Chapter 1

Bud was beaten so badly on the play that he just followed Cassie to the basket, waited until she came down from the layup, then yanked down her shorts.

"Brat!" she accused, stepping out of the puddled shorts and making a successful grab for his. "What fun is that when you've always got that damned jockstrap on," she chided. By that time, he had grabbed the waistband of his jock, so she just snapped it in frustration. Pretending to turn away, she spun back to step on his shorts so he could not pull them back up.

Chuck Haller's driveway was long enough so the garage, where the basket was hung, could only be seen from a few places. Cassie, Chuck's daughter and Bud's cousin, had never seemed to care who could see. She had worn no panties under her shorts, and only a sports bra on top, and she was in no panic to get out of sight.

While Bud untangled his feet from his shorts, Cassie teased "I don't see why you can't go commando, too. It damn near disappears when you play, anyway." Bud snapped his finger against the front of the jock, producing a sharp sound from the plastic cup insert. "Yeah, yeah."

"Well, how long would you like it to be out of commission?" Bud shot back.

"Hah. If you don't sharpen up your game pretty damned quick, there won't be any groupie pussy to worry about this year, anyway."

Finally disentangled, Bud extended his sweaty arm and Cassie slipped her sweaty body under it and her own arm around her younger cousin. Together, they walked into the house, grabbed several bottles of cold water, dropped the rest of their clothes, and went through the patio door to the pool. About ten feet from the pool, they both set their water on a table, sprinted, and dove in side by side.

Time was running out on what had been a unique and wonderful relationship. At twenty-two, Cassie was heading for an assistant basketball coaching job four hundred miles away. She had just graduated from that university on a basketball scholarship. All of Bud's life, until she went off to college, they had lived within a few miles of each other.

Bud Haller would be starting his senior year of high school and would be starting at small forward for the second year. At 6'2", he was short for the position, even for high school, but good leaping ability, long arms, large, strong hands, and an uncanny sense of positioning allowed him to hold his own against taller opponents.

Their fathers were brothers. Ed, Bud's father, was a police lieutenant, while Chuck, Cassie's dad, was an engineer. Both brothers had followed surprisingly similar paths, otherwise. Both had gone into the service out of high school, choosing the minimum enlistment term, even though it meant some reserve commitment. Both had gone to college, found their spouses while in school, and even had a child before graduating.

That might seem like a challenge economically, but the four Haller siblings, two men and two women, were gifted with trust funds from three generations back. In fact, Bud and Cassie's generation would benefit, as well. The funds were enough to provide a decent living by themselves. Coupled with a solid career, they allowed the recipients to live comfortably.

Chuck Haller, Cassie's father, had won a year of study in Germany during college, and there he had met Lisle and brought her back to the States as his wife. Lisle was sturdy, buxom, and vivacious. For whatever reason, she only stayed with Chuck until Cassie, an only child, was ten. Most likely, it was homesickness that caused the split and her return to Germany. After a rather nasty custody battle, Cassie stayed with her father.

Losing her mother at that age was tough on Cassie, but she was a tough-minded girl. While sharing much of her mother's build, Cassie was different from her mother in one way. Lisle's generous, impressive body was of the Earth Mother mold. Cassie, on the other hand, inherited the Haller musculature and athleticism.

Perhaps athletes of any age are drawn to each other. From the time he was about three, Bud and then eight-year-old Cassie connected strongly. By the time he was seven, Bud was allowed to bike the two miles to Cassie's house alone. By then, the now divorced Chuck had begun taking some long-term overseas assignments. Cassie was under the care of a nanny.

As soon as Bud was old enough, the cousins shared their love of basketball by spending countless hours with her teaching him, or with them having shooting contests or one-on-one games.

The summer after Bud's freshman year, following a spirited one-on-one contest, Cassie had changed the game, and their relationship, dramatically, with "Let's cool down with H-O-R-S-E. Only this time, we're playing for clothes."

