While I had been busy finding and setting up the sting for Gary, Sally and Janey had also been busy. I should have known better than to leave the two of them alone with my sister. Although it still isn't clear what part Marion played in all of this, I suspect it is far greater than any of the three of them have ever admitted to me, especially considering what happened as a result.
To begin with, Janey had recognized the girl at the opera as a student from her school. From there it was a simple task to find out her name, Simone LeBrech, and that she was French, smart and extremely shy. Sally took it from there and followed the girl home one afternoon after school and found where she lived. The day she had done that was the day Gary left for South America and she saw him carrying his suitcase out of the house and down to a waiting cab. She had been terrified that Gary might have seen her, but she knew when he packed like that he would be gone for at least a week.
She used the next week to set up a fictitious meeting with the mother. Knowing Sally, she couldn't pull off a lie to save her life and the two women were soon weeping and swapping horror stories about life with Gary. Sally had come clean with her, so Nicole confessed she was at her wit's end as Gary was sexually abusing her little girl after he put Nicole into bondage. He made her watch each assault on Simone. Lately, each time he was getting rougher and rougher with the girl.
Sally liked Nicole immediately and wanted to help her somehow. Her heart went out to her and being the kind-hearted and generous person she was, she offered my services, too. The only problem was, she hadn't asked me first. In fact, I knew nothing of this, as I was busy shanghaiing Gary.
So, there I was, innocently sitting at my desk, forcing myself to work, or at least look like it. The last week or two I had been out of touch with my clients and, secure as their investments were, they liked to be occasionally reminded that I was watching out for them. I managed to soothe a few ruffled feathers and nervous nellies before I just gave up and stared at the blank fucking wall.
That was how Sally found me when she popped into my office. I was so preoccupied with not knowing how things were going in Chile that I didn't notice her until she finally cleared her throat.
I looked at her. She was sitting Indian-style on my blotter and was offering me something. She looked very serious. I really had been somewhere else mentally. At first I thought she was handing me her collar, but I knew this wasn't the position for that.
"What is that, Sally?"
"It is a thong of a bride."
I remembered the story Amud had told me about the thong, and what it was for. Sally's next words confirmed it.
"I, uh, need to ask you for a favor."
"Sally, you know that everything I have is yours. You don't need a thong."
"Well, uh, it's kind of a special request, Larry. This would require a thong. Believe me."
I should have known right then that something catastrophic was afoot. I should have run like the devil himself was chasing me. Did I? Nope! Call me curious, call me stupid, I stayed.
"Is that your thong?"
I didn't think she had had the time to finish one, even if she had started when we first knew about them.
She paused at that. "Uh, no. I borrowed one from Bala."
"Borrowed?" She nodded. "You've started one of your own to replace it?"
"Yes."
"Borrowing is not a good idea, even from friends. Give it back to her. Bring me your thong."
"It's not ready yet. This one can be used for singing now."
"Can the favor wait for the thong to be finished?"
"I don't think so."
I thought for moment, making her wait. She squirmed so nicely when she was nervous.
"Bring me yours. I will accept it on the condition that you finish it."
Sally climbed down off my desk and left the room. Three minutes later she came back in. Kneeling this time, she offered up her thong to me. It was still damp from having resided within her vaginal canal.
"You're offering me this as a slave?"
"Yes, Master."
"But you're not wearing my collar! How can I accept this?"
Her hands flew to her neck. Blushing, and unusually flustered for her, she scampered to the rack that held hers and Janey's collars. Returning to her knees, she offered me her collar. I fastened it on. Again, she offered me the thong.
"Are you properly attired, slave?" I asked her in mock severity.
Her look at me was definitely not that of a calm submissive woman. She realized by now I was teasing her. I think I liked her exasperated with me. Well, a little bit, anyway.
It took her longer to return this time and I heard other voices being shushed in the hallway. Still glaring at me, she made her way over to my chair and kneeled for a third time. Once more, she lifted the thong.
"When was the last time you did your Head Time, slave?" I realized that she was desperate enough that I could get this to go on indefinitely. This could be interesting.
Her hands lowered slowly in surrender. She realized I was going to make her work before I accepted the thong from her. With a heavy sigh of frustration, she opened my trousers and freed my hardening cock. This happened far too rarely for me, having Sally in this position. I settled back and relaxed, ready to enjoy the feeling of utter silence and peace while having the head of my cock bathed in my lover's mouth.
