Chapter 2: Too Good to Last

Jimmy

Amber was really anxious by the time Rebecca brought her to the hotel, where she spent the night snuggled between Lizzy and me, waking if for any reason at least one of us was not touching her. It was clear that she was going to need help getting through the next day. If Jamie hadn't been able to go with her I don't know if she would have even gotten in the car. I'm sure she would have if one of us had ordered her to, but neither of us would have.

I wasn't comfortable with Jamie being so far away, but as the day wore on it became clear that she was not having any difficulty at all being away. Maybe the latest round of changes had included a little something for her as well. Having Jamie there got Amber through the visit and she was feeling much better on her return than she had after Saturday's visit. She was also very glad that the news story about her would not be breaking until the following day when she was once more far away. One thing we weren't releasing to the press was her current location. There was no way she would be able to handle the crowds of reporters that were bound to be swarming the house or the school if they found out she was there. It was clear this was an issue we were going to have to start working on with her.

"I think you should teach her to protect herself," Jamie said.

It was early evening, and we were on our way back to Vegas, where the girls would fly back to school. At the moment they were cuddled up together in the back, and with the tint on the windows, it probably looked like I was alone.

"You mean fight?" I asked.

"No, I mean like kick serious ass," she said. "Jimmy, you don't realize how scared she was. Basic self defense isn't going to give her the confidence she needs. She needs to know she can defend herself or she is never going to feel truly safe."

"But she knows we would always be there for her."

"No," she said in a correcting tone. "She knows we would always try to be there for her. There is a difference. She also knows that there is always a chance that we may be tied up saving someone else's ass and not be able to come right away, and before you say it, yes, I know, we could send Walter, but I don't think we should tell her that part. Besides, I'm not sure how well that will work either. We don't know if Walter could merge with her, and if he can't, then his being there isn't going to make a difference because she won't even know he's there. Even if he can, I think it's really unlikely he'll be able to do much. She gave me control because she accepts me as an ... extension of you, but I don't see her doing the same for Walter. Also, she is afraid that someone may be hurt or die because you left them to help her, and she wouldn't want that. Jimmy, she needs this, right now she feels helpless any time you or Lizzy are not there. Even at school, when Lizzy is in class, it lurks around the edges. And yes, I could be there, but it would be better, way better for her, if she could do it on her own. Besides, I don't like being away from you so much."

"Did you feel weak?"

"No, not at all, and we really need to play with that, too, because I kept waiting for the signs, and they never came, but I don't want to take it for granted that I can be out that long. It would suck to find out the hard way that I was wrong, but I wasn't talking about me. This is going to sound bad, but the whole time I was gone I was worried about something happening to you."

"You were afraid I couldn't take care of myself?" I asked, surprised and a little indignant.

"I know! I'm sorry, but yes, I was worried something would happen, and I wouldn't be there to protect you. Is that horrible?

I couldn't help laughing out loud, and the girls wanted to know what was so funny.

"Jamie, that's not horrible," Lizzy said when I told them. "I think it's really sweet, and you shouldn't feel bad about it, we all feel like that — about each other and the others in our lives. You don't know how good you have it being able to move around and keep track of us all. I worry about my little sister all the time, and my parents, even Rusty, and he carries a gun and has a whole building full of deputies watching his back. I know Jimmy worries about us, and Allison, Amy — well maybe not Amy — Walter's keeping an eye on her and would let us know if anything were wrong. The difference is he has to stop what he's doing and concentrate on someone to check on them where you are free to just go. Of course if he wanted to, he could probably... can you do that Jimmy?"

"Do what?" I asked. I had been dividing my attention between the conversation and the road. Since she was talking to Jamie, I was mainly focusing on the road.

"Leave Jamie in control and go to someone? You know, like she did with Amber today."

I thought about it. Could I? The closest I think I had come was leaving her while I went into a dream with Lizzy or Allison. I had never actually tried to merge with someone before. "You mean like leave and merge with someone like she and Walter do? I don't know, I never thought to try."

"Next rest stop, pull over and let me drive, then you can try it." She stroked Amber's hair. "You like having your Master inside you, don't you sweetie?" She slid her hand down over Amber's cheek.

Amber smiled and sucked a finger into her mouth before answering, "Yes, Mistress, very much. In fact, I think it's my favorite thing in the whole world." Somehow I don't think they were talking about the same thing anymore.

