with the object of her ministrations. For her part, Twat was in heaven as the hands of her crewmates ran over her body repeatedly, each touch an act of love.

Carol had never known such happiness. These two people were extraordinary.

And they knew how to play! Here they were, all having a grand time playing pirates! Her mind reeled at the possibilities their future playtimes held! Why, they could be anyone, do anything. She had some really kinky fantasies that pretty much required a man and another woman.

They were all going to have such fun together.

And as they finished washing Twat, they began work on Mounds. The Captain repaid Mounds' earlier favor by carefully washing her top, their tongues dueling in each other's mouths through most of it, while Twat started at the bottom and spent a long time soaping up Mounds legs, possibly distracted by the amount of time she spent kissing and licking the Second Mate's magnificent ass.

Margo marveled at the mask she was wearing and its effect upon her. Margo Wohler-soon-by-the-grace-of-God-to-be-ex-Sapperstein would never in a million years stand naked out in the back yard of a home in a residential neighborhood, letting her two lovers wash her body in the rain, making out with one while the other used her sweet tongue to worship Margo's ass.

But Second Mate Mounds of the 'Free Booty', why, who knew what she might do?

After they were through bathing Mounds, all three of them were cold so they went back inside, got dry and wrapped themselves in blankets.

Twat closed the front door, locking it and the back and made Irish coffee to warm them. They and their blankets huddled together in the living room, eating a light meal of fruit and cheese.

After they had warmed themselves up and eaten, their minds turned to other matters.

"Y'know," said Mounds, "I'm thinkin' that somewhere along the line, Twat owes me a cunt lickin'. Seems to me she started one, earlier in the night, but never finished."

Before Mounds had finished her sentence, Twat was lying between her legs, parting the hair with her tongue, gently exposing Mounds' clitoris. She began to tease it and soon Mounds' hips were slowly and sensuously gyrating like a belly dance in slow motion.

"Seems to me, Mounds," said the Captain from his nearby cushion, "that ye be owin' her one as well, seein' as how ye were in no shape to finish the one ye began on her."

So with some rearrangement the two lovers were on their sides, faces buried between each others legs. The delightful, wet sounds of love filled the air.

"Ye know, there's nothin' I've seen anywhere in the world prettier than the two sexiest wenches ever to grace a ship's deck or a port's brothels goin' at each other's cunts with a will," said the Captain, stroking his cock.

The Captain saw Twat's hands caressing Mounds' ass, her fingers teasing her asshole and so he went and got some unguent and put it where Twat could see it and reach it.

It wasn't long at all before Twat was gently easing her finger in and out of the Second Mate's ass, fucking her in counterpoint to her tongue and Mounds seemed to find it exceedingly pleasurable if her moans were any indication.

"Do ye think ye want to be tryin' one of them little mysteries of the Orient we got in Havana on her, Twat?" the Captain asked.

He could see Twat's vigorous nodding so he went and one of the small vibrating butt plugs they'd bought, brought it over, lubed it well and handed it to her.

He watched, his hand once more on his cock, as Twat slowly and cautiously eased it into Mounds' ass. Once it was fully in, she turned it on 'low'.

Margo floated in a sea of sweaty sensuality. Never had her body felt so alive as it had with her two new lovers.

She'd never thought much of the idea of any anal play, had been afraid of it actually, had clamped down and gone defensive when any other lover got close, but when Carol first ran her finger down the crack of Margo's ass, she had relaxed, open to the possibilities, unafraid. When Carol's finger had entered her, she'd welcomed it, wished it was longer, if not necessarily wider. And when the little 'mystery of the Orient' had been worked in, well, that might have hurt a little, but once it was in, it was good... and once it was turned on, it was so much better.

She'd never eaten pussy before in her life, had fantasized about it in the abstract, had even brought her own wet hand up to her mouth and licked it so she knew her taste, and she had been nervous when she first went down on Carol that she wouldn't know how to do it right, that she'd mess up, but she just did what she knew would feel good to her, and it seemed to be working just fine. And then there was Carol, right there, deliciously between her legs, giving excellent examples of other things to try, techniques to use.

She thought of her anxieties and her worries and what if she did something and one of them didn't like it and she destroyed the mood and then everyone would be pissed off and it would all be her fault.

The last worry, the last tentativeness, was destroyed as she realized that she couldn't fuck this up, she couldn't do anything wrong.

Their love wouldn't let her.

With that, her climax broke through and washed her mind away.

Carol got up, cleaned up a bit and then came back to lie in Margo's arms. She was in heaven, in love with two beautiful, wonderful people.

"Margo, thank you," Carol said, holding Margo in her arms. "Thank you for loving us and thank you for letting us love you."

"Carol, no, I should be thanking the two of you, and I will be, for the rest of my life. I was so afraid, so scared. I didn't have anyone to turn to, anyone who'd understand except you and Harry, and if you hadn't..." The tears flowed down her cheeks in streams.

"No, shhhh, no beloved, no..." Carol kissed her tears away, finishing with feather-soft kisses on her eyelids. "You were scared but you got here and we love you and you've got no reason to go back to that time because it's past. Let that fear go, baby, you're safe, we're here to protect you and cherish you."

The next eternity passed as the two women caressed each other, held and loved and tasted each other in an erotic ballet danced to their heartbeats.

Margo wept over Carol's bruises, Carol wept over Margo's loneliness and fear, they wept together for Harry and the still-bleeding wounds on his soul that Angie had left, they wept and laughed in their joy at the future before them all and lost themselves in each other's eyes and hearts.