She had to repeat herself a few times before he realized that she was serious. Foolishly, he thought it was a great chance to see his beloved cousin naked. Well, he had been the one naked in the driveway, and predictably, he had been instantly hard as a rock because of his unaccustomed exposure.

Seeing his nervousness Cassie had led him through the house to the pool. There, she had joined him in nakedness and gotten them both cleaned off in the water. Getting him to sit on the pool edge and pushing his hands away from shielding his rigid cock, she had told him "I haven't had any sex for too long. You, Cuz, are turning into a real hunk, and this beauty can make me feel really good. Can I be your first?"

By that time, she had been holding him gently in her hands and rubbing her thumb over the bloated head. When he had started to protest, she had told him "Let it come, Honey. You'll be more relaxed." Well, the scene had shifted to Cassie's bedroom and relaxation for that part of Bud had taken a long time.

Over the preceding two years, Cassie and Bud had gotten together whenever Cassie could get home and they could find some privacy. As a strictly hetero, sturdily built athlete with a strong libido, Cassie's opportunities were limited, and her times with Bud were extremely important to her. But she loved him too much to be selfish, so along with her own satisfaction, she had taken time to teach him all that she could about pleasing a woman. That he was an eager, adept student had made her efforts well worth it for her, as well. Fortunately for the pair, they were usually able to spend full days and nights together when Cassie was home.

As a very visible athlete who happened to be a very smooth talker and seemed several years older, Bud could probably have set records for high school conquests. Being introduced to sex by someone he genuinely loved, though, gave him a different perspective. He just could not see the appeal of the nearly anonymous sex that seemed so prevalent among classmates and teammates. Thus, through his sophomore and junior years, Cassie had been his only sexual partner. Even though their liaisons had been frustratingly infrequent, they had been enough to keep him from seeking other relief out of nothing but desperation. That brought them to this different kind of parting as Cassie prepared to enter the work force and Bud geared up for his senior year.

As they lounged in the pool, knowing what would come next, Cassie became a little tearful. "I need to tell you, Bud, that I have had sex with another guy. It's just one guy, and it has only been a few times. If you don't want to because of that, I will understand."

Touched by her honesty and thoughtfulness, he asked her "Do you think you could get serious with him?" She nodded. "Then, maybe you would not feel right doing it with me any more."

"Oh, no, Bud. I want to. I REALLY want to!"

"So, this will be the last time, then?"

"God, Bud! I hate to think of it that way, but yeah, it could be. I like him a lot, and it could turn to love. If we commit, well..."

"I understand. You need someone, and I hope he is the one. I just hope he is worthy of you. Does he have any idea what a woman he is getting?"

"I'm trying to make sure he knows," she said softly.

Perhaps it said something about Bud's personality and his relative maturity, for not only had he always been close to his older cousin Cassie, he and his older sister Kim were also very close. She was preparing for her sophomore year at the local university.

Upon his arrival home from his very energetic, very emotional, three-day interlude with Cassie, Kim took one look at him and asked "Everything OK between you and Cassie?"

"Oh, the two of us are fine," Bud answered. "It's just that this may be our last time. She has found a guy."

"Oh, I'm so happy for her. I'm glad there's a man out there who appreciates her for what she really is," Kim gushed. She and Cassie had always been on good terms, and of course, Bud was often the topic of their conversations. Kim knew all about her brother's relationship with Cassie - every aspect of it.

Because of the way she felt about Bud, Kim might have been jealous of Cassie for having sex with him. Kevin Chapman was the reason Kim had no room for such jealousy. Soon after starting at the U, Kim had met Kevin, and the instant attraction had deepened to serious love over the year.

Of course, even if Kevin had not been in the picture, Kim's natural sense of what was right and proper would not have let her do more than fantasize about sex with her 'little' brother.

"Well, no wonder you look worn out," Kim teased. "I know how you spend most of your time when you're with Cassie."

"Yeah, all that one-on-one basketball wears me out."

