Chapter 29

Monday, June 7, 2010

“Tell me again why this 13-year-old boy is driving us home?” Shannon asked from the back seat.

“I resent the suggestion that I’m only 13. I’ll have you know that I’ve got an official government document that proves definitively that I am, in fact, 16 years old.”

“And how did you get that?”

“The DMV gave it to me.”

“Why would they give you an ID that says you’re 16?”

“You’d have to ask them. I admit that if they were to review things, they might decide to take it away.”

“They messed up the age?”

“I gave them my birth certificate and they put me down as 16 years old.”

“Why were you even in line in the first place? You have to be fifteen to get a learner’s permit.”

“But not a hardship license or a state ID.”

“Hardship license?”

“You can get a driver’s license when you’re younger than fifteen if you show them that you need it to help support your family.”

“I didn’t know that.”

Although he had not actually lied, Shannon would think he had if she found out the truth. Well, what else could he do?

“How come stuff like that never happens to me?” she asked.

“I think I was a nice guy in a previous life.”

“He can drive and he’s spiritual, too. He’s a real find for a middle schooler, Ellen.”

Shannon, Ellen and Jake were coming back from the first day of their gun class. Today had been devoted to becoming familiar with firearms in general and their own weapons in particular. Jake had taken Colin Master’s handgun which turned out to be a Smith & Wesson .45 Chief’s Special. Ellen had a Beretta 9 mm that she bought from the gun shop out front. Shannon had used a loaner.

The class had covered safety procedures and how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the guns. Afterward, they had been taken to the range to fire twenty rounds each, enough to become familiar with the feel of the weapon.

Ellen had been deadly earnest. She had attended to every word from the instructors and had concentrated intently at the range. The target that she was taking home showed that she was the best shot of the three.

Jake had had to fight on-going distractions. One was the mental monologue of the instructor who had never seen tits like Ellen’s. The bigger distraction had come from Shannon. She had a recurring fantasy in which a man held her at gunpoint and forced her into a variety of sex acts. She was still charged up. And that meant that Jake was charged up, too. It did not help that Jake had never seen tits like Ellen’s either. He could use some relief.

Shannon had chattered happily on the trip to the class and back. Jake had brought up the subject of her college years at Wellesley.

“Is it hard to meet men at a women’s college?”

“It wasn’t hard to have a social life. There are plenty of lesbians there, or you can find men off campus.”

“So which did you do, stay on campus or go off campus?”

“Jake! Ellen, is he always this bold?”

“Jake is a master at pushing the boundaries, Shannon.”

“So which is it?” Jake asked.

She looked over at Ellen, speechless.

“Shannon, neither of us will think any less of you whichever way you answer,” Ellen said.

“Speak for yourself. If she says that she spent all her time in the library, I’m going to be disappointed in her,” Jake said.

“But it’s none of your business.”

“That’s fair, but if you refuse to answer, I’m going to think the worst,” Jake said though he knew already. “In fact, I don’t want you to tell me. Let me guess.”

Careful, master. How many more people do you want to know about you?

Jake smiled at Ellen reassuringly and then spoke over his shoulder to Shannon.

“I think that first, you hooked up with one of those up and coming shakers and movers at Harvard. But then you got tired of his pretentiousness, so you tried out the geeks at MIT. When you decided they were even more boring than the men from Harvard, you tried out some of the girls on campus.”

Shannon laughed loudly.

“That’s surprisingly close. You got the order wrong, but yeah, that sounds like my last four years. Maybe you could get a job as a soothsayer.”

“So which ones did you like best?”

“Jake! Why would you ask such a thing?” Shannon said.

“Besides being curious? Maybe I’m thinking about matching you up with someone.”

“Jake, how could you possibly know someone I would want to go out with?”

“I don’t know any lesbians, but I do know some of the sexiest bisexual women you’ll ever meet.”

“You’re going to set me up with girls?”

“It’s easier for me to get to know women, and they open up to me.”

“They tell you about their sexual preferences?”

