Chapter 8: Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Jake and Alice found most of the women sitting at the kitchen table when they got home.

“Ellen’s out?” Jake asked.

“Another date with Boris,” Leanne said with a smile.

“Probably another night of torture,” Kara said.

“What do you mean?” Jake asked.

“When Boris dropped her off last night, she was so horny I could feel it,” Nina said. “Fortunately she had help dealing with it.”

“Did she?” Jake asked.

Leanne blushed. Jake turned to her with one eyebrow raised.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “Besides what she really needed was a man. I was a poor substitute. It was mean to put them together, but tell her she could only kiss him.”

“You told her that, Jake?” Nina asked. “Why?”

“Last night was only the second date Ellen has ever gone out on,” Jake said, “at least if you don’t count me. I want her to have reasonable expectations of what should happen on a first date.”

“So what about tonight?” Nina asked.

“Same thing. I might have relaxed the rules, but we haven’t had a chance to talk about her date yesterday.”

“The most dangerous place tonight will be between Jake and Ellen when she gets back from her date,” Nina said with a chuckle.

“Things aren’t going to work out that well for Ellen then,” Jake said. “I had hoped to spend some time with you tonight.”

“Thank God,” Nina said. “Emotions are getting a lot stronger. When she comes home, spewing all that horniness, I’m going to be climbing the walls.”

“So no one’s told you how to filter out thoughts and emotions?”

“No, no one’s said anything about it,” Nina said.

“In that case, it will be a good lesson. Filtering is important for the mental health of mind readers.”

“I don’t know if I should be looking forward to that lesson or regretting it,” Nina said.

“Kara, love, has Boris moved in yet?”

“No, Jake. The movers are going to bring his stuff over tomorrow.”

“Does he have a room?”

“Yes. He’s taking Randy’s. Randy, Andy and Maureen moved downstairs to make room for Alice, Shannon, and Boris.”

“They’re camping down there?”

“They moved their bedroom furniture,” Kara said.

“It doesn’t sound like they’ll have much privacy.”

“They insist that they don’t need it,” Kara said. “But I’m not going to have them living in open barracks. Mark Harrison’s coming over tomorrow to talk about finishing the basement. There’s plenty of room down there for more bedrooms.”

“Be sure to get him to make a room for all that torture equipment,” Leanne said. “I don’t like it lying around for just anybody to see.”

“Good thinking,” Shannon said. “If we can get him to install a beam, we can attach the pulleys. There’s so much you can do with suspension equipment.”

“Kara,” Jake asked, “would you work with Shannon to make sure she gets what she wants in the new torture room.”

“The first thing we’re going to do is rename it,” Leanne said. “We won’t be torturing anybody.”

“Leanne’s right,” Shannon said. “You don’t want people to think you’re going to do anything to them against their will. It would be better to call it a bondage room.”

“A little better, maybe,” Leanne said.

“Leanne, how was your date tonight?” Nina asked.

That got Jake’s attention until he read Leanne and saw that she had gone out to dinner and a movie with Brian. Her head was bowed, but she was glancing slyly up at Jake from under her eyebrows.

“Yes, tell me,” Jake said, “how was your date?”

“A little awkward,” Leanne said, “but on balance, I think it was educational.”

“Will it be just you dating him or will there be others?” he asked.

“I got an agreement from all the women to help, except for Jan and Shannon.”

“Help with what?” Shannon asked.

“It’s called Project Brian,” Jake said. “Leanne is organizing the women to teach Brian how to be a better person.” Jake turned back to Leanne. “That must have been an interesting meeting. Tell me how it went.”

“I called a family meeting after dinner last night,” she said. “I gave them the background, including what kind of influence Brian’s father was and the incident with Carol. I told them that the goal was not to squelch Brian’s aggression but to help him to find a way to harness it, to use it to further his relationships with women instead of overwhelming them.”

“So what exactly did you all agree to do?” Jake asked.