"Hah! One-on-one something, but not much basketball, I'll bet," Kim retorted. "I know all about your lesson times after you can't get it up any more."

"Kim!" Her jibe was more suggestive than usual for the siblings, and he felt obligated to register his objection. He could not muster any real anger, though. Cassie did indeed spend a lot of time teaching him how to please her, and he treasured every minute of it. Though their times together were too infrequent, they always encompassed two or three days and a night or two. Except for a little basketball, food acquisition, and the minimum necessary sleep, all of their time together was spent in some type of sexual activity.

"Maybe you don't want to think about it right now," Kim said gently, "but with what Cassie has taught you, there should be girls lined up for dates with you."

"It would take a lot of dates with a girl before I would use what Cassie taught me," Bud objected.

Shaking her head dramatically, Kim chided him "Bro', are you trying to ruin the reputation of high school jocks everywhere?"

"Hey, we've talked about this before, Kim. When I was with Cassie, sex really meant something. I guess that's the way I was introduced to it, and that is what I expect. I just can't do it as casually as so many of the kids do."

"I know. I know," Kim assured him. "I shouldn't try to turn you into a man-slut." With that she stood up from the edge of the family pool where they were sitting. "But, if you ever feel you need to just keep in practice, let me know." That little shot was accompanied by an exaggerated wiggle of her essentially bare ass as she strutted toward the door into the house. It had taken Bud a while to figure out that she wore that thong bottom only when it was just the two of them at the pool.

He watched every step until she was out of sight, and not just because he knew that was what she wanted. Kim was a great example of 'girl next door' sexiness. She was slender, trim but adequately curvaceous, and she moved very nicely. With her naturally upbeat personality and winning smile, un-brotherly thoughts were a constant challenge.

Since her relationship with Kevin had blossomed, Kim's sex appeal seemed to have increased noticeably. Bud considered that a good thing. He was happy that she had found love, and he very much approved of Kevin. He could just enjoy that special appeal of a woman in love.

Those musings caused him to drift off. His micro-nap was ended by cold droplets of condensate from the can of soda that Kim was holding over his face. "Hey, this is no time for sleeping. We need to figure out what is going to happen with your love life."

"Kim! We do NOT have to figure anything out," he objected. "If something happens, it happens, but right now, I don't feel like looking for it."

"But, Bud! ... some of my friends have sisters in high school. I don't want all of those questions about whether you're gay."

"Who has been asking that? It's not like I don't date."

"Well, uh, no one, really. It's just that everyone wonders why you don't stick with any of them."

"You know why," he reminded her. "And the fall is always the busiest. It's only a few weeks until practice starts, and I've got some tough classes. Maybe second semester I can do some more dating. I'll only have three blow-off classes, then."

Ignoring the athletic and academic reasons, Kim focused on what she saw as his only legitimate reason for lack of dating. "Cassie would not be happy if you were pining over her."

"It's not that," he insisted. "We always knew we would not be together in the future. It's just that when you are introduced to sex by someone that you know so well and have such strong feelings for, it doesn't seem worth doing with a casual date."

"There must be some girls at school that you would consider wife material," Kim suggested.

"Right now, there are hardly any that even seem like young adults," he complained.

"Well, that's because you're probably the mentally oldest student ever in the school," she snorted. "OK. Name some of the more mature girls."

When he had named four or five, she insisted that he fetch his yearbook. When she had checked out all of them, with some pretty strong reactions, she settled on one - Dora Wilkins. "Is she dating anyone?"

"Not that I know of."

"Will she be in any of your classes?"

"She has been in most of my AP classes."

"Aha. A brain. Good." Bud was thinking that he should not allow his sister to have this much fun. "She a virgin?"

"Kim! How should I..." He stopped in mid-objection and let his shoulders slump. "I guess if there was one good-looking virgin in the senior class, she would likely be the one."

"A prude, huh?"

"I don't know. I just know that she has strong opinions and is not easily persuaded."

