Chapter 137

Bobby put her hands on her face and took a breath trying to stifle a giggle. "We're acting like whores," she said, while desperately trying not to reach for Art's cock.

Sandra hissed in a breath. "Art, I don't know what's happened to us. Honest, we don't act like this. We've each had one guy — once, and that was just to get rid of our cherries. But it's like we've been given an aphrodisiac. I want you so bad that it's hard to breathe," she finished, not knowing that Art was projecting pheromones; neither did he.

Art put his arms around both of them. "I know, my Loves. It's the same way for me. But maybe it's just because I'm well now, or something. I swear I have never felt this good in my life. How could that ... chamber heal me, and how could it do it so quickly? Who the hell are these people? I feel like I'm walking around in a dream. A little while ago I could barely hobble, and I absolutely knew none of us would be alive come morning. Now I'm healed and standing in this... this suite that I could never afford in a million years. Look at this room — the furniture — the bed, the carpet, hell, the drapes. I'll bet they cost more than I make in a month." He walked over and pulled the walk-in closet door open and motioned, "Look at the size of this thing. The bedroom I had while I lived with those slavers wasn't much bigger than this closet."

"She, uh, Diana, said we're to consider this whole — hotel — or whatever it is, our home. So did the Colonel. You did say he was a Colonel didn't you?" Bobby asked, rattled from her intense desire to pull Art over to the bed, even though she knew that one of the Matthews would soon come back for them.

"Yeah, he's a Colonel, but I have no idea what ... organization he's with. You can bet it's not army. I suspect black ops of some type. But his people damn sure hung on his every word. From all the mud on his uniform when we were in Georgia, you can bet he wasn't standing back and watching the battle, and neither was that female Lieutenant with him."

"Uh, about Diana. One of the others called her their Queen. What do they mean by that? They deferred to her like those other men and women did to Colonel Matthews," Sandra added, her eyes straying yet again to Art's groin.

"Maybe she's the boss bitch," Art tried to joke.

"She was so sweet to us while we were waiting for you to get out of that ... chamber," Bobby said, defending her.

"I didn't mean to belittle her. I was just kidding..."

"She's beautiful," Bobby injected.

"They all are," Sandra expanded.

Hanes, a little worried at how this conversation was going, offered, "Now ladies, no need getting jealous," he said, trying to force his thoughts away from sex. "I have the most beautiful women in the world standing right here with me."

The nurses hugged him, both of them unconsciously rubbing their breasts against him. "We saw your eyes tracking those bouncing titties," Sandra said, trying to make her voice stern, even as she realized that she had watched them, too. She locked eyes with her sister for a moment, remembering some of the things they had done. We have Art now, but I love my sister, too. We need some time alone with him. Why am I so hot? It's all I can do to stop myself from unbuckling his pants right now. Is it because we almost died last night?

"They should return for us soon," Art said, trying to discreetly adjust his cock in the jeans he had been given to wear. "Why don't we go back to the other room to wait for them?"

None of them wanted to leave the bedroom, but they knew someone would be returning for them shortly. When they walked back into the sitting room, they heard a rap on the door a second before it opened. A pretty young girl/woman stepped inside. For a second they all thought she was Diana.

Arlene, suspecting what had happened, said, "No, I'm Arlene, her daughter."

"But I thought..." Sandra started, almost certain Arlene had been introduced as one of the Colonel's wives, but both nurses had been lost in all the introductions, more so because they had been worried about their mate and were paying little attention to anything else.

Might as well get it out of the way up front, Arlene thought. "I'm his daughter and ... his wife," she said aloud. "And if that's not enough, Susan, one of the others you were introduced to, is my grandmother, and ... another of his wives."

Art grinned, which reaped him a stern look from Sandra. Bobby frowned, then spoke up. "But there's something wrong. There's no way Diana is old enough to be your mother. She can't be more than twenty, and I remember Susan, since she looks so much like you. I thought all three of you were sisters. Uh, forgive me, but how could Susan possibly be your grandmother. She's just too young to be..."