“The women are going to date him. Some of them will hold out the prospect of sex, but there will be no consummation until he learns how to control himself better.”

“Was it a tough sell?”

“It’s not like Brian’s not a handsome guy,” Nina said. “And he’s been very sweet to me during my recovery.”

“We also agreed,” Leanne said, “there will be no sex until he accepts responsibility for what he did to Carol and asks her forgiveness.”

“What about Ellen?” Jake asked.

“She made it clear that she has no authority to offer to help, although she did volunteer Shannon.”

Jake felt a thrill run through Shannon at the thought of being handed over to Brian.

“Good for her, on both counts,” he said. “I’ll talk with Ellen, Shannon and Christine about what exactly they can do. I think we’ll find that they have an important part to play in training him to handle submissive women responsibly. Once he realizes that there are women out there who would gladly submit to him, if he gets his act together, he will have a good reason to shape up.” He glanced over at Shannon. “I’d like you to consider offering your sub for this project as well.”

“I will if it won’t hurt her,” Shannon said.

“Fair enough.” Jake turned to Leanne. “You said that some of the women would offer to sleep with him. Exactly who will and who won’t?”

“We didn’t really decide that, only that it is voluntary. I made it clear that for me and his siblings, our role is more to advise Brian.”

“So I can’t sleep with him?” Kara asked.

“Kara!” Leanne snapped. Julie and Carol giggled.

Jake suppressed his own smile. “So how will you all proceed?”

“The women will get together regularly and review his progress. After each date, we’ll decide who will see him next and what the objectives are for the next date.”

“So you dated him first?” Jake asked her.

“Yes, we decided that I would tell him what is happening and motivate him to take it seriously.”

“How did it go?” Nina asked.

“We had a nice dinner. I told him what the women had decided to do with him. He was embarrassed about me interfering in his sex life. On the other hand, although he wouldn’t admit it to me, he thinks he’s getting shortchanged in the sex department and likes the idea.

“Once he understood the plan, I made him treat me like any other woman on a first date. In fact, I made sure he realized that on a first date, it is perfectly acceptable to treat the girl like he would treat his mother. He didn’t contradict me out loud, but he didn’t buy it either.”

“Is he going to apologize to Carol?” Julie asked.

Leanne frowned. “That boy is as stubborn and arrogant as his father. He thinks that once he gets his hands on you women that you’ll just fall into his bed without him having to apologize.”

“Maybe I should go out with him next,” Kara said. “I’ll reinforce the message that no repentance means no sex.”

“That sounds sensible,” Leanne said.

“What about me?” Julie said. “What part do I play? I’m his sister after all.”

“You can be as helpful as the other women,” Jake said. “Each of you brings something different. Alice is pure sex appeal. Your mother brings devotion and respect to the table. Kara gets a little less respect, but unlike with your mother, Brian isn’t blind to her sexiness. Ellen is sexy plus she brings that tantalizing submissiveness with her.

“You, my young beauty, are as sexy as any of them, but you’re also young and a bit vulnerable. Brian’s got enough decency that he’ll treat you well. After all, he has always been protective of you. You have a part you can play training him. I don’t see him making a move on you. Of all the women, you are best positioned to show Brian that female companionship can be fun and wholesome and satisfying in its own right.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that. You’re saying I’m the only one he won’t want to have sex with.”

“Won’t want to? Oh, no, not unless he’s recently had his testicles removed and no one told me. Like any man, he’ll want to, but he’s too inhibited to let those urges surface. That is unless you encourage him. Then all bets are off. But if you are tempted to do that, just remember this: As things stand right now, Brian is not very good at taking no for an answer. Unlike the full mind readers, you would be at his mercy. If he lost control with you, it would be a terrible thing for the entire DeRizzo family.”

“He wouldn’t do that, would he?”