Sally gave an exasperated grunt as I settled back, but did not break from her place. I let her wait for a long 15 minutes before I gently caressed her cheek, a signal she could finish.
"Thank you, Master. I have missed that, too."
She knew what I was thinking? God Damn!
This time, with utter supplication, she held up the thong.
I accepted it, obliging me to honor her request. I lifted the damp leather to my nose and inhaled the scent of my love. I didn't realize yet what an expensive bouquet it was going to be, but right then I didn't care. I was still lost in the arousing aroma of the thong and didn't notice when two other women entered the room. Sally stayed bowed down, my prick stayed standing free as she had left it, waving in the breeze.
I think she knew what my reaction was going to be to her request. She was right to be a little afraid. Pissed would be a nice word for it.
She introduced the two new women, Nicole and Simone, mother and daughter. They looked vaguely familiar. When she mentioned they had been the two women with Gary the night of the concert, it hit me. I suddenly had an awful feeling I knew what the favor was going to be. Really pissed would be closer.
Her request was that I allow Nicole and Simone to join the household; our household; permanently. Both of them were aware of our lifestyle and were willing to join. They were eager, in fact. Nicole would be another slave and Simone would be, well, another daughter, sort of.
I sat stone still, trying to convince myself of my love for Sally, trying to figure out what in the fucking Hell she was doing. Was she really offering me another woman? I mean, sure, Nicole was nice to look at, but shit, Sally and I weren't even married yet! I for damned sure wasn't tired of her and didn't think I would ever be.
My knuckles were white on the arms of the chair. This one was metal, so they didn't snap like the ones on the chair in the kitchen. But they did bend a little. I tried really hard not to yell at her, to humiliate her in front of the people she was trying so hard to help. I zipped up my pants for starters, my erection collapsing as the totality of her request hit me.
God Damn fucking women! Don't they always know when you've reached that last piece of rope? I was worried about two of my friends, the shadow I had asked to follow Gary and Miki's father, Juan Miguel and Sally brings home two strangers. I had just sent a man to his death, albeit justifiable in my mind and had put another friend in possible peril. The waiting and not knowing was killing me. I wasn't ready for this right now.
Things with Sally and Janey were going so well, too! How is it that just when you finally get a good grip on what's going on, they ask you to do something that totally fucks up the system? And then want you to fix it? God Damn it all to Fucking Hell!
I managed to do two things. First, I didn't yell at her and second, I managed to remind myself that I loved her. I didn't have a clue what she was trying to do, but if this was important enough for her to ask for, it was important enough for me to consider. OK, technically, by accepting the thong, I had no choice. But again, technically, it wasn't our fucking custom, either.
I reached down and touched Sally's head. I nodded curtly for her and the young girl to leave. Nicole LeBrech stood before me, her head bowed down. I looked at her for a while in silence. She was a fine looking woman, different in most ways from Sally, and I will admit, the sight of her stirred my blood. I felt guilty, momentarily.
She sat down at my request in one of my office chairs. I asked her to tell me her story, to be as complete and honest as she felt she could be. It was odd, but I could not sense her with my new senses as I could Sally and Janey. It was like there was a nothingness there, as if the feelings had been beaten out of her. When I thought back, I thought I had sensed something from Simone but it felt different than what I sensed form Sally and Janey. It was as if her 'sense' was stiffer or something. I couldn't place my finger on it exactly and, right then, I didn't have the time to think about it. Nicole was talking.
She had been born in a little village outside of Paris, France. Her mother had died during childbirth, so she had never known her. Saddened by the loss of his true love but a proud man, her Papa had refused all help from the village women and had raised Nicole by himself. He was a loving parent but refused to dote on her, spoiling her as so many single parents who feel guilty. He was a perfectionist himself and demanded her very best efforts in all she did, often admonishing her for substandard efforts. He did not reprimand her for failing when she had given her best effort.
Nicole had thrived in that atmosphere. She proved to be exceptionally bright and had finished her basic schooling, the equivalent of American high school, by the age of 15. At the graduation festivities, Nicole got extremely drunk, with the encouragement of several of her older colleagues. Simone was born 9 months later. She hadn't exactly been raped, but she didn't know who the father was and no one came forward to take the credit. In the days prior to DNA testing, there wasn't much she or her father could do.