Arlene stepped over to them. "Please, just withhold judgment until we can explain things. Right now, we need to get you fed, Art. I know you're ravenous, right?" she said, looking at the young Alpha.

"That's an understatement. I have never been this hungry in my life."

"Come on then," she said, grabbing Sandra's hand. "Let's go."

As they stepped out in the hallway, Arlene continued, "Mom sent me to guide you. Once you figure out the logic of this place, it's easy to find things, but your first foray can be a little daunting. Oh, yeah, there's a map in the drawer of the coffee table in your suite. It will help you get used to the Retreat. You should have been here when Mom, Dad and I first got here. When we read about the bears in the Retreat's booklet..." Arlene said just to tease.

"Bears?" both nurses said in unison. Hanes frowned and stared at her.

"Yeah, there aren't many of them, but you should never go outside alone until you're accustomed to things, and particularly without consulting the computer first."

"Computer?" Art questioned.

"Yeah. Several of us are working on an AI program. It's a long way from being self-aware, but it's getting pretty smart. We'll introduce you to it so it will respond to you. We have both our fledgling AI, and Security now that we didn't have when we first moved in, so there is little chance of a bear getting close without someone letting us know. Early on, Dad had a dance with a grizzly on one of his morning runs and almost died from the mauling, but he shot the bear dead with his .45. I guess we tend to be a little paranoid because of that attack."

Art looked intently at her. "He shot a grizzly dead with a .45? How many times did he shoot it?"

"Once," Arlene said, proudly, "right through the eye."

"I've never heard of anyone killing a grizzly with a .45. Let along with just one round," Art replied, vowing to himself to talk the Colonel into telling about the fight. "Do you suppose you could get him..."

Arlene took pity on him. "I'll get Dad to tell you about it," she said, not realizing that Jeff would stress how Arlene and Diana had worked as a team to save his life.

"That's the living room, there," Arlene said as they passed by a couple of minutes later, but Art stopped long enough to stick his head in the door.

"This is a living room?" he said, incredulously. "You could put a full basketball court in here, and have room for the fans as well."

Arlene stopped to smile at him. "We've had some pretty nice weddings in there recently. The kitchen is just down here," she said, motioning on down the hall, as she turned to lead them, but the nurses looked at each other, each practically reading the other's mind and focusing on one word — weddings.

"We'll take you for a tour shortly — if you feel like it, that is. Dad says you were up all last night, so you probably want to take a nap before we show you around, but remember, like Mom said, this is your home now," she finished as she pushed the kitchen door open and stood holding it for them.

"Oh, my goodness," both nurses said as they stopped just inside the kitchen door to stare.

"Kinda grabs you at first, doesn't it?" Arlene said. "It's designed to feed a hundred people, and there are facilities for that many in the building, plus a game room that's out of this world, a theater, oh, lots of things that we'll show you later. There are dining rooms, of course, but we like to eat in here if we can."

"Right this way," Diana said as she walked over to touch Art's arm and lead them to the table. Then to the nurses, "The bar has fruit in case you still want something else to eat. Sit here," she said, motioning to chairs.

When Art and the nurses were seated, Laura put down a platter with a steak, a big mound of scrambled eggs, and a pile of hash browns, while Jennie brought a platter of biscuits fresh out of the oven. Melissa poured a large glass of orange juice, sitting the pitcher close by. Nicki poured a cup of coffee and put a carafe within easy reach and cups for the nurses in case they wanted coffee. Nat put out plates for Bobby and Sandra while Whitney brought a fruit tray so the nurses wouldn't have to go to the bar if they wanted anything.

Diana shoved condiments near. "Eat. And we know that you must be ravenous, Art. Another steak will be ready when you finish that one. There are plenty of hash browns left, and we'll scramble more eggs when you want them."

"I can't eat all this," Art got out, wondering if he were telling the truth as his appetite suddenly ramped up even more at the smell of the food and coffee.

