Chapter 580

The Retreat

...”Since I’m almost a wife, would you mind if I go with you when you talk to her? I promise that I’ll leave you alone with her after a little while.”

“Honest, Tosha, I haven’t kissed her, or even talked with her in private more than a few times.” Then with a quiet sigh, “Yeah, I knew that she was looking at me in that special way, but I thought ... Oh, shit. How do I get myself into these things?” he said again. Then in frustration and almost to himself, “Isn’t a group of aliens approaching Earth enough to worry about?”

Tosha suddenly realized that she seemed to be feeling her almost-husband’s frustration and worry, but with that came a certainty that she needed to help, and maybe she would be able to. “Remember, I’m still your fiancée, and I’m going to have some private time with you before we’re married,” she said in all seriousness.

“I know, Baby. Crap, I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, I haven’t had a lot of alone time with you, but there will be some. I don’t mean to stress you further, but please remember that, okay?” Standing, she took his hand, “Now let’s go see Aiko.”

Without comment, Kayla went with them.

The small group stopped at Aiko’s door and Jeff stood with his hand poised to knock. “What the hell am I going to say?”

“Don’t look at me,” Tosha responded, “but on second thought, I will mention this.” By then, she had his full attention. “Whatever it is, it had better be from your heart. She’ll know in an instant if it isn’t.”

“Excellent advice,” Kayla agreed.

As if I would go in there and lie to her. But the Prime sighed and knocked quietly twice.

After a long pause, “Maybe they didn’t hear you,” Tosha commented.

Kayla quickly responded, “Diana would have heard – guaranteed. Not to mention my other sister-wives.”

A couple of seconds later, Diana opened the door and ushered them in. “Aiko and Kei are in the bedroom and will be out as soon as Aiko washes her face.”

“Baby, I...”

“Hush, Husband,” she said as she touched fingertips to his lips before motioning for everyone to come in and sit. “This went right by me, too. Looking back, it was obvious that she would fall in love with you, but I suppose I was too busy to notice. She has been around you – close to you – as we all worked to get her divorced from that maniac, not to mention that you saved her life, but she’s just so... quiet that it never occurred to me. She barely shows any emotion, and yet she’s been through so much. Ah, crap. This just goes to show what we were talking about your having something, not exactly your pheromones, but something. Women who are closely associated with you are attracted to you – extremely attracted to you. I suppose that even I didn’t realize just how much.”

Diana hesitated for a moment as she thought. “I would say to ask her to marry you, but it’s way too soon for that. However, you do need to talk to her, and darnit, Jeff, please give her some hope.”

“I’m going to tell her the truth. It wouldn’t be right to make excuses. Hell, I could never lie to her. She would know.”

Kayla asked, “So, what are you going to say?”

“I have no damn idea,” he admitted with a sigh.

After a couple of minutes, Kei came out of the bedroom. “She’s stopped crying, but she will not come out. She is ashamed for having shown her emotions.”

“Kei, I’m sorry. I had no idea. I mean, she’s married...”

“For three more days,” Kei interrupted to say.

“I, uh, didn’t know that,” he admitted.

“His sudden capitulation surprised both of us. I think that my ... father realized that he was well on his way to jail and did not – how do you say – uh, want to rock the boat any more than he had already. He suddenly signed everything, and his attorney asked the judge for an expedited divorce. Mother signed and basically asked for everything to be split down the middle – well, other than the house and grounds. She said she has horrible memories associated with the compound and wanted nothing to do with it, but she agreed to allow her attorney to ask for half the value of the property. Amazing everyone involved, my father almost instantly agreed, and the judge did as they both requested. Mother will be a very rich woman when the divorce becomes final in a few days.”

“Well, good for her. I’m glad she was able to stand up to that tyrant.” After a couple of seconds of silence, Jeff tentatively asked, “So, what is your read on your mother being upset with me?”

Kei smiled as she sat in her husband’s lap and kissed him before snuggling against his chest. “My mother was a beautiful woman even before the enhancement. Now, she seems younger every day. In addition, she is using the exercise equipment in the basement while following a program on the net that is supposed to get her into shape. That is for you, of course, but she has always kept herself in decent physical condition, even with the beatings that bastard dished out. In addition, she spent many hours throughout the years working in her flower garden, which has certainly not hurt. But ... she was waiting for you to notice her, and it turns out that she had some strong hopes along those lines. But, you had not noticed her, and now you have brought in a fiancée – no offense meant, Tosha. You’re a great person, but now she feels that she has lost any chance of your noticing her.

“I suppose that some of this is my fault,” Kei went on, “because...” she hesitated as her face darkened with a blush, “I ... suppose I bragged about you. Probably ad nauseam, now that I think about it objectively. But, I was, and am, so very proud to be one of your wives – part of your harem. I tried to explain to her how you made love to all of us every night. And, well, I probably overdid that a bit, too. But, Jeff, I just never...”

“Husband,” Diana quietly said as she sat by the two on the couch, “We all share some blame in this. We tend to brag about our husband, and here she was falling in love with you. Kei,” she said as she reached to take her sister-wife’s hand, “this wasn’t any more your fault than it was all of our faults. She is so quiet and reserved that we, just as you, didn’t notice her reaction to our husband.”

Diana caught Jeff’s eye. “Lover, go talk to her. If you care for her, tell her so. And darnit, Baby, kiss her. No woman alive can think while you’re kissing her. And, maybe turn on your pheromones just a teeny bit if she isn’t responding enough.”