“If you provoke him, he might. Many guys would. In about a week when you get good at reading minds, go out and scan some guys. Look at how strongly they are influenced by testosterone. The pressure that guys are under is a lot stronger than girls realize. You’ll see why you need to be careful with Brian.”

“I just want to make this clear,” Leanne said. “I’m not comfortable with this talk of incest. I won’t forbid it categorically, but you’re playing with something that could do a lot of damage to Brian and to this family.”

“Yes, Momma,” Julie said.

Just then, Jake noticed Ellen and Boris pulling up to the house. Ellen was very aroused. Although it had only been two days since his first treatment, Boris was sensing Ellen’s lust, imperfectly but involuntarily, and it was having a strong impact on him.

At the door, Ellen pressed against him for a good night kiss. The sheer sensuality of the feel of her body against Boris’s made Jake flinch. Ellen and Boris kissed passionately, Boris’s hands starting to run up Ellen’s sides. She pushed them away as they approached her breasts, but the attempt stirred her lust to an even higher level, which in turn compounded Boris’s. It looked like he was within seconds of losing control. At least, Jake thought, he would have been if he were in Boris’s place.

“It’s getting out of hand,” Leanne said to him quietly.

“You’re right. I better intervene,” Jake said.

“What’s getting out of hand?” Jake heard Carol ask as he hurried to the front door.

Ellen was just starting to wrestle with Boris when Jake unlocked the front door, throwing the bolt several times to alert them of his coming. He opened the door.

Ellen pushed Boris away and threw herself at Jake, holding him desperately and grinding at him with her crotch.

It’s so hard, master. I need it badly.

“I’m sitting in the chair next to Nina in the kitchen,” Jake said. ‘Kneel silently next to my chair in a submissive posture until I address you. Do not touch yourself in any way.”

“Yes, master,” she said, her voice quavering, and walked quickly into the house.

Boris was staring at him, his erection obvious, his fists clenched, his face beaded with sweat.

“It will subside now that Ellen is out of range,” Jake said. “Fortunately for you, you are not yet sensing her as strongly as you will in a few more days.”

“This is torture, Jake. How do you stand it?”

“Ellen has very strong desires, doesn’t she? Your next lesson will be how to filter out what you don’t want to receive. Come with me to the kitchen. We’ll get the lesson started.”

Boris looked down at the front of his slacks. “I can’t go in there like this.”

“Ellen is sitting among the other women. They know exactly what you’re going through. Why don’t you sit in my empty chair. You can follow me in. That will give you some cover. But hurry up. We need to deal with this quickly.”

Jake headed back to the kitchen. Boris followed reluctantly. Once through the door, he quickly sat in the empty chair. Unfortunately, sitting there brought Ellen back into his range. He was hit by the force of her desire again. Shannon, Alice, and Nina were staring at her, also feeling the full force of Ellen’s lust, their faces and bodies showing signs of arousal. All three were breathing deeply, their nipples erect, their faces flushed. Alice moaned.

“What’s going on?” Julie asked.

“The second wavers are experiencing one of the downsides of being a mind reader,” Jake said. “Sometimes you read distracting, unpleasant, or simply overpowering emotions, like Ellen’s libido. The good news is that you can control what you feel. All you have to do is filter out what you don’t want, such as the lust that you are feeling from Ellen.”

“How?” Boris said through clenched teeth.

“Alice knows,” Jake said. “She’s already learned this lesson. She just needs to remember to do it.”

A moment later, relief showed up on her face.

“Tell them, Alice,” Jake said.

Alice repeated what she had learned that evening from Jake. The others tried to do it as well. When Ellen’s arousal started to diminish on its own, Jake intervened, returning it to its previous high level.

“Jake,” she whined.

“Hush,” he said. “You’re a classroom prop, a silent classroom prop.”

It only took a couple minutes before the other three had mastered the technique, and their arousal began to subside. Jake made them practice letting some of Ellen’s desire through at weaker or stronger levels.

