Chapter 56: Explanations and Accusations

Louise wasn't the only one who wondered what the end result of her uninhibited behavior was going to be that morning. Caitlin was lying next to Howard, propped up on one elbow, watching him sleep. Howard had been a surprise on just about every level -- and that made things difficult for Caitlin. First and foremost, she had made a ton of mistakes, she now realized. The proper thing to do would have been to do the standard dating thing -- a first date with a bit of a tease at the end, a second where she let him make ground and whet his appetite, and a third where she finally, with great (fake) reluctance, allowed him to nail her. But Caitlin was habituated to one-night stands, and she'd approached Howard as an experiment -- and that meant that she kept throwing challenges at him. And every time he rose above a challenge, she moved on to the next! So, in twenty-four hours, Howard exceeded expectation in every category of her one-night-stand Olympics -- and in the process, she had laid herself wide open, presenting herself as a slut looking for a one-night stand -- obviously not a situation conducive to a long-term relationship. Any chance of earning Howard's respect was gone -- he had seen everything, done everything (okay, maybe not quite EVERYTHING, but plenty enough!), heard everything... "Will you respect me in the morning?" was a question that hadn't occurred to her until it was too late...

On top of that, her job was probably forfeit -- unless she wanted to live in the shadow of his ability to blackmail her. She could see herself, pimped by Howard as the party girl for executive get-togethers, taking on three at a time, sucking Old Man Connors' dick... Caitlin grinned to herself; okay, maybe the imagination was going a bit wild, this morning; besides, she might suck Connors' dick if it meant she could sleep with Howard again... Who would have thought that the skinny geek would not only be an adequate fuck-buddy, but a treat? Now, she cast about desperately for some bit of mystery to hold him and bring him back -- and didn't find squat. Oh, sure, she could offer her ass -- but Howard didn't strike Caitlin as an ass man -- and he might even find the offer offensive!

Acting the way she felt wouldn't help; she'd pretended to be enamored of a guy more than once as a reverse psychology tactic -- and laughed after they all but ran out the door! Letting him know how sweet she thought he was would undoubtedly backfire. Even just playing it cool and acting only vaguely interested was probably a fifty-fifty proposition, at best; 'Yeah, that was nice, blah, blah, blah... ' would probably make him think he was inadequate, even after he'd witnessed her reactions (and she KNEW that he had a thing about hookers and faked orgasms!) The thing that was a pain about the whole thing was that she hadn't faked ANYTHING -- it had been the best sex she'd had in YEARS!

So, what to do? Reverse psychology worked pretty well to get rid of a guy; maybe... Yeah, that was it! She'd play the old, 'That was wonderful, but... ' card! And he'd argue and wheedle and she could reluctantly agree to another date... It was too late to lock him out, but, Hell, she WANTED him reaming her pussy! She just needed to make it less than easily attainable. Yeah, that would work...

She reached out and touched him, gently -- that was all it took, since Howard was unused to having other occupants in his bed. His eyes popped open. "Hi."

"Hi. How did you sleep?" Caitlin grimaced to herself; morning- after conversation could be so inane...

"Okay -- guess I was tired." Wasted, more like! He'd ridden Caitlin HARD, and it caught up to him -- but it had certainly been worth it...

"Well, we were up late, and neither of us was exactly napping..." Caitlin ventured.

"Yeah." He reached out and touched her arm.

Time to play poker; Caitlin pulled away and sat up, sighing. "Back to the salt mines..."

Howard didn't quite go, "Huh?" -- but he thought about it! "Sorry?"

"Well..." Caitlin had no problem sounding reluctant. "Last night was great, but it won't play at the office."

THAT again! Howard had some difficulty seeing how it was relevant; she didn't work for him, after all. This wasn't any boss sexually harassing his assistant scenario... Still, if it was that much of a concern for her, the thing for him to do was to let it ride... "Oh. Okay."

Okay? Aw, shit! Maybe she hadn't laid it on thick enough? Okay wasn't what he was suppose to say! "Well, surely you can see the problem -- I'm wide open, especially after last night..."

It seemed to Howard that the damage was done; if she wanted to date him, it would be a case of getting more, not getting in deeper. But he remembered that one-nighters were her thing; she was just closing him off, like the other guys. "If you say so."

