Chapter 5

The next couple of months passed by rather quickly and for the most part pleasantly as far as Marlin and Melody were concerned. Melody finally convinced him to move out of the Sunset House and in with her stating truthfully it was silly for him to be spending his meager allowance on a room he almost never stayed in. He did end up agreeing but insisted in helping out with the household expenses as much as he could.

The Widow Binder was sad to see him go until she found out where he was going after which she teased him mercilessly.

"But I had to, Shasa," he told her mournfully. "You made it clear I had no chance with you so I had to look elsewhere to mend my broken heart." He grunted as the hip-bump from her ample pelvis shoved him into a wall followed by her laughter.

His "census" trips slowed down considerably since he now had something much better to do but couldn't put them off entirely since at some time he would have to face the truth-teller and be able to say he had been doing his job. Melody didn't like it either but admitted at least it gave her time to do some of the housework and upkeep of the small farm that didn't involve inspecting the bedroom ceiling.

He had returned from one of his trips one morning and they were getting "reacquainted" on the living room couch which entailed a highly excited and very vocal Melody bouncing up and down on top of him when they were interrupted.

"Well this is interesting," someone said dryly from over Melody's shoulder. Melody twisted around and suddenly screeched, jumped up and ran back towards the bedroom still naked leaving Marlin high and dry as it were. Struggling to sit up Marlin finally got to see the owner of the intrusive voice. She was a tall woman, probably as tall as or even a little taller than Marlin himself even without the high-heeled boots she was wearing. She also had tight short-shorts and a halter top that just barely contained her impressive breasts. Her hair was long and dark blonde; some would have called it "dirty blonde," and a face that he would have called pretty rather than beautiful if it weren't for the smirk/frown she was wearing.

"Hi there," he said reaching for his pants. "I'll be right with you as soon as I can put something on."

"Don't bother just for me," she snorted. "You haven't got anything I haven't seen before."

"I'm sure," he responded casually pulling his trousers up and throwing his shirt on. "But it would make me feel more comfortable.

"Hi again. I'm Marlin," he said walking over to her and sticking out his hand. She looked down at it with surprise and took it after a moment.

"Malinda," she smiled. "Melody's sister. You know, the girl you were fucking on our couch. Of course from what I saw maybe it was more her fucking you."

"Yes, well, I just came back this morning and we didn't quite make it back to the bedroom," he admitted.

"So the little ice-princess finally gave up some pussy and got herself a little dick," Malinda laughed.

"Mmm," Marlin's eyes narrowed.

"Mandy!" Melody screeched from the bedroom causing her sister to laugh even harder.

"Sorry about the show but as far as I know we weren't expecting you," Marlin interrupted. "If we had we would have baked a cake. Plus we would have been a little more circumspect."

"Well maybe not a cake but you were certainly trying to put a bun in the oven," Malinda laughed again. Marlin's eyes narrowed even further.

"Mandy!" Melody screeched again sticking her head out around the door frame.

"You might as well come out, honey," Martin called to her. "You can't hide in there the rest of your life."

"I can try," she muttered but inched her way out and then scurried over to stand by him. He settled his arm around her waist protectively. She was wearing a dress hurriedly thrown on.

"What are you doing back home, Mandy?" Melody asked. "You didn't tell me you were coming."

"What? I can't come back to my own home when I want to?" Malinda huffed then she shrugged. "Things were getting a little intense in Brighton so I decided to come back here until things cooled off a bit."

"Well, of course you're welcome, Mandy," Melody replied. "This is your home, as you say. By the way this is Marlin Cranson, my boyfriend."

"Yeah, we've met," Malinda snorted. "It's good to know he's your boyfriend and not some strange dick you just happen to sit down on."

"Not all of us can be the family sluts," Melody hissed.

"You did a pretty good imitation with that pole dance in here, little sister..." Malinda started.

"If you've been traveling from Brighton you must be thirsty or maybe even hungry," Marlin interrupted smoothly. "Why don't we step into the kitchen and see if we have something cool for you to drink."

"Mmm, not a bad idea," Malinda mused. "You got any beer around here?"

"Not that I know about," Marlin answered. "But Melody usually has some of the best lemonade I've ever tasted sitting in the refrigerator."

"Lemonade, great!" Malinda snorted. "You have any vodka to make it worth drinking?"

"You drank it up the last time you were here," Melody said through gritted teeth.

"And you haven't replaced it? Shit. I guess I'll have to go out and get some later," Malinda huffed. "Well, hell, I suppose something cold is better than nothing at all." She walked towards the kitchen and as she passed she looked right at Marlin. Suddenly he could feel something pull on him especially in his groin and he became hard as a rock.