“Sure, it’s just part of getting to know someone. Look at yourself. You told me.”

“I suppose I did, though you had to guess it first.”

They drove up to the Harrisons’ house at around nine-thirty.

“Do you two want to come in for a couple of minutes? I can get you a glass of wine, Ellen. Jake’s driving so I’ll get him something soft.”

“Let’s pop in, Mom. I’d like to see Jan.”

“Sure, Jake, but don’t forget that I’ve got work in the morning.”

Shannon poured Ellen a large glass of wine.

Jake excused himself to go to the bathroom. He did not know exactly where Jan’s bedroom was, but while he stood at the toilet, he knew he was within thirty feet. He could feel her, though not very well. He was pretty sure that she was giving someone a blowjob. He could not make out the face of the recipient, but he saw no reason to believe it was someone other than Mark.

When he left the bathroom, he walked up the hall until he reached the place where he could read her the strongest. She was probably on the floor above. Yes, it was definitely Mark. He wondered if he ought to let her know that he was there, but he decided against it. He could talk to her later.

He returned to the dining room where Ellen and Shannon were talking. He sat with them but let his mind wander. He would check his email to see if Jan had said anything about his father’s latest message. He could call her in the morning if necessary.

On the drive into class, Jake had detoured past Glen Harris’s house. It was in a nice, old-money neighborhood in the city. He had slowed as he drove by. The house was set back from the street maybe one hundred feet. It was surrounded by hedges but not a fence. The house itself was big, though not palatial. There was a large silver Mercedes in the drive, but Jake did not have enough time to get much of a look at it.

He was brought back from his musings by a jarring thought coming from Shannon. She was imagining Ellen forcing a dildo into her vagina. Like Shannon’s fantasies about men with pistols, this one had her quite excited. Jake almost groaned out loud. And not just from feeling Shannon’s arousal. He was surprised at how the idea of forcing sex on Shannon was so erotic. It was a notion he had never had before.

Jake wondered if this was just a fantasy for Shannon or if it was something that she wanted to actually experience. Lots of women fantasized about rape, but that did not mean that they wanted to be raped. Still, these fantasies had been recurring all night.

Jake brought his attention back to the conversation. Shannon was telling Ellen about her last semester and how hard she had worked to finish her degree.

“Sounds like you didn’t have time for anything except school work,” Jake said.

“Pretty much for all the last year. I had to take extra courses to meet the graduation requirements.”

“Why didn’t you take them earlier?”

Shannon looked abashed.

“I did but I dropped a couple classes in my junior year. I got distracted.”

“Someone special?”

She had recalled a vivid image of a man and a woman. The woman was holding Shannon by the hair while the man knelt naked above her.

“I thought so at the time. It was probably destined to fail from the start.”

“You weren’t compatible?”

“There was another woman. It was complicated.”

Shannon remembered the woman and the man having a loud argument about her, the woman wanting the man to break it off. Shannon reacted to the thought with sadness and tired resignation. It must be a scene she thought about a lot.

Ellen finished her wine.

Master, if it’s okay with you, we should get going.

Jake stood.

“Same time tomorrow, Shannon?”

“You haven’t gotten to see Jan yet,” she said, trying to find a reason for them to stay longer.

“Probably for the best. We’ll be here tomorrow at 6:30.”

The instructor thinks you are beautiful, Jake sent her when they were in the car. I think so, too.

Thank you, master. You’re so sweet.

Speaking of sweet, I think Shannon’s sweet on you, too.

I didn’t notice anything from her.

Jake sent her his memory of Shannon’s fantasy of Ellen.

My God! That’s terrible. What’s that all about?

Jake saw that Ellen didn’t actually find the idea all that terrible. She didn’t like the idea of violence or pain, but being under someone’s control and being compelled to have sex made her tingle a little. Jake let it pass.

She spent all evening imagining being forced to have sex.

I didn’t realize. It must be horrible for her.

You might think so, but the idea gets her very aroused.

That’s sick.