'If I say so? FUCK!' This wasn't going well! Caitlin turned a look of exasperation on Howard. 'Jesus, how can he be so dense?' This was followed by uncertainty; 'Was I that bad a fuck? Nah... '

What was up with the woman? She wanted it chopped off -- the thing to do was to let it go, no matter how much he personally thought it sucked... Actually, this was one of the things he liked about Caitlin -- her ability to separate sex and her ambitions; most women, in his experience, would have used last night as a tool to connive her way into a relationship... The look on her face said that he had stepped in it, somewhere, though... "What's wrong?"

"Was it that bad? Didn't you enjoy it?"

"Hey it was GREAT! Incredible!"

"... But I acted like a total slut -- is that it?"

"No. That was refreshing! You were straightforward, totally uninhibited -- I've never had anything like that! But you SAID..."

"Yeah..." Caitlin was confused. So he was just letting it go because... Suddenly the lights came on. Erin had said, "Smart guys don't use the regular playbook..." She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before saying tentatively, "What would you say if I told you that last night was great, and I really, really wanted to see you again?"

"Gee, I don't know. Something on the order of, 'Great! When?' Something like that..."

"So you wouldn't, like, suddenly remember that you had to go to church or play golf or something and rush me into my clothes and dump me at my house and tell me you'll call, but avoid me like the plague?"

Howard sat through this open-mouthed. At the end of her amazing scenario recital, he sat for a moment, blinked, and said, "Oh."

"Oh?" Real fear surfaced in Caitlin.

Howard scratched his head. "I'm kind of stupid that way. I don't think it would occur to me. If I didn't want to see you, I think I'd try to find some way of breaking the truth to you gently." He shook his head. "So guys really do that, huh?"

Caitlin shrugged, grimaced. "I've learned to count on it as a way to get rid of a guy..."

"Soooo..."

"So the rulebook says if I tell you no, you're SUPPOSED to try to change my mind!"

Howard looked perplexed. "We're both up-front people -- why would we want to go in circles like that?"

"Something about the thrill of the chase?" Caitlin replied. Now that he mentioned it... "Although, I haven't left much..."

Howard chuckled. "I've been chasing you for years! Ever think about that?"

"Ummm, yeah, forgot about that." 'Courage, Girl!' "Okay, fresh start. I'd, uh, like to do this again, sometime..."

Howard smiled. "Me, too! The whole thing -- dinner, dancing, pleasant company... The rest, too, of course -- but there is no requirement to skip the preliminaries..." He grinned wickedly, "Unless you're itchy, of course!"

Caitlin grinned back. "I made a regular spectacle of myself, didn't I?"

Howard shrugged. "I was thrilled to death! Nothing sucks worse than making love to a woman who is either obviously faking or has this Mona Lisa rictus on her face... You yell and scream all you want!"

Armand was amiably presiding over the family breakfast. "So, Nate, working today?"

"Yeh," Nate nodded, absorbing some scrambled eggs. After chewing, he added, "Gonna take Draper around, too."

Armand nodded. "He'll probably be welcome."

Sharon sat quiet, toying with a waffle. "Is something wrong?" Armand asked.

"Nooo..." But she continued to play with her food.

After a bit, Nora and Nate passed a glance, and Nora directed a significant look at her father, flicking her eyes toward her mother. "I think we're all set, Daddy. May we be excused?"

Armand, surprised at the formal request, granted it. "Certainly." Nate and Nora got up and left, Nora kissing her mother on the shoulder on the way out and Nate giving the lie to the completion of their meals by snagging a banana on the way out. Armand let them get clear for a bit before querying, "All right, out with it."

Sharon wouldn't look at him, but she opened up, "Things seem... easier, this time..."

Armand grunted. "You've grown. And I'm sharing the wealth, a bit."

"There are the... other things..." Sharon muttered. "Felicia, Leticia..."

Armand nodded. "I've detected some other latencies in you; we're going to explore them."

"Lesbian?"

"Not necessarily." Armand mused for a moment. "I thought we might start that way and see where it goes -- easier than starting you with a man."

"I don't understand..."

"I think you might be a successful switch, properly brought along. It will help you manage things around here, for one thing, if you establish your dominance over some members of the staff," Armand amplified.

