Chapter 11

When the room stopped spinning, I fell out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. Maggie was eating a bowl of cereal. She looked up at me and gave me a loving smile. "Can I take you up on that rain check tonight, or aren't you feeling well enough?"

"I'll be fine. I just need some rest." I didn't tell her that I'd fallen in her sister's bathroom after having sex with our niece.

"Good, because I'm more then ready." She licked her lips, and then took another bite. Before I could position myself to kiss her, the damn phone rang. I picked it up from the cradle and tossed it to her. She caught it and answered: "Hello?" "What's up?" "Yes, he's here. Why?" Maggie pressed the speakerphone button and put one finger to her lips. I kept quiet. "What was that, I didn't catch what you said."

I listened to Natalie's voice. "I said, Peter and I had the same dream last night. We both dreamed that Charlie had sex with Zoe in our shower."

I'd always wondered what memories my sex partners and others in the vicinity had after I jumped back to real time. Natalie's rendition satisfied my curiosity.

"He did?" Maggie stared at me.

I shrugged, feigning ignorance and surprise with a single gesture.

Natalie prattled on. "Peter and I were out somewhere, I don't remember that part, and we came home and heard noise coming from the bathroom. We both went in and pulled back the curtain. There he was, taking Zoe from behind."

Maggie tilted her head, seeking some non-verbal response. I tried to maintain a shocked expression. "So what did you do? In the dream, I mean."

"Well, they didn't stop until they were done. God, it was crazy, watching our child have sex with Charlie. Then after he pulled out, we had some kind of conversation. I don't remember precisely what was said, except that I commented on Charlie's extraordinarily large penis. Bigger than real life, I imagine."

Maggie smiled at her sister's comment. "Oh, Charlie's is pretty big."

"He is? Well, anyway, Peter attacked him but Zoe and I got Peter to stop. Then suddenly I woke up. Peter must have as well, because he doesn't remember anything past that point either. But the same dream: how is that possible?"

"Did Zoe have the same dream?" asked Maggie.

That was a great question. I wanted to know that as well, as preparation for the next time Zoe and I were in the same room. Only for defensive purposes, mind you.

"I was afraid to ask her," said Natalie. "I mean, the two of us having the same dream was freaky enough. But before she left the house, Zoe asked when we'd be seeing you guys again. So, what do you think?"

Maggie smiled and beckoned me closer. When I was within range, she ran her fingers up and down my crotch. There was no hiding my erection. "I think I need to keep you and Zoe away from Charlie. Really, sis, having dreams about my husband, naked?"

"It's not like I caused the dream. Although maybe-" There was a pregnant pause. "You know, I'd been thinking about Zoe and her first sex. I'd even considered asking Peter to be Zoe's first sex partner, but now I've had second thoughts," said Natalie. There was another long pause. "Do you think the dream was meant to suggest an answer? To Zoe's condition, I mean?"

Maggie's face reddened. "I know what you're about to suggest, and the answer is no." Maggie gripped my cock as she chastised her sister. "Charlie is not in the business of introducing young women to sex. So Charlie won't be flying or driving out to take care of Zoe. She's a big girl. She'll take care of herself."

Including picking her first sex partner? I was skeptical, but maybe it was because I'd been there.

"Well, maybe. But first thing, I'm putting her on birth control, just in case."

My cock throbbed at the thought of Zoe being unprotected. Maggie probably thought it was her continued stimulation.

Natalie's heavy sigh sounded like she was blowing into the phone. "I just pray she'll have it better than my first. It was awful. I don't even want to think about it."

So Natalie had bad sex her first time too? Was there no end to young women whose initiation was messed up? My latest clock jumps were for relatively recent incidents. So far, they'd had little or no impact on my life with Maggie and Felice. Jumping back to Natalie's first experience would put my desirable status quo in possible jeopardy. Nope, Natalie's experience would have to stand as is. Or as was. Time jumping was so confusing.

"I had no idea," said Maggie. "I'm so sorry. That's something that we share, sis."

I'd already messed up fixing Maggie's first. Going back and letting things transpire as they had originally returned things to normal. If not normal, then historically accurate, to keep Maggie as my real time wife.

Natalie's voice was gentle, needy. "Maybe we'll come out so you and I can chat, in person?"

"Any time."

I hoped she would bring Zoe. Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten. I was limited to sex outside my marriage only in time jumps.

"Okay, well, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Say hi to Charlie and Felice for us. Bye."

Maggie cradled the phone. "You were here all night, right?"

"Of course. Like I could get to Detroit and back without you noticing. But you really objected when Natalie merely implied that I prepare Zoe sexually. How come?"

Maggie's hand dropped from my crotch. "I have plenty of things for you to do around here if you have spare time for initiating young girls. Felice was a special case, never to be repeated." She poked me in the stomach with her index finger. "Do you understand me?"

She stood up to reinforce her point. I hugged and kissed her hard. The erection I forced her to feel was a combination of her stimulation, supplemented by my thoughts about Felice, Zoe and Natalie, whose chest was nothing to sneeze at. "Absolutely!"

Maggie put her bowl in the sink and grabbed her list for grocery shopping. "Take it easy today. Get some rest, and later maybe I'll cash in that rain check. Natalie's story got me even hornier."

I snuck a quick ass squeeze. "You're on. See you later."

With my life stabilized, it was time to get rid of the cock clock, and no better home for it than the antique shop where I got it. The proprietor would be thrilled to get it back, and she could keep the seventy-two cents it cost me. All of the sex I'd had with various partners at various jump times was much more than worth it. With Maggie and Felice as here-and-now sexual companions, I was confident I'd be satisfied. Assuming Felice was willing and Maggie didn't find out.