"You keep away from her," Melody hissed at him once her sister was out of the room. "She's pure poison. She'll use you up and throw you away like she has all the rest of her boy-toys."

"Your faith in my fidelity is comforting," he answered dryly. "And while she is attractive in her own way, as of right now I can't say I even like her very much and she certainly isn't any competition for you."

"I'm sorry," Melody sniffed. "But she's done it so many times. She's broken up more relationships and marriages than I can count. She just looks them in the eyes, crooks her finger and men follow her around like little puppy dogs."

"Really?" he asked raising his eyebrows. "Now that's interesting."

"You know something don't you?" she asked accusingly.

"Know? No I don't," he shook his head. "But I'm beginning to suspect something. I'll tell you about it later. Maybe after we've gone to bed."

Melody just looked at him and nodded.

"Now we'd better get in there with her or she'll think we went back to finish what she so rudely interrupted."

Melody grinned and nodded more vigorously this time.

"Yes, yes. I'd rather be doing that also but we ought to at least keep your sister company for awhile. Don't you agree?"

Melody pouted for a moment but then smiled up at him and taking his arm walked with him to the kitchen.

"There is some ham in there if you're hungry," Marlin said as they walked through the kitchen door.

"Well, well. You seem to be making yourself right at home," Malinda replied snidely. "You certainly seem to know where everything is anyway."

"He should," Melody said crossly. "Marlin's been living here for the past month."

"Is that so?" her sister snickered. "Does Mom know you're keeping your little fuck toy in the house while she's away?"

"Yes," Melody hissed and Marlin let his fingers tickle up and down her spine to distract and calm her down. "As a matter of fact I wrote her just like I did you and Maggie."

"Like I've got time to read all that crap you send me," Malinda waved her off. Marlin's tickling became rubbing and even tiny pinches on the top of her bottom. She wiggled and then looked up at him with a frown. When he wiggled his eyebrows at her, her frown suddenly became a smile.

"So what do you do, boy-toy? Other than sponge off my sister, that is," Malinda asked loudly.

"I work for the Empire," he answered with a smile. "I tell everybody I'm a Census Taker but really I do as little as possible to earn my meager wages."

"Another fucking parasite," she snorted. "Just what this family needs. Mel already can't get a job and now she hooks up with another worthless rodent while the rest of us send her money to keep this barn open."

"You're damn right I keep this place livable while the rest of you run off and for your information Marlin gives me more of what little he does have than you ... Ouch!" She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "What do you think you are doing? I'm trying to stay mad at her."

He leaned over and whispered back. "I know. That's why I did it."

"What are you talking about?" Malinda asked suspiciously.

"Just making plans for our orgy later tonight," Marlin answered calmly as Melody snorted and giggled.

"Yeah, that's another thing," Malinda complained. "Keep your fucking in the bedroom where decent people don't have to see it."

"Which decent people are you talking about, Mandy? You certainly never seemed to care where you happened to be when you spread your ... Ouch! Okay! Okay! I get it!" Melody giggled again.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent listening to complaints about her job ― she was a stripper ― or about men in general with specific bitches about her sisters, mother or anyone else she could think about. It was not a pleasant day for either of the young lovers.

"Wow, that was good," Marlin sighed as he flopped on his back next to a grinning Melody. "I hope it was as good for you as you made it sound there at the end. I don't think I've ever heard you scream that loud."

"Oh, it was good all right," she grinned and rolled over to rest her head on his chest. "But I have to admit I may have added a little bit of volume for Mandy's benefit."

"You are an evil woman," he chuckled. "I have to admit your sister can be a bit—irritating."

"Mandy is a bitch, a slut and quite possibly a whore," Melody hissed. "But she is my sister and I don't see there is anything I can do about it. She makes me so mad, I just want to spit! How can you sit there and be so calm while she is calling you a useless parasite! She just about came out and said you were fucking me just to have a place to stay. I just want to gouge her eyes out!"

"She does have that a bit backwards I will admit," he chuckled. "Actually I'm staying here to make it easier to share your bed not the other way around. As for the other..." he shrugged. "I hope I'm not useless; I try to help around here as much as I can ― I'm just not all that handy. Parasite I might have a harder time trying to argue against."

"Bullshit!" Melody retorted and punched him in the side. "I know how much you make and you've given me just about every penny since you've been here. In fact you've given me more to help out around here than that bitch has in the past year and I can tell you for a fact she makes one hell of a lot more than you shaking her ass and flaunting her tits to those slime balls up in Brighton!"