"Why is this important?"

"Jason is tough to compete with; besides, since it appears that he is going to produce a family, it will be more efficient if I can remove one of his foci so that he can continue to be effective while dealing with fatherhood. I want you to step into this role, and dominating female staff members is a start."

"Felicia isn't really a staff member."

"No, she goes a bit beyond. But the pair of you hit it off and she both doesn't mind girl-girl sex and she needs to stay in practice, so I want her to continue look to you as her Mistress. That gives her something important to look forward to -- serving me at one remove."

"What about the male staff?" Sharon asked.

"Charles and Boris have this in hand for now," Armand replied. "It may be of value for you to be able to dispense rewards to them, periodically, either using Charles or Boris as an intermediary, or directly. Some of them would not respond to feminine dominance; some will, properly applied. We can discuss this on a case-by-case basis." He eyed her. "This is about the strap-on, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"How did you feel about that?"

"Conflicted."

"Go on."

"I can't say I didn't enjoy parts of it. But I was abusing another woman..."

"Well, there is abuse and abuse," Armand replied. "Leticia bought into the lifestyle that happens in this household a long time ago. And periodically she acts up deliberately in order to get attention."

"Well, she's gotten plenty in the last couple of days!" Sharon exclaimed.

"True," Armand chuckled. "At first, I planned to teach her a lesson she would never forget, but I think Boris is good for her. If we throw them together a couple more times, I think she's going to submit to him totally."

"But he has that idea that if he gets her pregnant and turns her into a milk cow, she'll grow big breasts!" Sharon exclaimed.

Armand waved dismissal. "That plays to her favorite fantasy -- she WANTS to have children by a white man. Boris is perfect for her because he has totally dominated her and that feeds her white master race fetish. Back to you."

"I don't guess I hurt her..."

"No, I don't think so. But you established dominance over her in a very personal way -- in a way that I have used effectively time and time again on you! How did it make you feel?"

"Well, in some ways I liked it. I didn't feel right about it, but I liked it."

Armand smiled. "All of the women in this household -- with a couple of exceptions, both young girls -- are here, in part, because they understand submission. You aren't doing anything to them that they didn't sign up for. That being the case, you can put any guilt you might feel right out of your head. Does that help?"

Sharon thought about it. "I guess it does." She looked up at her ex-husband. "Will you be importing more women?"

Armand shrugged. "I really haven't decided. At this point, it seems unnecessary -- but you may decide that you want me to if things become too intense again. Besides, it's entertainment..." He eyed her. "I may import the occasional man, too. You need to grow in that direction."

"For me?" Sharon asked, incredulous.

"Yes. In both roles. I may wish to see you used, and I may wish to see you develop as a dominatrix. In either case, I will demand compliance from you. I may require your cooperation in order to further a project, whether it be a business dealing, or merely entertainment with a toy. I expect you to rise to the occasion in either case."

"I don't know..."

"I do. You have grown quite a bit in a short time. You can -- and you will -- do as I ask. You will step into your role as Mistress of this household. I suspect that it will be convenient that I not again bind you to me legally -- but nonetheless, you are the agent of my will and the premiere female in this household. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Armand." Sharon knew better than to argue -- besides, he was stroking her ego pretty thoroughly. Over the past few nights, she had spent more time in Armand's quarters than her own, too -- and it hadn't been particularly arduous, either.

Armand continued, "One of the alterations in our relationship is that I need not abuse you intensively at odd intervals to remind you that I control your destiny whether you are in my presence or not. As a result, we can deal with one another much more informally, which is critical to your ability to support me. That being the case, you may ask me questions regarding my plans for your development without unreasonable fear of reprisal. Shall we finish dining?"

Sharon nodded and returned to her breakfast with better appetite.

Erin was watching TV when Caitlin attempted to sneak in the front door. "Hi, Mom," she ventured, pretending to be blasé, "How was your date?"

"It was... very good, actually. How did you do after we left?"

"I didn't put it off any more, if that's what you're asking!" Erin replied archly. "And I'm REAL GLAD I didn't! WOW!"

"Well, based on MY experience, YOU should write an advice column!" Caitlin replied. "The only problem I have with last night's date is how to get him to repeat it -- many times!"