Leanne and Kara had watched impassively but Jake could feel that they were excited knowing that the others were awash with overpowering desire. Only Carol and Julie were relatively unaffected and unsure of what was going on.

“Are you just going to leave her like that?” Alice said when the lesson was finally over, nodding toward Ellen whose arousal had obviously continued on. Her face was red and her long nipples were jutting out obscenely.

“Don’t interfere between her and me,” Jake said quietly. “My relationship with Ellen is not like my relationship with you. Her needs are not like yours.”

“Yes, Jake,” Alice said, dropping her eyes.

“Is someone going to tell me what the hell this is all about?” Julie said a bit stridently.

“You just witnessed what some people call a teachable moment,” Jake said. “Do you remember this spring in social studies, how I would get in class sometimes when there was a lot of emotion around me?”

“Uh-huh.”

“The second wave just learned how to protect themselves from that, and why that lesson is important.”

“You mean what Ellen is feeling?”

“Yep. It will be time for you to learn this lesson in a couple of days, too.”

Julie’s face brightened. “You mean it?”

“Yep. Jan figured out how we can stop a mind reader from controlling others.”

“When can we start?” she asked.

“Tonight, if you can find someone to give you a treatment. Speaking of which,” Jake said, looking around, “how are the treatments coming? Jan and I have given Shannon two double treatments so she’s had three occipital and two parietal.”

“Ellen gave me a treatment while we were driving into the city and back both yesterday and today,” Boris said.

“Occipital?” Jake asked looking toward Ellen.

“One of each, master.”

“So Boris has had three of each.”

Jake looked toward Alice.

“I had a double on Monday and one last night from Kara.”

“Occipital,” Kara said.

“Nina?”

“I got one of each on Monday.”

“Kara and I gave her doubles yesterday and today, too,” Leanne said.

“You all are well on your way,” Jake said. “In fact, as soon as Alice gets another parietal treatment everybody will have had enough to get through training. Everything after that will go toward range and resolution, not specific capabilities. Let’s try to get Julie and Carol going.”

“Yes, lets,” Julie said.

“What happened with Kate?” Carol asked.

Jake explained to everyone.

“Should I keep her room as it is?” Kara asked.

“Yes, please. I think things are going to break down at the Stewarts’ before the end of the month.”

“Stupid little girl,” Leanne said. “How’s Jan taking it?”

“She’s very disappointed. Without more therapy, Kate is certain to end up in trouble.”

“Jan’s been working hard with her,” Leanne said. “She’s become attached to her. Kate doesn’t seem to return it though.”

“I think Jan sees that as something to work on after the anger and man-hatred,” Kara said.

“How’s the surveillance coming at the Stewart house?” Jake asked Boris.

“My guy has agreed to take the job. The problem is installing listening devices. It’s summer and the wife and kids have no real reason to leave the house.”

“So what is he going to do?”

“We got lucky. The house across the street was available for rent. The investigator signed the lease early this evening, and he’s now holed up there with a parabolic mic. That’s nowhere near as good as bugging the whole house, but at least it gives us partial capabilities. He’ll be able to listen in and learn when it’s safe to put in the bugs. Of course, it’s going to cost you.”

“How much?”

“About $800 a day for this guy plus help monitoring the bugs. Call it another $400 a day. The lease on the house is for six-months, $1200 a month.”

“What does that work out to?” Jake asked.

“Thirty-seven thousand two hundred monthly,” Carol said, “assuming 30 days per month.”

“Thirty-seven grand per month?” Jake said. “That’s okay. It won’t last a month and I can eat the rent. I’m just worried that that son of a bitch will get pissed off with her when he sees what she is like and have her committed. I don’t know if I could get her out of a state mental hospital. She might spend the rest of her life as a zombie being controlled by tranquilizers.

Jake turned to Leanne. “Say, aren’t Lizzie and Emily supposed to be moving to town soon?”

“They got here yesterday. The movers will be here on Friday with their things.”

