Chapter 9: Day 1

Steve's second awakening in his new world was similar to his first. He was groggy again, and his head still seemed full of cotton. He found himself spooning with Amanda, his hand inside her pajamas and cupping her breast. As his head cleared, he started to notice some discrepancies. First of all, the breast he was holding was smaller and firmer than Amanda's. Secondly, the woman it was part of was shorter than his wife. And thirdly, he now remembered seeing a video yesterday, showing his wife and everyone else he'd ever known being blown up along with all the rest of the living things on the Earth.

There was also the minor oddity that another woman was spooning with him, with two firm breasts pressed against his back, and her lap pressing against his backside.

He tried to withdraw his hand, and was stopped by three things. Firstly, the woman in his arms was lying on the arm attached to the hand in question. Secondly, she grabbed his hand in hers and pressed it firmly back into place. And finally, the woman who was pressed up against his back spoke, saying, "Be nice Steven, let Susan enjoy her victory a bit longer."

Steve relaxed and stopped fighting Susan's effort to move his hand back into position. Behind him, Rachel patted his hip, snuggled a bit closer and said, "I knew you were a nice guy. Now all we need is to get you to put the seat back down when you're done."

"So how is it that I have such uninvited if lovely company this morning? I'm not objecting, exactly, but I don't recall offering to share my bed, nor being asked if I minded?"

Susan replied, "Luanne and Rachel and I snuck a peek on you when we were going to bed. You looked restless, so we decided you needed company. It's a big bed, so we all climbed in."

Steve looked over Susan's head, but didn't see anyone else on that side of the bed. He asked, "So Luanne's back there with you, then, Rachel?"

"No," came the response, "She had to use the bathroom, and said she was going back to her room to take a shower, then to warn the rest of the family what we're doing in here, so we don't cause any hard feelings. She tried not to wake you up, but it doesn't look like it worked."

"No, it probably did. I think my bladder is what woke me up. Speaking of which, unless you two are a lot kinkier than I think you are, Susan's going to have to give up my hand, so I can go empty the tank. Otherwise it's going to get pretty rank around here."

Reluctantly, Susan released his hand. He gave her breast a good-bye squeeze and lifted her up with one arm while he pulled the other out from under her. He crawled out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Behind him, both women scooted together, to replace the warmth of his body. Again, Steve noticed the lack of any sign of sexual attraction between them. He was apparently going to be the sole source of sexual release around here, unless he could get them interested in dildos and vibrators. If that didn't work, he was going to find out the hard way if the aliens had a cure for terminal exhaustion.

He took care of his morning needs, settling for a quick washcloth over the stinky bits instead of a full shower. He wanted to get moving before the women had a chance to plot against him. He found a fresh set of clothes hanging next to the door, and what looked like a hamper nearby, so he acted on the assumption and dropped his dirty clothing into the opening. Then he put on the clean clothes, and left the room.

Susan was gone, and Rachel was out of bed, apparently waiting for him. "Susan went to catch a shower, and I'm off to do the same. We'll see you at breakfast." She walked over, tilted her head slightly, and leaned in to kiss him. He returned it, with interest, and found his arms around her as his tongue decided to enter the game. She melted into him at first, then stiffened and pulled back. "I'd love to continue, but not until we've all talked about this. I'm not the only one who's looking at you as an emotional anchor, and I'm still not sure why there's such a strong sexual attraction to go with it. It may be something about our situation that brings out the primitive instincts; we all agree you'd make an excellent protector if we were facing any outside threats, and sex would be a good way to bind you to us."

She pulled out of his arms, and raced out the door. He followed, at a more sedate pace, and saw her ducking into a room next to the entrance to the common area as he stepped into the hallway. He continued on into the 'living room', where he found Luanne and several of the other women nursing cups of coffee. Getting one for himself, he went to join them.

Steve started to make a joke about Luanne and the other two spending the night in his bed, when he noticed how nervous she was, and how she refused to meet his eyes. He sipped from his coffee while formulating a plan, then he spoke to her. "Luanne, can you come with me a minute? I've got a question for you, but it's kind of personal."

Luanne nodded, and followed him over to a small cluster of chairs well away from the rest of the furniture. He waved her to a seat, then sat down next to her, close enough to speak quietly, far enough to avoid looking too intimate from a distance. He saw how tense she was, and grew angry. "I hope the idiot that trained you to be so afraid died a slow painful death," he spat. Luanne jumped, then quickly spoke. "No, it's not like that at all. I was just terrified that you'd denounce me for the way we pushed ourselves on you, and that you and the others would turn us out. I didn't think you were going to hit me or anything like that."

"No, you've done nothing wrong, certainly nothing worth yelling about. And even for an actual offense, I'd be asking you what you were thinking, not jumping on you with both feet. Now stand up, give me a good morning kiss, and we'll go back to the ladies you were talking to. Remember, though, that whatever you get, they're going to get, so don't go overboard."

Luanne smiled, and did as she was bid. The kiss was brief but warm, and they walked back over to where she'd been sitting, with Steve's hand brushing her back. When they got there, Steve kissed each of the ladies good morning, and settled in for a visit.

Steve and the ladies had a pleasant chat for about fifteen minutes; about then the next batch of women came out of the sleeping quarters and started making breakfast noises. So the whole group got up and moved into the dining room for breakfast. Only Lisa was missing, and she wandered in before the last person had gotten her order from the replicator. She smiled at Steve and apologized for being late. He laughed, and made a joke about his being late to work because she'd slept in.

That lead to a crack from one of the other women about hoping he'd still be doing a good job by the time he got to her, and things went rapidly downhill from there. Steve noticed Lisa and a couple of the other women looking a bit uncomfortable when the conversation got racy. He resolved to try to talk to the instigators of the raunchiness, of which Luanne was the most vocal (as usual.)

After breakfast, Luanne told Steve that the women had something to ask him, and would he like a fresh coffee to sip while they discussed it? He declined, and Susan got up and walked over to stand before him. She looked nervous, so he reached out, took her hand, and pulled him into his lap. He put his arms around her, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"OK," he said, "this must be when you tell me who the women have decided I'll have sex with first, and what the plan will be to make sure everyone gets a fair share of my time. And you got stuck with the job, and you're scared that you'll screw it up, and everyone will hate you. Am I right so far?"

Susan was blushing, so embarrassed she could only nod.

"That part was obvious, but I'm going to start guessing now. If I get it wrong, just shake your head; if I"m right, nod. OK?"

Susan nodded.

"You got stuck telling me, so I'm guessing it's because you're first?"

Nod.

"And you like the idea of being with me?"

Nod, nod, nod.

"And you hate the idea of all of these women watching you sit here and talk to me about how I'm going to make love to you and then do it to all of them?"

Steve was afraid Susan would break her neck, she nodded so fast.

"OK, then how about I drag you off to my room, have my way with you, and you tell me all about the other women's turns afterwards?"

Susan finally managed to speak, "Yes, please!"

Steve had been in pretty good shape before the incident, but he seemed to be even in better condition now, and he figured Susan's small stature would help him. So he put one arm around her shoulders, the other under her legs, and stood up with her in his arms. "We'll be back in a while, ladies. I'll give you a quick recap of what she tells me when I get back, so you can correct any misunderstandings I may come up with."