Erin giggled. "So, Weird Howard is..."

"VASTLY underrated! Omigod!" Caitlin exclaimed. "And I'd have never, EVER given him a second look! He's cute, he's funny, he's reasonably well-coordinated, he doesn't drink like a fish or beat women -- and the SEX! MY GOD!"

Erin tittered. "I think we're batting a thousand with smart guys..."

"You can say THAT again!" Caitlin agreed. "I'm going to run upstairs and soak a bit -- I haven't been ridden like that in YEARS!"

"Don't use all the hot water, please!"

"Princess?" Charlotte Pinkersley rapped on her daughter's door, then stuck her head in. What greeted her eyes was -- in the foreground -- her daughter's bare ass. Beyond that, her head, bobbing up and down -- and beyond THAT, Ted's face, bearing a somewhat strained expression. "Oh." She sighed, gathering herself. "How many times?"

"We're, uh, trying for four..." Ted grunted.

"Okay." Charlotte assumed command. "Princess? Ted is a renewable resource -- but you have to feed him and ensure that he doesn't get friction burns. Ted, you HAVE to keep her out of your lap! She's functionally insatiable if you don't..."

"Yeah, right." Ted hauled Claudette forward by her armpits, being sure to nestle her in his.

"That's good -- hold her until she settles down -- it might take a bit," Charlotte advised. But Claudette settled quickly, snuggling up. "That was quick! What... ?"

Ted grinned tightly. "There is a variant on the pheromone, which has a calming effect without the sex piece. Comes from the pits..."

Charlotte looked surprised. "That's a new one..." She gathered herself. "Princess, I want you to throw on a robe and bring Ted to breakfast, now. He's going to need his nutrition -- and you will, too. We need to talk about how things have changed." Her voice hardened. "Princess?"

"Yes, Mom." Claudette raised her head.

"Twenty minutes." Charlotte swept out.

Claudette levered herself up, and Ted took a breath. "Do we have time for a shower?"

"You do," Claudette sighed. "I would never get my hair back together in time..." She went to the closet. "Mom said a robe..."

Ted blinked. "Apparently, we're being literal..."

"Mom tends to be," Claudette replied. She fished out a robe and threw it on. "Are you going to shower, then?"

"Yeah, actually." Ted got up.

Twenty minutes later, Ted seated himself in a sunny dining nook with Claudette, her mother, and a balding fellow with eyeglasses in pajamas and a robe. Charlotte was apparently dressed similarly to her daughter - but Ted was willing to bet there was a nightgown under HER robe. "Juice? Coffee?" Charlotte asked.

"Uh, both, I think. Orange, or something else?" Ted asked.

"We have several," his hostess replied. "Orange, grapefruit, tomato..."

"Tomato."

"Bridgette! Tomato juice!" Charlotte raised her voice and got an immediate response from a maid waiting near the door. Turning, she added, "I believe that introductions are in order. Ted Phipps, isn't it? This is my husband, Hubert. As you may have guessed, you have something in common..."

"Sir." Time to turn on the charm.

Hubert Pinkersley nodded regally. "I understand that you share certain olfactory markers with me and certain predatory instincts with my wife," he observed dryly.

"Ah. Um, yes." Ted had the grace to be embarrassed.

Hubert sighed. "Probably a good thing..."

Bridgette arrived, delivered the juice, and Charlotte shooed her away. "Privacy, please!" Turning to Ted and Claudette, she urged, "Eat, eat!"

Ted started filling a plate from a reasonably decent layout on the table while Charlotte turned her attention to her daughter. "Did you enjoy yourself, Dear?"

"Yes, Mom. How bad a trouble am I in?" Claudette asked.

"You're not, Princess," her mother replied, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life. We're here for some explanations, Dear -- and to make some plans. Tell me about Ted, here."

"I don't understand."

"Tell me why you chose to offer him a relationship last night. What separated him from your other candidates?"

"Well, I..." Claudette shrugged. "He has a certain dangerous charm. And he also seems to be able to read people. And he has a knack for getting himself out of serious trouble." She shook her head. "Actually, I underestimated him."

Charlotte nodded. "And is that a bad thing?"

"It almost was." 'Given the way things are, do I want to get Ted into trouble?' Claudette wondered.