Papa took this development in stride. He moved to Paris with her so she could start University. Simone was born between the end of term exams. Papa found a job at night in an auto factory and helped Nicole raise Simone until Nicole had finished with her Ph.D. work five years later. She had a doctorate in an esoteric area of neurochemistry.
Papa had been killed in an explosion at the auto plant two years later. Devastated and alone with a young daughter, Nicole had latched onto — her words — the first man to come along that showed any interest in her. Using her small inheritance, he brought her to America, but, when the money ran out, so did he.
Determined to make it in this new country, she called one of her Professors who had taken an interest in her career. He referred her to the president of a small biotech company near where she was currently living in the US who needed someone with her particular skills. For the next year or two, Nicole worked hard, as Papa had trained her to and she did well. Being beautiful helped and she had more and more contact with the CEO of the company, an old curmudgeon who had gone through several wives already. Nicole initially rebuffed his advances, but the old bastard really fell hard for her. He persisted, he prevailed and they married, much to the dismay of her many other suitors.
She continued to do well, the company prospered from her patents and, predictably, the old man died. He died happy, in bed with Nicole, but it was traumatic for her. He had left her everything her owned, other than what went to the other wives and the stockholders. He had been smart enough to have everything tied up legally so they didn't contest the Will. None of them wanted to fight his lawyers again, it seemed.
Nicole and Simone had been naturalized to US citizenship during this stint. She continued to run the company for a while but it wasn't what she wanted to do. She missed working in the lab. She wanted out of the corporate rat race. Through her own contacts in the industry, she found a buyer for the company and made several people very rich, including herself.
Being rich, single and beautiful would not seem to present a tremendous problem to most people but Nicole seemed to attract and be susceptible to smooth con men. She had invested her fortune wisely and had put several roadblocks between it and any confidence scheme but that didn't stop the pricks from trying. Most of them tried the wrong approach, trying to sweet talk or woo her with flowers. Those she felt comfortable with, as those she could handle.
Gary was the first one to touch her hidden submissive nature and it rattled her to her core. Knowing of his quasi-intelligence training, it did not surprise me that he had quickly found his way through the obstacles to her bank accounts and was bleeding them dry at an alarming rate. Even at the rate he was going, however, she still had enough to keep him in fresh Gucci's for another four years or so.
My ears perked up at that. That was serious money she was talking about. It was also obvious that her fortune represented something more to her than just security. If she became a part of the household, I would have to make sure her money was kept totally autonomous from mine. I figured I would handle it the same way I did with Sally and Janey's funds but I knew I would have to make a special effort to make her feel comfortable that I was not after her money. It wouldn't be easy. If I had that kind of money, I'd be suspicious of everyone, too.
She didn't say much about Gary. She didn't have to. I knew what he had put her through; the gentle seduction into bondage, setting the hook, then the humiliation and degradation. That he was actually abusing Simone sexually to accomplish this humiliation disturbed me, as I hadn't noticed a pattern of actually abusing young girls in his profile. True, Simone was a mature young woman for her age, that much I could see, but she was still a little younger than Janey. There must have been something special about her to attract Gary to her or a certain leverage he could use with Nicole by abusing Simone.
I had come to realize that I couldn't have been the only person in the universe to have the ability to 'sense' emotions, as I had been doing with Sally and Janey. I think, on some level, that we all do. We just never recognize it for what it is. I think pheromones, facial expression and body language probably get confused in the mix, too. Besides, being especially 'sensitive' isn't always considered to be a compliment to a male, although I had always tried to be. I was beginning to realize that Gary must have had a certain level of the ability to sense a submissive nature in women. Hell, he may even have had the ability to project one onto them but the thought that that might be possible scared the living shit out of me. He did seem to be able to 'find' a lot of submissive women, though, and I didn't recollect Miki being at all like that. I shuddered involuntarily and put the thought behind me.
Nicole went on to tell me about Simone. It was like watching a train wreck. Simone had shown early signs of genius. Not like her mother. Simone was smarter. Early testing had shown that she was off the IQ scale. She was also a pretty child and, for the most part, well adjusted, especially for someone with her brilliance. If she had a flaw, it was her instinctual trust in the males of the species.
That complete and utter trust had led to Nicole's first lover raping Simone at a very young age. Nicole had not known about the continued sexual assaults on her daughter until he had run out on them. Simone's pediatrician had discovered the signs of sexual activity after a routine exam. Nicole was devastated at this news. Children's services almost took Simone away from her. If she hadn't found the job at the biotech firm and moved out of state, they would have. By the time they found her again, she was well established at the company and the corporate lawyers took care of the legal matters for her. For once, the fucking lawyers were good for something. I made a mental note to find out more about that law firm. Lawyers with good hearts were rarer than honest politicians.