"Yes, I know. Do you think you would feel safer knowing he could be with you, even be a part of you any time he wanted to?"

"Yes, Mistress," Amber replied. "I could face anything if he were with me." I could tell from her voice that the topic had, at least for the moment, shifted back and that this wasn't just playful talk.

"Maybe driving in a car isn't the best place to experiment with this," I said. "I think we should wait and see if I can actually merge with her in a dream, maybe see how that goes before we try it here. I've got more options if anything goes wrong there."

Lizzy thought about it for a second and said, "That's probably a better idea. I think you should let me drive anyway though, Amber is really getting into my finger, and I think maybe she'd rather trade it in on the real thing, wouldn't you baby?"

Amber didn't answer but switched to Lizzy's thumb, sucking it as deep into her mouth as she could and moaning as she swirled her tongue around it.

"I thought so," Lizzy said. "Take off your clothes."

Lizzy spent the next twenty minutes teasing Amber as she continued to suck her thumb and fingers, taking her right to the edge of orgasm and backing off. When she finally pushed her over the top I thought Amber was having a seizure, bucking and thrashing all over the place. The unmistakable aroma of wet woman filled the car, and considering she was naked on the leather seat it was likely to be lingering for some time. As fun as it would have been to watch, I was working hard to keep the car moving in a straight line as she kicked my seat repeatedly. Apparently I wasn't that successful.

"Uh-oh," Jamie said.

I looked in the mirror and saw a red light with a very distinctive silhouette attached to it. I pulled into the right lane and slowed down in hopes that he was actually on his way somewhere else. No such luck; he pulled into the lane behind me so I pulled off onto the shoulder and stopped.

Amber started reaching for her clothes, but Lizzy simply said, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry, Mistress," she replied, dropping her bra back on top of the pile and settling herself in the seat, arms and legs crossed demurely.

The officer appeared to be around my dad's age and going a little soft in the middle. I imagine eight hours a day sitting down would do that to you eventually. I got my paperwork ready as he approached and rolled my window down as he came alongside.

Searching quickly, I found his name-tag and asked, "Is there a problem officer ... Stubbs? I don't think I was speeding."

"No sir, but I did notice some erratic movement back there. Have you been drinking?"

"Oh," I said. "I was afraid of that. No officer, I haven't been drinking. The girls were having a little fun..." I raised my voice and glanced over my shoulder, " ... and someone was kicking my seat!"

Due to the dark tint he couldn't see into the back seat, so the officer ducked his head to try and see, and when he did I think he caught a big whiff of Amber. Must be a primal reaction because he certainly responded, his eyes getting wide and his nostrils flaring as he took a deeper breath.

Lizzy whispered something, and suddenly the back window rolled down and Amber said, "It was my fault officer, I'm very sorry. My Mistress was pleasuring me, and in my joy I lost control. Most of it's a blur, but I vaguely remember kicking the seat several times."

Stubbs was speechless as he stared in the window at Amber's nude form. Twenty minutes of stimulation, plus the added excitement of Lizzy ordering her to display herself, publicly, left a very pretty flush on her face and chest. Her nipples were hard and prominently displayed on her large, full breasts.

"Yes, we're very sorry officer," Lizzy said. "Obviously I will need to work with Amber to improve her control."

"Yes, well ... it's always dangerous to be uh ... roughhousing in a moving vehicle; it's very um ... distracting to the driver and can cause accidents even if the driver is uh..."

The sentence just kind of faded out.

"Yes officer," Lizzy replied, "and we'd like to thank you for stopping us and pointing that out. It's good to know that we can count on our law enforcement personnel to watch out for our safety. In fact, Amber would like to thank you personally for looking out for our safety, wouldn't you Amber?"

"Oh, Mistress, may I?" Amber asked excitedly.

"I think that is a wonderful idea," I said, opening the door.

"Officer Stubbs, I wonder if you could step around to the other side of the car and look at something for me? Amber, I think the front seat would be best so we can open the doors and no one will see the officer doing anything inappropriate."

Stubbs was looking a little shell shocked as Amber popped her seat belt and climbed over the seat, so I rolled the windows up, took his arm, and began guiding him around the back of the car to the other side.