I expect it’s risky, but I don’t think it’s sick. In the right environment, it would be harmless enough.

You’re not repulsed by that?

I would have expected to be put off by it, but I found myself getting excited by her fantasies.

Jake felt Ellen become nervous.

Don’t get like that. Wait until you know more before you get your panties in a twist. I hate the idea of someone being compelled to have sex, and I hate even more the idea of me being the one doing the compelling. But there’s something in Shannon that welcomes it. She’s been with people who forced her—people she knew and liked. Her memories of it are vivid. I’m charged up after getting pummeled by her lust all night.

But, Jake, I can’t believe that you get off on the idea of raping women.

That’s not what I’m saying. It’s like this. I’m a man, or at least I will be one soon. The idea of being able to take any woman I want is exciting. I doubt that I’m any different from other guys that way. And that doesn’t make me a monster. I don’t want to hurt people. I might be willing to play at it if there was no real harm done, but I wouldn’t hurt someone on purpose.

You really think that way?

Really. I’m not sure if it’s because of the sex or because of the power or if it even makes sense to distinguish between the two. While the desire is definitely there, it’s not overpowering. It’s like when you see something you want at the store. You don’t steal it just because you want it. You know that would be unacceptable, so you buy it or make do without. I’m sure there are lots of things that you want but you can’t have, so you let it go.

Well, sure.

That’s the way it is for me.

Men really want that?

It’s the biological imperative, the result of millions of years of evolution.

Then I’m sorry men aren’t more evolved.

Jake laughed.

If it makes any difference, I wish we were more evolved, too. Still, I think that you and I are going to play a game with Shannon.

What kind of game?

We’re going to play the force-Shannon-to-have-sex game.

It doesn’t sound legal to me.

It’s only illegal if we force her against her will. I’m pretty sure that Shannon wants us to force her. In fact, she wants it a lot.

Will you bail me out if she presses charges?

I promise. It’s true, though, that what we’ll be doing is not entirely risk-free. When you play with coercion, you have to be careful to not go further than the victim actually wants.

How can you know where that point is?

Normally I would just read her mind, but I’m not completely sure I will always be able to separate Shannon’s fantasies from her intentions. So mind reading will be my fall back plan. What we’re going to do instead is use the traditional safeguard, a safe word.

What’s that?

You agree on a word ahead of time. If she ever says that word you stop. That puts us in charge but leaves her with a veto.

At least that should keep her from calling the police.

She’s very attracted to you. She likes me, but I’m too young for her to take seriously. That will end when I force her to submit to me. I’m going to take her first. Then I’m going to give her to you.

What will you want me to do?

I showed you her fantasy of you raping her with a dildo. I want you to act that out. Then I want you to make her lick your pussy. We’re going to have to buy a dildo. Maybe we should buy some ropes, too. If we do, we’ll have to learn how to use them.

If that’s what you want.

Jake could sense her concern.

It is what I want. When we are done, once we have had the experience, then we’ll talk about it further. At that point, we will be able to talk about it from a position of knowledge instead of ignorance. I will expect you to take control of her and make it realistic. I’ll be there to let you know if you go too far.

Yes, master.

When we get home, get ready for bed and wear a sexy nightgown. I missed you last night and I want you bad.

“Hey, wake up, sub of mine. You’ve got to talk to me for a little while longer.”

Ellen had dozed off after sex.

“Of course, master. Whatever you want,” she said as her breathing slowed further.

Jake smacked her smartly on an ass cheek.

“Hey!”

“You can sleep soon. I need your attention for a few more minutes.”

“Yes, master.”

“I want you to tell me what you do when you come home from work. Every step.”

“I turn off my desk lamp and computer. I say goodbye to Nancy and Stew. They work in the desks next to mine. I grab my suit coat if I have one and my purse and head for the elevator. The elevator lets me out on the ground floor. I walk through the lobby, out the sliding doors, down the walk, and into the parking lot. I usually get to work early so my car is parked near the front. I walk to it, get in, and drive home.”