Simone's escape from the misery and pain of the betrayal of her trust was to bury herself in books and learning. Books of all kinds were her escape; the more challenging the better. She was like a black hole when it came to learning. She sucked in everything she came across from music to medicine, Plato to physics. Often, she would have trouble applying what she knew, but that was probably because she knew too much. She had too many choices and, really, how often in life is there just one right answer? I had to smile at that. I was facing the same situation right now, but I was desperately trying to find a suitable alternative.
Nicole had tried to keep Simone in school with children her own age for her social development. She knew too well what the consequences could be of being so much younger than all the other kids. It was important for her that Simone develop a social maturity that could help her through the tough times she was bound to have ahead of her, being as different as she was from everyone else in the 'smarts' department. Simone had so far been adjusting well, trying to find her place in each class, developing a friend or two to pal around with. It was only lately that things had begun to change.
Gary's particular form of sexual abuse of Simone confused her. True to form, she eventually trusted him. He used that trust against her, then he began abusing her, mentally and physically. Unlike before, when she had been told to keep what was happening a secret from her mother, Gary flaunted what they did in front of her mother.
When Gary began hurting Simone, her reaction was to withdraw. Nicole broke down at this point and I had to wait for her to regain a semblance of self-control before she could continue. Simone hadn't spoken a word for the last three weeks, not to anyone, as far as she could tell. At first she thought it was just a phase. Then the notes from her teachers began to come home, followed by a quietly panicked phone call from the school counselor. From her previous experience with Child services, Nicole was frantic, afraid she would lose Simone for good this time but she didn't know what to do. She had actually been preparing injections for suicide for herself and Simone when Sally had shown up at her door.
I sat in the office, stunned that this woman could show such composure with the trauma she had been though. I knew I wasn't prepared to deal with all her baggage, though it seemed trite to label her very real emotional and personal problems in that way. Another traumatized daughter was not on my most-favorite list, either. I remembered the agonizing process Sally and I had gone through with Janey and that was just last week!
But, like Sally, my heart went out to Nicole. She had no one else to turn to. It touched a chord deep inside me, challenged me to rethink the paradigms of my own life. This time, it wouldn't just be me, but Sally and Janey would help, too. Somehow I knew that was what Sally intended but making them a part of our family? It was time to call Sally back in.
She entered at my call for her, apparently standing right outside my door. One look at her face told me she had known everything Nicole had just told me. There was probably more tragedy to be learned, too, but the highlights were enough for me. She came and knelt at my feet.
"Go sit down, Sally. Consider your collar off for the time being. I need complete and honest answers to some questions."
I turned to Nicole. "In this house, I insist on openness and honesty, even when you are in a submissive role. Sally knows that, but I just wanted to remind her. Now, I have to ask you some questions about how you see yourself fitting in here. You know, as you can see from Sally's attire and collar, that she has a submissive role in this relationship. That is, by the way, her preference, not my demand. Can you deal with that?"
Nicole lowered her eyes, but didn't blush. "What that awful man did to me gave me the most intense feelings I have ever felt. I was hooked from the first soft rope he used to tie me up. I am so ashamed of my weakness, to have wanted it so badly, but I couldn't help myself. It wasn't love. I knew that. It was worse, because all he did was take, take, take. I could find love almost anywhere. He was the only person I knew who could make me feel like that. It was like a drug, an addicting drug.
"It tore me apart when he touched Simone, but I was helpless to stop him. I..." she broke down again, " ... I orgasmed at first, it felt so naughty, being so helpless to stop him. At first he only touched her, then he made her do things. Soon he was fucking her. Three weeks ago he beat her."
She paused, thinking. "I have thought much about this. I am not an ignorant person. I realize, since talking to Sally, but not only that, that I need to be in a submissive role, too. Yes. If this life is possible, I want it." She looked over at Sally, who took her hand in support. "I need it."
Shit! They were in this together, already. I still had some questions.
"OK, you want to do this. What about Simone?"
Nicole looked up at me now, her eyes sharp and focused. This seemed to be more like her normal approach to life. "Sally has told me about how you are working with Janey..."