Jeff walked in, now dressed casually. Art started to stand, but Jeff put a hand on his shoulder. "Eat. I've been healed before, and with the enhancement at the same time, you'll want to eat anything that isn't nailed down. You will probably need several more meals — between meals — before the day is out. Your body will eventually catch up, but with your enhancement, from now on, expect to eat a lot more than you've been accustomed to. All perfectly normal, and incidentally, now that you've been enhanced, you probably won't gain weight unless it's muscle. Oh, and expect to grow a couple of inches, too."

Art thought about the cuff he had turned up on the borrowed jeans. I'm supposed to grow? How much of this does he expect me to believe? But then again, I don't have the slightest bit of pain — anywhere. My body is healed completely. So far, my biggest problem has been keeping my dick from embarrassing me. "Enhanced?" Art got out as Jeff motioned for him to eat.

The young agent dived in.

"You're an Alpha. The Healer and the chamber have started a process that will continue for some time. Alphas have a number of abilities that most other humans don't have. Most of those abilities have lain dormant, and some have atrophied until they barely exist anymore. The enhancement process that the Healer has started in your body has begun to awaken those abilities. At least you will have us to guide you. You have already started ... emitting pheromones that you will have to learn to control. They won't affect to any great degree another Alpha's mates, but they will certainly affect any unattached female you come near, and ... your own women. It can become quite embarrassing when a waitress sits on your lap in front of your mates."

Hanes just looked up from his eating and stared, having not the slightest notion what to say.

Diana sat on her husband's lap and injected, "We had some rather ... embarrassing moments when we were in a restaurant before we figured out what was going on with the pheromones. There was a time or two when I thought a waitress was going to strip for my husband right there with me looking on."

"Ladies," Jeff said, turning his gaze to the nurses. "With your permission, Little One will start the process in you as well. Obviously, from what you have already told us while we were there in the kitchen in Georgia, the three of you have decided to be together. The enhancement process will also have an effect on you. You will become even more beautiful. Any imperfections will disappear, your mental abilities will be enhanced, plus most everything else about your bodies. You, like us, will never grow old. We don't know how long we will live, and when I ask Little One about it, she seems not to fully understand what I'm asking. The concepts of age and ageing are apparently foreign to her. I am certain that our cells will reproduce perfectly, so the logical conclusion is that we'll live until we die of non-natural causes.

"I don't expect you to believe all of this at the moment," he continued. "I know that we didn't. But over time, you will come to realize that what I've said has to be true." He hugged Diana to him, "My Queen, as well as everyone here at the Retreat, has received, for the lack of a better term, a mental block that prevents them from freely disclosing our secrets to outsiders who don't have the block. I'm sure she, and the rest of my wives, want to tell you things. So the next stage in the merging of our families, after Little One starts the enhancement process in you two," he said nodding to Bobby and Sandra, "is to convince you to allow me to use the block on you. When that is complete, we will answer any question about anything we're involved in, and that includes the Ship, the team that came to rescue you — everything. You are family now. There will be no secrets.

"And..." Jeff continued, "this doesn't have to be right now. I know that you two ladies are bound to be exhausted. Kayla could barely stay awake through her shower, and I picked her up to put her in the bed. She was sound asleep before I could walk out of the room."

"All of these women, these ladies..." Art said, trying to be tactful.

" ... Are my wives in every sense of the word," Jeff supplied.

"And..." Diana interrupted to add, "we are the lucky ones. We have the most wonderful husband in the world." There were giggles and comments agreeing with her from all Jeff's women as Art and the nurses looked around them, barely believing that a man could have fourteen wives, let alone that they all seemed pleased with the situation.

"Ladies, you have no idea how lucky you are," Helen said, addressing Sandra and Bobby.

Laura put another steak on Art's plate while Joyce leaned over to refill his orange juice. "I'm going to bed," she said when she put the pitcher down. "I work nights. See you guys later," she finished as she touched Bobby and Sandra for a second.