"So Ted related to me last night," Charlotte replied smoothly. "Your empty-headedness almost landed you on the endangered species list!"

"Yes, Mom." Claudette hung her head.

"All's well that ends well, though -- and I think you did a good job, actually," her mother added breezily. "After last night, I'm sure you have questions, Dear."

"Well," Claudette replied. "I don't understand why you let Ted stay, exactly -- and I don't understand why you encouraged us to have sex! Not that I'm upset, or anything," she added.

"It's all fairly simple, Dear," Charlotte replied. "Your father and I have been shielding you from sex -- and from your sexual nature -- for your own good."

"Doesn't every parent try that?" Claudette replied.

"Certainly most try," her mother replied. "But you are exceptionally vulnerable, as you have no doubt discovered."

"Ted's smell?"

"Ted's smell." Charlotte sighed. "This pheromone thing isn't limited to Ted, Princess -- about one boy in twelve can excite you to the point that you lose your ability to make rational decisions. That's why we took such harsh measures to ensure that you distanced yourself from boys." She turned to Ted. "Claudette's ignorance in matters sexual is deliberately appalling -- you're going to need to teach her just about everything. We either lied to her or kept her in ignorance about every aspect of sexual behavior that we possibly could -- and attempted to instill superstition and prejudice where we could not."

Charlotte turned back to Claudette. "Those old-world southern belle manners I instilled in you were designed to keep you from attracting boys and gathering any real understanding of sex while obtaining a social standing. Now, we're going to allow you to flower -- but hopefully, we can maintain your social standing and reputation in the process. When I was your age..." She sighed. "When I was your age, I made many mistakes, and it took a long time to fix some of them -- some I may never live down."

"Okay," Claudette sipped her coffee. "So what changes? And this was all because of me sucking Ted?"

Charlotte frowned. "Actually, if it had been ONLY that, we might have taken a different tack," she replied. "You're probably lucky; I'd have abused you with what a slut you are and closeted you from boys totally. No, you giving someone else gratification would have put you on the road, and we would have changed tactics, but it is what Ted did for YOU that REALLY requires that we change things."

"It does?" Claudette flicked a glance at Ted. "Which thing?"

Charlotte regarded her daughter for a moment, her face expressionless. "How long after Ted brought you to orgasm with his hand did you wait to touch yourself?"

"Oh." Claudette looked guilty. "An hour -- maybe two."

Charlotte nodded. "Exposure to the pheromone awakens you sexually, but until you actually have an orgasm, things do not get out of hand. When you do, though, things really take off, and you start needing regular release. Like you, I did not obtain my first orgasm through intercourse -- and I was secretive, anyway; my mother did not discover that I was touching myself, my teachers did -- and that was not until I was habituated and could not keep my hand out of my panties, even in public! I shamed my family and got kicked out of several schools -- not to mention the reputation I acquired. Of course, that reputation brought me opportunities for intercourse, which set me off and running..." She shook away the memories. "You needed to know early that your fingers are no substitute for a penis -- or even a tongue! That's why I sent Ted up to finish the job last night -- it is really fortunate that you managed to find him."

Claudette frowned. "You've said that a couple of times now, Mom. Why?"

Charlotte sighed. "In the first place, there are the attributes that you have identified. In the second, there is the issue of his smell. And finally, there are the attributes that I discovered in my conversation with him..."

"Like what?"

"You're an adult now," Charlotte replied, "so I plan to limit my verbal abuse of you -- but there are certain realities, here... He's smarter than you, for one thing."

"Mom!"

"I wasn't being nasty, I was stating facts. He also has a certain predatory instinct, and the grit to do whatever is necessary to move forward with a plan once it is conceived. This could be invaluable, not only to you, but to all of us." Charlotte replied.

"I fail to..."

"Surely you see that you will require continued supervision," Charlotte pointed out. "Trust me, where sex is concerned, you CANNOT trust your impulses! You need someone to watch your back -- and Ted, for both the reasons you picked him for in the first place and the ones I've enumerated -- is an excellent choice. He can support your social position, and he can keep you from ending up on your back with the wrong boy..." She smirked. "Of course, this will only work if he's the RIGHT boy -- perhaps I'm setting you both up for failure..."