I wrapped the clock in aluminum foil and then put it in a zippered plastic bag. Then I wrapped that bundle in newspaper and put the whole thing in a wooden box lined with sheets of tin from old air conditioning ductwork. Just maybe the clock's effects would be weakened by that combination of barriers to its power.

I burnt one of my sick days, calling in that I didn't feel well. That much was true. I was worried about Zoe and about living without the ability to time jump for my mission. I drove to the antique store where I bought the silver device. With no festivals and it being a weekday, parking in front of the shop was available. And this time, the store was right where it was supposed to be. I was relieved at that consistency. Changes meant disruption.

The shopkeeper who'd had her first sexual encounter with me years before was at the front desk looking better than ever. Maybe it was her, or maybe I saw her with new eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked. She didn't seem to know me.

Had one of my recent time jumps changed our mutual relationship? No matter. The clock would be better off in her possession. If she didn't know me, she'd certainly recognize her timepiece. "Yes. I have an item to show you."

"Well, let's open it up and take a look." She undid my wrapping while I glanced at a copy of the local newspaper on her counter. On the first page there was a headline about a rape behind a local restaurant. I flipped to page five. They mentioned my town but not the victim's name, for privacy. But my gut knew the truth. The victim had to be Janie, the target of my attention on "ribs and initiate Felice" night. Damn! The shopkeeper had just bent back the sheet metal and removed the aluminum foil. "Marvelous! I've never seen anything like this before."

That was wrong, because she'd told me it was a family heirloom, never to be sold, only borrowed. I dove back into the news story while the shopkeeper fondled the clock. Evidently two male employees had attacked the victim in an alley behind a restaurant. Did I have anything to do with that? Two young men had interrupted Janie and me in our embrace.

"I want this for my collection," said the proprietor. Her eyes were blazing. "Any amount you ask."

The clock had her under its control and it was exciting her. She licked her lips and leaned forward. I would have bet that she'd take me in the back room for sex if I asked.

"I've changed my mind." I snatched the clock from her grasp. Who knows what the clock would provoke her to do? Jump the bones of the next male she saw. Shit, that wasn't going be me!

"All right, don't sell me the clock. But keep me company for a while. I'm sooo lonely." She ran her hands up and down her body with no shame, pushing her fingers against her mound while gripping one of her breasts.

"Maybe later." Had I just offered her sex? I'd fucked her before, and it wasn't bad. But I felt compelled to fix Janie's situation as soon as possible. My control over time didn't demand immediate action, but I felt responsible. Guilt is a powerful motivator. I left all of the wrappings on the counter and grabbed the doorknob.

"Don't go!" she whined. "I don't know what I'll do if I don't get satisfaction."

The memory of a quickie with her in an old bed flashed through my mind. No, this was real time, and I didn't cheat in real time. "You'll be fine." I ran to my car and backed out of the space. A passing vehicle beeped at me, but we avoided a collision with screeching brakes. When it was gone, I sped away from the store with the clock safe on the seat beside me. I made an abrupt turn into an empty parking lot and kicked up gravel as I headed to the far corner, near a cluster of mature trees. I waited until I caught my breath. Dare I make another trip back? What might change this time? I had plenty of time to kill so I reclined my bucket seat and cuddled with the clock.

I was in an alley behind a strip mall, standing behind a dumpster. The backs of the stores were one solid brick wall with individual exits from each shop. The alley was lower than the stores, putting each door a few feet off the ground accessible via four steps leading to a cement landing. The smells confirmed that I was behind Pig Inn. The metal door opened and Janie came outside. She still wore the black t-shirt with a silver clock on the front. When she came down the steps and walked up the alley, her hips twitched from side to side, her butt round over a thin waist. She ran her fingers through her hair, arms up, pushing her breasts forward. My cock throbbed at the thought of having sex with her, just as it had when we'd come here for dinner. Why was I obsessing over Janie's body? That clock! She stopped and leaned against a fat metal post that separated the restaurant's loading dock from the neighboring store. The door opened again and two young men came outside. Those were the same two employees who'd caught us in an embrace.

The second one I'd seen, the one with dark slicked back hair spoke up. "Heeeeyyy, Janie. What's with you and that old guy?"

Old guy? He meant me.

"He's a family friend, that's all." Janie replied as she examined her finger polish.

"You two were awfully friendly. He sure had the hots for you." Slick jumped down from the concrete landing. "And you seemed to be enjoying the attention. A guy can tell."

"Yeah, well, I've known him forever, he's a nice guy." Janie raised her eyes to Slick's face. "One of the few I've ever met."

Janie thought I was a nice guy? Did that mean I was destined to finish last?

Slick continued moving towards Janie. His fellow co-worker, the one with the ponytail, came down the steps but hung back. "I can be nice. Can't I, Smitty?"

Smitty nodded.

"See, you should give me a chance." Slick approached Janie, pinning her against the metal post.

Janie pushed at Slick with both arms. "Iggy, stop it!" So Slick's name was Iggy? Yucky!

"Come on, Janie. You had a big kiss for that old guy. Don't 'cha have one for me?" He leaned forward, lips puckered.

Janie turned her head to avoid lip-to-lip contact. I had to do something. There were two of them and only one of me. I had no chance in a physical confrontation. Chunks of broken bricks littered the ground near the dumpster. I picked up a piece. Throw it at Iggy? I could miss and hit Janie. Throw it at Smitty? Nah, he was a bystander. I threw the hunk at an obvious target, the metal door. It banged loud and left a dent. Iggy and Smitty turned towards the door, momentarily distracted. Janie ducked under Iggy's arms and backed away, hugging herself.