"Her figure as nice as her face?"

"At least."

"Good. Date her." Kim said that in the manner of a non-refusable command.

"Why?"

"She's good-looking, smart, self-confident, not promiscuous, and mature. Since you don't seem too worried about getting any, date her for all the other reasons."

All he could do was laugh. As he did, though, he realized that Kim's idea was a good one. Not that he felt elite, or anything, but Dora was one of the only girls in school he considered mature enough to be a good companion. Maybe it would be a good idea to date a classy girl but not have any big expectations.

Of course, he would have to delay Kim's finding out as long as possible. That's just how it had to be between the siblings.

Ed Haller sat watching his two offspring as they chatted beside the pool. When Kim got up and walked into the house, it felt like a stab of pain in his gut. It was just like seeing his wife, Julie, when they were first married. The resemblance was uncanny.

In fact, until several months earlier, Ed could rejoice in the similarity between the looks and the behavior of his wife and his daughter. Even creeping up on fifty, Julie had retained her 'girl next door' appeal and her upbeat personality. However, during the previous spring, something had started to change.

By the end of summer, Julie had resurrected a long-unused one piece swimsuit instead of wearing the fairly daring two-piece that she had used around their pool. The one piece suit did not hide the rolls that had started to develop around her middle, nor the growing protrusion of her once-flat tummy.

Ed would have written Julie's weight gain off to the effects of menopause, except that was not the only change. For all of their married life, Julie had been the picture of the happy housewife and mother. She took pride in the appearance of her home, inside and out. She also took pride in her own appearance, whether accompanying Ed to an event, out on a date, shopping, or just around the house.

The pride in her appearance seemed to have slipped first. Even before the weight gain was enough to be very noticeable, Ed had noticed that her attention to her hair, makeup, nails, attire, etc. showed increasingly frequent lapses. There was a growing reluctance to go out with him, as well.

Ed could have overlooked the changes in weight and grooming if they had not been accompanied by an apparent drop off in Julie's sex drive. Always a flirtatious, seductive, eager sexual partner before, she was becoming more and more passive, even occasionally reluctant. Ed had tried several types of getaways to try to re-ignite the spark, but the results were lukewarm. It was not that she had become unresponsive. She was just not the equal partner and frequent aggressor that she had always been.

There was one other very troubling sign of the changes in Julie; daytime TV. Before, she had always spoken scornfully of what was on offer, and always had more important and rewarding things to do with her time. Now, the shows were even starting to detract from the care of her home.

At that point, at the end of summer, Ed was concerned, but by no means alarmed. The changes were not dramatic, but he could see that things were headed in a negative direction.

It was now February, and what had started out as such a promising year for the Haller family had suddenly turned to crisis.

"You're going to do what?!!" Bud's father, Lieutenant Ed Haller was as incredulous as Bud had expected. Bud had just told his father his plan for 'saving' his beloved sister.

"I'm going to make Kim my slave. I'm going to do it before Dawn does it to her. My hope is to get her to the point where Kevin will want to take her back as his wife," Bud answered.

"So you think enslaving Kim is Dawn's objective?" Ed asked.

"From what I have been able to find out in my research, it seems that way, Dad. I kind of doubt that she has a real plan, but just look at what she has accomplished."

Dawn Winthrop was the daughter of a prominent local family. She was in the elite sorority at the local university. Some of Dawn's similarly rich, spoiled sorority sisters formed a gang that had begun to destroy Kim's life. It had all begun when new classes started after the Christmas break. Kim was in a couple of classes with Dawn and part of her coterie. Dawn had somehow sensed Kim's vulnerability and moved in on her.

"Just look at the things Kim has done in the last several weeks that we know she would never consider doing on her own," Bud pointed out. "Kim had no business at those parties. She does not fit in with that group, at all. She even broke dates with Kevin to go. And the drinking! Dad, she doesn't even like alcohol!"