"You're not serious," Stubbs said we passed the trunk. "She's doesn't really want to..." he gulped.

"Oh, she's very serious," I assured him.

As we passed the rear door, Lizzy opened it and stepped out, leaning over the door and using her body to further shield what was about to happen. At the same time, Amber opened the front door, swung her feet out, and squatted on her folded jeans — a position which also displayed her still very red, and very wet, sex for the nice officer. As soon as he was in reach she started working on his pants. She had a little trouble with the gun belt at first, but within seconds she had managed to fish his rapidly swelling erection out and began swirling her tongue around the head.

Stubbs just closed his eyes and muttered, "Oh my god..."

It was a good thing I was there because even holding on to the door with one hand and bracing himself on the roof with the other, Stubbs almost fell over when she swallowed the whole thing and began licking his balls.

The muttering escalated to a sort of chant as she worked him in and out of her mouth at a more shallow depth, working her tongue over and around the head constantly while stroking his shaft and fondling his dangling sack with her free hand.

"Oh god, oh my god, OH my god, oh, oh, oh god..."

The litany continued until suddenly, "OH ... GOD!" as she suddenly went deep again and seemed to be doing May's trick of swallowing repeatedly while he was buried in her throat. It was over quickly after that and Amber carefully tucked him back in.

"Thank you officer Stubbs," she said as she zipped him up and then waited for one of us to tell her what to do next.

"You're ... uh ... welcome, Amber was it?"

"Thank you Amber, you may get dressed now," Lizzy said.

"Yes Mistress," she said.

She picked up her jeans and slipped around the door and past Lizzy into the back seat. Stubbs's eyes were glued to her the whole way.

Lizzy held out her hand and said, "Thank you officer Stubbs, it was very nice of you to allow Amber to practice with you."

He blew out a laugh, "Didn't seem like she needed the practice."

"Oh not that part," she said. "You were her first public performance, and I'm sure she will always remember it. She had a really good time, I could tell. I'm pretty sure you did too."

He rolled his eyes and laughed again. "Are you kidding? That's the kind of thing that only ever happens to cops in Penthouse stories and porno movies. You daydream about it, but you never really expect it to happen to you."

"She'll be happy to know that it was special for you too," I said.

"Trust me," he replied, shaking his head. "Special doesn't begin to cover it."

I handed Lizzy back into the rear of the car and walked Stubbs back toward his vehicle.

"You know I wasn't going to give you a ticket," he said. "You didn't have to do that."

I stopped and answered in a very serious tone, "If I thought you were actually going to give me a ticket, officer, I would never have even considered it. Amber is not a whore; I would never use her that way, and I would never offer a peace officer anything that even remotely resembled a bribe. As it is, it was an excellent opportunity for her. You're having trouble dealing with this aren't you?"

"Truthfully? Yeah, I am. It was obvious she wasn't under any compulsion — you can't fake that kind of enthusiasm — yet a part of me keeps screaming that it's wrong."

"Believe me, I understand. It was a real struggle for me when I found myself trapped in the role of her Master."

"Trapped? You make it sound like you're a victim here; I doubt you'd find too many people feeling sorry for you."

"It's difficult to explain, but I'll try. I read something once, a long time ago. I'm not even sure what book it was — something science fiction I think. Anyway there were these primitive people that believed that if you saved someone's life you were then responsible for that person because you had stolen their destiny away from the gods. It was very weird, but, because of this belief, if they found someone in deadly danger — stuck in quicksand or something — they would actually weigh the responsibility of this person's life before helping them, often letting them die instead of taking the burden of their care onto themselves.

"Damn," he said. "That's hard."

"Yes," I agreed, nodding my head. "Now picture this; you've found someone — not just a friend but someone you really care about — trapped in a maze where all of the paths eventually lead to single door, and behind that door is a loaded gun, and you know, know with absolute certainty, that by the time they reach that door they will be so depressed and distraught that they will use it to end their life. Now, there is one path they can take that will get them out safely, but it's hidden, and they don't know it's there. You know it's there, but not where it is, and the only way to save them is for you to find the hidden path to safety and then guide them out.

"Now there is only the one safe path, and you are the only person they trust to guide them, but if you do guide them out, then they become your responsibility from that point on. Would you do it?"