In a moment of panic I focused my link on Sally and shot her a questioning 'Everything?' I wasn't sure if it would work, sending her a verbal message, but my heart rate and adrenaline were high enough that if anything would make it work, it should now. Amazingly, it did.
"No. Not 'everything, '" she replied softly through the link. I think we were both stunned at what we had just done, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
" ... to help her get over her attack. From what I have seen of Janey, she seems very well adjusted. I think..." she smile wryly, " ... I think that this time, for some reason, it is me who trusts you. I apologize in advance, but Simone does not trust you or any man right now and she is bound to give you trouble."
Ah, the magic button. There was the hook; a challenge to my abilities. I couldn't resist. Not after getting walking pneumonia in college by going shirtless in sub-zero weather, not with the risk of losing Sally and not now. Knowingly or not, she had offered me the bait I needed.
What was I thinking? It was going to be a challenge fitting two more attractive and probably willing females into a sexually charged environment. What she was telling me about Simone made her an impossible challenge. With emotional stakes as high as possible. I was hooked.
"Sally, how did you see this working? How did you think they would fit in here?"
She looked flustered. Thinking of something is one thing. Saying it out loud in broad daylight is grounds for commitment to the loony bin.
"They, uh, well, they, er,..." she stuttered.
"Start with Nicole, here. What would be her role?"
"Oh, well, uh, I thought we could share, you know..." She just left it hanging.
"You thought you and I would share Nicole? I don't need another slave," I chided her.
Sally blushed, and glanced over at Nicole for support. She must have gotten it, because she actually said it.
"No, Larry. I thought Nicole and I would share you. And before you ask, yes, I have thought about this, and, yes, we would share you in every way."
She was rather abrupt at the end.
Well excuuuuse me.
"What if she doesn't appeal to me that way?"
Two sets of eyes widened and stared at me, one in horror that the owner might be found unsatisfactory, the other pair in the horror that their owner's master could have voiced such a tactless question. One pair caught on that I was playing with them.
"Sally, it's OK. He said 'what if'."
"Huh?"
"He said 'what if'. That means he likes me," she said in typically inscrutable French feminist logic. Nicole looked up at me, suddenly shy.
"Well, I think, anyway," she finished.
I smiled broadly at having been caught out so easily. Damn, I was going to have to get sharper in a hurry to stay ahead of this one. Hell, it was going to be challenge just to keep up and being a chauvinist wasn't going to help me, either. God help me, the daughter was smarter still? Deep, deep shit we're in here, bubba. Deep, deep shit.
I tipped back my chair and closed my eyes, trying to think this out. Sally was trying to alter our relationship and I thought I knew why. As overwhelming as I had found her submissiveness earlier, I had seen indications lately that she found my possessiveness of her to be equally overwhelming. There had been hints, even a small rebellion, in her own fashion.
This was not just another shot across the bows on her part, though. This was her screwed up solution, so very Sally-like. It was served up on as attractive a platter as I had ever seen, I must admit, but still I didn't like it. I didn't like being maneuvered into a neat little corner and not having a choice. This tasted a little like an ultimatum.
"Sally... ?"
"I know, Larry. You love me."
She stopped, got up and came over to my chair. She tipped me upright and sat on my lap.
"I don't like to shout that across the desk," she said tenderly. "I love you, too. I always will. Believe it or not, my feelings for you won't change because of Nicole, or Simone, or even Janey. I am absolutely convinced of your heart, of your love, of your intentions. It is that absoluteness that gives me the freedom to ask this of you."
She didn't add that it was also that total dedication to her that was driving her crazy. She always did have a kind heart.
"I know this won't be easy," she continued, "but you've never shied away from the tough things, have you?"
She leaned down and whispered in my ear, digging into my ribs with her fingers at the same time, "This one you can fuck, too, lover. Really!"
She collapsed in a giggling heap as I dumped her unceremoniously off my lap and onto the floor.
"All right! All right!" I had the attention of both of them. "I'll agree, but with conditions."
Sally groaned. Loudly. It was almost a 'God help us' moan, but I couldn't quite make out the words.
"Nicole and Simone may move in. Until further arrangements can be made, Simone will move into Janey's room. Agreed?"
Sally nodded. It was always easiest to give away someone else's privacy. I wondered what the two girls would say to having a roommate.
"Nicole? You will be Sally's submissive. She will be your Mistress."
Sally sat there, open-mouthed, stunned. Speechless, for once.