Letting out a sigh, Ed added "And we are pretty sure that Dawn or one of her gang called about the underage drinking after they left the party and made sure that Kim was still there."

"Right," Bud agreed. "Breaking existing ties and relationships is a standard approach to enslavement."

"Well, it sure broke up her relationship with Kevin when she was found with those three guys at that last party," Ed said sadly. "I still wonder if I did the right thing having the patrol just get her out of there instead of testing for date rape drugs."

"You had to get her out, Dad. You have a right to protect your position, too. You do not want Kim's name in any police records."

"But I'm sure that she was drugged. If we had gotten proof, maybe Kevin would have forgiven her," Ed bemoaned.

"I doubt that. Maybe if it was an isolated incident, he might. But it was the third party where she was caught. With the weight gain, the broken dates, that awful hairdo - there were just too many things for Kevin, Dad."

"I know. I know," Ed sighed. "It's just hard when you think your little girl is set for some real happiness, then something like this tears it away. Believe me, Bud, right now I really understand why some cops go off and take revenge."

Neither said anything for quite a while before Ed asked. "Just what do you mean by making Kim your slave? I hope it isn't some of the stuff we've busted at certain places around town."

"That's what I'm struggling with. It seems like this is what she needs, but I just can't see doing most of what I read about. It's Kim we're talking about, and I couldn't..." This time, Bud could not continue.

"That's good to hear, but what WILL you do?"

"I need some expert help. Mrs. Morin, the psychologist at school has a great rep with the kids. I'm going to see if she can give me some private help."

"But does she know about domination and slavery and such?"

"Probably not, Dad, but first, I need to see if my thinking on this is correct. The problem is that I can't think of anything else to do."

"Well, maybe if we could keep her away from that damned Dawn ... Yeah, I know. The only way to do that is get her out of school." Ed paused before adding "I've used up all my creds with the guys on the force. If she gets caught in another bust of any kind, I won't be able to help her."

"And, Dad, do you feel that we've done all we can as far as pleading and threatening?"

"Yeah, we sure have."

"And do you think Kim wants to get in trouble?"

"Of course not," Ed said emphatically. "She's like one of those drugged out kids. Their brains are so fried they can't decide or resist anything."

"That's a good analogy, Dad, but I've done a lot of study for the last couple of months. I need to tell you some hard facts, here.

"First of all, both Mom and Kim are quite submissive."

"Your mother?"

"Dad, I know you love Mom to death, and so do I. But from what I have learned, neither Mom nor Kim is able to live on their own without constant guidance and control. Wait! I know what you're going to say: Mom has never shown any evidence of that. Well, think about it. You sort of plucked her right out of a straight-laced, tightly restrictive family. There, she had no opportunity to be led into anything bad.

"Married to you, she was so much in love, and you showered her with so much love and care, that again, there was little chance of being led astray. What she should do was always clear to her, either because of the needs of our family, or her intense desire to make you happy. Dad, even though you have never been overtly controlling of her, you are a strong, assertive personality. What you expect is always clear. In a real sense, she was a love slave. She just never had to be trained in the way I plan for Kim."

"Well, I've always known that she was passive. She sometimes has seemed desperate to please me," Ed mused. "But, a slave? I don't think so."

"Now, Mom isn't our subject right here, but to illustrate what I'm saying, think of this: with us kids leaving home, a lot of what made direction and decisions pretty automatic for her is disappearing. I fear that she will be increasingly feeling lost and aimless.

"This may be a sore point, but the recent weight gain and the growing addiction to daytime TV are symptoms. She is losing some of the controlling factors in her life, and she has nothing to replace them."

"Where did you find these ideas, anyway?" Ed demanded.

"Like I said, I have spent a lot time studying."

"So, you think I should come down harder on your mother about her weight, huh?"

"Well, that's not the kind of relationship you have now. I doubt that 'coming down harder' on one subject would work. Anyway, I just talked about Mom to show what the problem is with Kim.