“She’s clothed, right? I don’t want to walk in there and embarrass her more.” Jeff asked both Kei and Diana.

“She is dressed, and she’s expecting you,” Kei assured him.

Ann came in and motioned to Arlene, who turned to her father. “Wait, Daddy. We have a training mission scheduled. It’s the live fire in the asteroid belt, remember?”

“Shit, I was going to monitor...”

“The other teams are already waiting for Ann and me...”

“Okay, go. If I get through in time here, I’ll have Ship bring me out.”

“Daddy, we’ve done it before. Each team is going to take turns tossing rocks with our tractor beams so we all get to fire at some fast moving targets. It isn’t nearly as hard to do as the simulated missions, but Ship says it’s to accustom us to the reality of true weapon fire.”

“Okay. If I finish here in time, I’ll have Ship bring me out to observe. Be careful.”

“Always, Husband.”

Kei moved out of the way so Arlene could kiss him before Ann did the same.

In seconds, they were gone. “Damn, I want to go with them,” he told Kayla.

“We still can. Ship can catch up if need be.”

Diana smiled at her husband. “You’ve already told me that their training time was going to be very much increased from now on, so there’ll be plenty of time later to watch them and give them pointers.”

The Prime shrugged. “There was a time when I could do that, but that time has mostly passed. Ann and Arlene are winning against me in the simulator more than half the time.”

“Yeah, but they’re flying double while you’re still in a one man interceptor in the simulator, right?”

“Yeah, but...”

“Then I rest my case. Get that great tush of yours in there and start helping your next fiancée to feel better. After that, you can go watch the teams blow up some asteroids.”

“She’s not...”

“She had better be – and soon. Don’t even start with me, Husband. It’s time something good happened in her life, and besides, she’ll make you a great wife. Now go.”

“Yes, Boss,” he said with a pretend-salute to her frown while Kayla chuckled.

Aiko was sitting on the bed, her hands folded in her lap with her back ramrod straight. Oh, shit. What have I done? She looks as if she’s waiting on the executioner.

As soon as Jeff walked in, she quickly looked down. “I apologize. I had no reason to expect that you would notice me. I am too old...”

She stopped, confused as Jeff knelt in front of her before reaching to take her hands in his. Borrowing from her usual demeanor, he looked down for a moment before saying, “I am but a man, and accordingly, I sometimes do dumb things. Diana confirms that slow uptake and obliviousness are traits that seem to come with the male gene. In my defense, you were married and therefore unobtainable, so I refused to allow my thoughts to dwell on you. Despite my best efforts, though, your beauty, along with your calm and intelligent nature, tempted me greatly, but ... I didn’t expect that you had any thoughts about me. I am still unable to understand why you would be interested in me – assuming that what my wives tell me is accurate.”

That brought about a gradually intensifying blush.

“I also just received information that your divorce is to be final shortly. I thought that your husband was still refusing to even talk about divorce.”

For the first time, Aiko spoke. “My husband,” she said as if there were a bad taste in her mouth, “was presented with the knowledge of certain information that I found prior to my rescue which would certainly make prison time a distinct possibility should the authorities be made aware of it. My attorney seems to think that my husband finally realized that he had no chance of getting to me as long as I remained here. With that realization, he suddenly became very interested in pleasing me the only way he could, and that was to capitulate to the terms of the divorce – all in the hopes that I would not turn my information over to the federal authorities.

“According to my attorney, since I certainly did nothing wrong in the marriage, I would receive half of everything. Before he beat me the last time, I had found a list of his accounts and their corresponding passwords, both here in the U.S., as well as some overseas locations. I copied the account information, as well as the other damning information, and had it in the pocket of my kimono when he beat me the last time, and consequently, had it when you rescued me. I am certain that he has other accounts, but I have heard it said that half of nothing is still nothing. My attorney let his attorney know that I had the account information as well as other damning evidence. My attorney said that he did not want to see the information nor know the details because he would then be duty bound to turn it over to the authorities. However, he apparently convinced my husband’s attorney that the information would put my husband in jail for many years. If I informed the police and they seized his accounts, he would have nothing. My attorney said that they would keep looking until they found all of his money. Since we arrived here, my daughter was able to access the accounts and change the passwords. I agreed to refrain from informing the police unless I was specifically asked, and I will release the passwords to him after the settlement. I will not lie for him, but I intend hurting him the only way I can, and that is by hurting him financially. As long as I have sufficient finances to provide the necessities, I will be satisfied, but I will never tell him that.”

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, Jeff thought as he sat there amazed at the supposedly meek little woman who had finally fought back after her years of beatings and humiliation. Finding his voice, he said, “Sooo, when is your divorce final?”

“In three days.”

“In that case, would it be inappropriate if I kissed you?”

A flicker of shock crossed the small woman’s face, before she sucked in a breath, bound up her courage and quietly said, “It would, since I am technically still married.” Even then, her hands trembled in his as she continued, “But I would not care.”

Jeff moved to sit beside her while putting an arm around the trembling woman. When she didn’t resist, he turned toward her and drew her to him, just gently holding her as she let out a ragged sigh while her eyes misted and her body continued to shiver faintly. “Shhhh,” he whispered into her ear. “Everything is going to turn out perfectly. You’ll see.” As he took her face ever so gently in his hands and tenderly touched his lips to hers, big tears leaked from her eyes.