Claudette looked at Ted. The reasons that she had originally picked him still held force -- but he had tricked her, lied to her, abused her -- basically raped her... On the other hand, she had lied to him from the outset, and according to him it was the primary reason for a number of his actions. Then, when you looked at the flip side, he had proven that he COULD be gentle with her, and he was a VERY satisfactory lover... She wasn't going to be able to manipulate him -- but he DID respond well to direct dealing... "Well, he oversteps himself, sometimes -- he's TOO aggressive. But he listens..."

Charlotte cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. What she WASN'T hearing was 'no'. "I think maybe the pair of you have gone over this a bit already, which is a good thing. The only thing that might have changed for you is the realization that Ted is not unique in being able to trigger your worst behavior. On the other hand, Ted may BE unique in the fact that he combines that with his other attributes..." She turned to Ted. "And you?"

Ted shrugged. "Claudette is right; I can be an extremist. But she's offered good advice in that area, and I think I was smart enough to take it. Each of us tends to see the exploitable parts of a social situation -- and each of us can benefit from a second opinion. Claudette brings a lot to the table; she did, actually, before last night, but it was unattainable, so it was useless to me." He took a sip of coffee. "That's all changed -- actually, it did before we got into sex, and I started recognizing it while I was still setting her up to teach her a lesson; once you get inside her shell, she's pretty decent. I think we have a helluva lot better shot than we did last night when she hit me up -- although, to be fair, there WAS something to be had, even then."

"You need to realize that this isn't going to be any walk in the park," Charlotte cautioned Ted. "For one thing, there will be times when you will be unable to keep up!" She turned to her daughter, "Princess, by the time I was your age, I'd pulled my first train -- and it wasn't the last, by a LOOONG shot!"

Claudette's face said she probably didn't want to know, but... "Pulled a train?"

"Gang bang -- multiple guys," Ted interjected.

"Ewwwww!"

Charlotte shrugged. "You'll get the urge -- and nothing less will do! But we'll help you keep it... anonymous..." She turned to Ted. "We WILL help. We can arrange venues where she can handle this kind of thing in a secure environment -- or at least anonymously -- but she'll probably slip the leash at some point. Besides, you'll want to be there, anyway, unless I miss my guess..." She sighed. "In the right mood, she's not safe with girls, either, although it's less of a trigger situation; without a male present, she CAN control herself -- but under certain circumstances, she may not want to. That will be something to keep an eye out for." She turned back to Claudette, "I was a slut -- I turned pajama parties into lesbian lick-offs. I'd hate to tell you how I put myself through college!"

Hubert roused himself. "Let's not succumb to the urge for true confessions, Dear." Charlotte sighed and nodded. Hubert turned his attention to Ted, "You're gonna wear horns, Son. Charlotte gets caught short periodically even now. Claudette is in her prime; we're talking about wild sex parties, hanging out while she takes on a couple of dozen boys three at a time..."

"Daddy!" Claudette ranted, "You make it sound like I'm some sort of wild monster, or something!"

"Sorry, Princess, but he deserves to know what he's getting into! You do, too, for that matter!" Hubert insisted.

Ted was rubbing his forehead. Hubert offered some solace, "She'll be back, after, and she'll be sorry, and she'll look to you to make her hurts all better." He turned a gimlet eye on his daughter, "And she has NOTHING to say about anything YOU do while she is entertaining herself!"

Neither of the young people looked particularly happy. Ted was thoughtful, and Claudette looked distinctly unhappy. But Ted looked at Claudette and husked, "I can handle it, all things being equal."

Claudette shook her head. "I'm not like that! It's not going to happen! Really!"

Charlotte passed a significant glance with Hubert, who nodded and looked at Ted, raising his eyebrows. Ted pursed his lips and thought about it for a moment, then drew Claudette to him, deliberately tucking her into his armpit. Charlotte took over the rebuttal, murmuring, "You don't understand, Princess. Functionally, you have a disease, like depression, or gambling. It's not your fault that you're a slut..."

Claudette, now relaxed, responding to the gentlest of pressures, dropped her head into Ted's lap, protesting petulantly, "But I haven't done anything like that!"

"Are you sure, Princess? What about last night? How did you feel about sucking Ted's cock?"