“Why haven’t they come over to visit?”

“They have,” Julie said. “They were here both yesterday and today. They asked about you. I told them you were avoiding them.”

“Hush you,” Jake said. “If I find out they believed you, I’m going to make you itch uncontrollably. I want to see them.”

“It’s a little late now,” Leanne said. “They’re back at their motel, probably asleep.”

“Why didn’t they stay here?”

“Lizzie insisted. She doesn’t want to be a burden. Spare beds are scarce at the moment.”

“I’d share mine with them,” he said.

“I think that’s exactly what Lizzie is afraid of,” Kara said with a laugh. “Besides, Lizzie’s a bit uncomfortable with our lifestyle.”

“I sort of thought that one of the reasons for her moving down here,” Jake said, “was for us to get to know each other better.”

“Give her some room, my love,” Leanne said. “She’s worried about being swept into something that’s not respectable, and she’s worried that she won’t be able to protect Emily as a mother should.”

“Who are Lizzie and Emily?” Alice asked.

Julie told her how they had met and bonded with them when they had been out of town, hiding from Tommy Cox.

“Do they know about the mind reading?” Alice asked.

“Not really,” Jake said.

“What does that mean?” Alice said.

“They know something is going on,” Kara said, “just not exactly what. It would be better if Jake learned to lie to his friends.”

“Did you and Lizzie come to an understanding, Boris?” Jake asked.

“We’ll be dating but not exclusively.”

“Did she tell you that she’s attracted to me? And that it’s reciprocated?”

“Jake!” Leanne said.

“Holy shit,” Julie said.

Boris glared at him. “Am I going to be sharing every woman I like with you?” he growled.

“I doubt it, but I can’t say for sure. Boris, we are conducting an experiment in radical intimacy. I don’t know how it’s all going to play out. But as far as Lizzie goes, she was attracted to me in Missouri the first day we met. You really didn’t notice?”

“Uh, no.”

“She was uncomfortable because of my age. When you took an interest in her, she was relieved. But that didn’t mean the attraction wasn’t there, even if we didn’t act on it.”

“What’s the good in this, Jake?” Leanne asked.

“I think Jake’s right, Mama,” Kara said. “In a few days, Boris is going to start hearing our thoughts. Would it be better for him to discover this on his own and think that Jake and Lizzie are hiding it from him?”

“It doesn’t look particularly good this way either,” Boris said. “You’re telling me this because it will come out soon anyway.”

“Maybe you’re right to be angry with me, Boris,” Jake said. “In my defense, until tonight, I didn’t know that you were planning to continue your relationship with her. Besides, didn’t you just say you two decided not to be exclusive?”

“Maybe she’s not still attracted to you,” Julie said. “She’s had a month to come to her senses.”

Jake looked over at Leanne and raised his eyebrows.

“No, she’s still pretty much where she was in Chicago,” Leanne said. “She’s confused and ashamed but still obsessed with you. And still very much in lust with Boris.”

“Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of As the Telepath Turns,” Julie said.

“Boris, have you briefed the senior women about your new security proposals?”

“Yes, he has,” Leanne said. “We’ve talked it over and agree that we should try to buy all five of the adjoining lots. This is an opportunity that we may never have again to improve both our security and our privacy.”

“We’re talking about maybe a million dollars,” Jake said.

“With as much money as you have,” Boris said, standing, “any time we can swap dollars for security, it’s to our advantage. Especially when it’s your money and not mine. And with that, I must say goodnight. I’ve got to work in the morning.”

“Good night, my big Slavic friend,” Jake said. “You’ll be living with us by this time tomorrow. That means you’ll be immersed in all our weirdness.”

“You make it sound very attractive, boss,” Boris said.

“Before you know it, you won’t want to live any other way,” Nina said.

“I hope so,” Boris said. “I seem to be committed.”

Boris said his goodbyes to everyone except Ellen who was still kneeling on the floor in her dress, red-faced and panting.