He looked at me for a second then glanced back at the car and shook his head. "Damn! I don't know. I mean I want to say yes — I'd like to think I'm the kind of guy that would do it no matter what — but from what you're saying, it's like getting married again, or raising a kid."

"More than that even," I said. "A closer analogy would be raising a handicapped child who, because of their disability, would never be able to live on their own. No matter what happened, they would always be dependent on you to make the important decisions, including only leaving them with someone who would care for and protect them just as you would, because they would obey anyone you left them with as if it were you."

As I was saying it I realized that it was true and that for the first time I was admitting that 'Amber' was more than a buried yearning that had surfaced during Angela's ordeal. Something in Angela had been broken during that torturous month, and while she could play the part of her former self when instructed to, it was no longer normal for her. Without a Master to care for her, she would never be able to function on her own in the real world. That was why she had needed Jamie to be with her today ... because even when she was in LA, hiding in a private hospital surrounded by the kind of security they normally reserved for heads of state, she had not felt safe until I had taken control of her life and promised to care for her. It was a painful realization. Fortunately I had Officer Stubbs to deal with at the moment, so I didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Damn!" He exclaimed again. "How do you even begin to ... shee-it!"

"That is, in a nutshell, my relationship with Amber, only I didn't have the luxury of knowing where the path was," I said. "I had to learn it as I was leading her. Thankfully I wasn't the only one trying to help her, I had people to help me cope and learn to deal with it. I was the only one she would trust, but I couldn't have done it without them."

"I think I'm beginning to understand a little bit of your dilemma. You know I never even looked at your license, how old are you, son?"

"Too young to be asked to do something like this," I said seriously. "At first I hated everything about it, for the same reasons that I'm sure you're feeling. But as I said, I was the only one she would trust, and I loved her too much to let her die." I held out my hand. "David Malcolm."

"Mike Stubbs. Nice to meet you, David, you're not wanted for anything are you, no outstanding warrants?"

"Not that I know of," I answered. "Although, I guess technically I'm guilty of conspiracy to assault a police officer."

He laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall down. "David, if that's assault then you can beat me to death."

"Be careful what you wish for Officer." I was smiling when I said it but he glanced at the car again and sobered quickly.

"Get out of here, and for God's sake, drive carefully."

It would be very interesting to see his reaction when he read about Angela in the paper tomorrow. The thought of the story coming out reminded me of something else, so I pulled out my phone and called Rebecca.

"Hampton," she answered.

"Hi, it's me. First of all, thank you for all your help this weekend; I know you would have rather been with Amy."

"Wrong," she answered. "It's not often we get to be the bearers of good news in cases like this; I wouldn't have missed this unless I was in coma."

"Okay, well it occurred to me that with the story about her being alive breaking tomorrow, someone may want to talk to the people over at the Indian casino that has that big-ass reward out for her killer. If she's not dead..."

"Actually I already did, and they don't care if she's alive as long as the son of a bitch that took her is dead. So you're looking at another hefty payout headed your way."

"Great, just what I need. Do you think you could convince them that the person primarily responsible would prefer the money be given to Angela to help her rebuild her life?"

"Not without someone to pin the hero badge on publicly, and that kind of thing attracts media."

Shit! Publicity like that I didn't need.

"Okay, I feel kind of bad taking the money though," I said.

"Don't, you earned it, and after you have the money you can do whatever you want with it — including buying Amber a brighter future."

We made it back to Vegas in plenty of time to have dinner before I had to drop the girls off at the airport. As we were eating I remembered that I hadn't given Amber the gift Jasmine had sent, so I swung by the apartment and picked it up on the way to the airport. As soon as she opened it, Amber caught her breath and burst into tears.

Inside the box were a red leather collar and a pair of black fan earrings; trademarks of the House of Seven Willows, a popular Dominance club in the Las Vegas area. The owner, Lady Jasmine, had been Amber's teacher as she learned about herself. She had also helped guide me in my role as Amber's Master. The collar and earrings were part of the 'uniform' for members of the house, though the girls often wore them in public as well. If a patron wanted an escort for a particular function, it allowed them to display the woman's status as a slave even in the most elegant of settings. Let's face it, there are a lot of places you just can't go in handcuffs and chains. The 'uniform' — or even just the accessories — would be seen by all but only understood by a small percentage.