While Harry slept, the two women in his life made love.

In the carnal afterglow, Margo and Carol drifted off to sleep themselves. For a time the house was silent, save for the light snores of three very happy lovers.

Carol wandered through her parent's house, trying to find someone, anyone. As the search went on and each successive room was scoured and no one found, her panic grew; they had to be here somewhere, someone had to be. Teetering on the brink of tears she finished the last room, the living room, and fell to her knees in despair. As she did so, she saw two figures in the front yard, staring out across the street. There they were, her parents, or someone, and so she ran out of the house, tears of panic turned to tears of joy. As she drew closer she could tell that it was her Mommy and Daddy and that now she would be safe and everything would be ok, but as she ran to them, calling to them, they didn't respond, they didn't turn, they just stood there looking across the desert... hadn't it been a street a moment ago? And they seemed to be getting farther and farther away so she ran faster and it seemed she was slowly getting closer but the sand sucked at her feet and she was getting tired and so, so hot and thirsty, maybe she should go back to the house and wait until it got dark but when she turned, there was no sign of the house and she'd left no tracks in the sand, so she whirled about and there her parents were, right next to her, still facing away from her, and she yelled "Mommy, Daddy, I'm here, look at me! It's Carol!" but the figures never turned, so she ran around in front of them and they were facing away from her again so she ran back and forth and back and forth until she realized there was no front, they were each two turned backs and there was no way she was ever going to make them see her because they didn't have any eyes to see her with so she sank down in the sand and cried because there was no one and she was so lonely and so scared and the blowing sand started to pile up around her and she thought she'd just sit there and die but someone touched her on the shoulder and she looked up and it was Harry and she knew everything was alright, it was Harry and he would love her and take care of her and she'd take care of him and everything would be beautiful from now on and Harry looked at her and said "I'm sorry miss, I thought you were someone else. I was looking for Margo" and her heart died and she felt it, there was just a wooden lump in her chest and her blood didn't move and she sat there like a marionette with all its strings cut and the sand covered her over-

She opened her eyes and there was Harry, his face full of love and concern, and he said "Baby Girl, are you alright?" and the tears started.

Harry picked her up and carried her across the room and put her in a nest of pillows and wrapped himself around her while she cried, stroking her and caressing her. When the tears finally began to dry up, she told him of her nightmare.

"No Baby Girl, don't you ever worry about that. Margo loves you and I love you and you're a part of me. Do you understand that? Nobody, not Margo, no matter how much I love her, nobody, gets me without you. You and I, we're bonded and I know that I cannot conceive of a life without you in it so the only person who can break up this team is you."

Carol began to cry once again, tears of joy.

"Then Harry my love, it will never happen. I am yours."

Harry held her, so in love with the beautiful spirit that had blessed his life. As she settled down again, he kept holding her tightly.

"Baby Girl, tell me about your family."

"You mean you can't guess, Harry? I'd have thought it was obvious. My parents were very distant, disapproving of anything but achievement, which to them meant athletic or academic success. They'd had to work to get where they were, they were supporting me and my brothers and sisters, as well as both sets of grandparents. I think the strain was just too much for them. I was talking with Margo while you were asleep, it seems she and I have a lot in common, we just reacted to it differently. I always felt I had to earn their love, I had to fight for every hug, their time was precious and it was given out sparingly to whichever of us kids had done the best. After awhile, I dropped out of the competition, started getting their attention in other ways."

"Let me guess, Baby Girl, you spent a lot of time getting to know the legal system."

"Intimately, Harry. And I'll warn you right now, I've got some really kinky incest fantasies rolling around in my head, all wrapped up in my family life. Not that I'd ever want to sleep with my dad, or any real member of my family, but the reality of our lives casts echoes in our fantasies."

"Baby Girl, I was never much into role-playing before you came into my life, but with the success of last night's pirate fantasy for Margo, I'll play any role you want, just name it."

"Thank you sir, I love you so much."

"But back to the fucked up reality. It only got worse as my grandparents died. If they hadn't lived with us I don't know what I would have done but they were they only unconditional love I had any experience with. I kept getting better and better at making my parents lives a living hell."

"They were disgusted when I went to school and majored in Theater, but by that point I was already earning my own money and living on my own. When I dropped out of school and went 'underground', so to speak, I lost contact with them completely. I wouldn't mind getting back in touch with my brothers and sisters, but as far as I'm concerned my parents can go to hell and send me postcards."

Harry held his pet close to him and stroked her lovingly. "Perhaps you and I can go visit your siblings some day."

Her face lit up. "You mean it, Harry? Oh, I'd love that! I'd love to show you off."

Harry brushed his lips across hers. "My Baby Girl, I can refuse you nothing."

Carol laughed. "Don't say things like that Harry, I might put you to the test. But enough about me and the fucked-up Riley clan; what about you and your family? I know your parents are gone. Do you have any brothers and sisters?"

"One sister, six years younger than me which would make her twenty-seven now, Nicki. The last time I saw Nicki was at the rehearsal dinner for my wedding. She'd flown in for the wedding from Atlanta, had never met Angie before and she and I damn near got into a knock-down drag-out fight when she tried to tell me the truth about Angie. She said a lot of things that it turns out were completely accurate and I said a lot of hateful and hurtful things that were lies or at best half-truths. She stormed out of the rehearsal dinner in tears and we haven't spoken since. I miss her."