Author: Sterling
Title: Bond-Mates: Necessary, Sometimes Horrible, Usually Magnificent Summary: Humanity has a different
and peculiar sexual structure. Sex might make a couple form a
bond, which means they share in each other's feelings and
thoughts, enhancing sex and creating a sense of closeness.
Everyone needs one bond, but no one can have more than two. If
your mate has a bad secret, a bond can be painful. The story
explores the resulting complexities.
Keywords: MF MFF MMFF, ScFi, oral, alt reality, humor, mind reading

NOTICE: This story contains explicit sex.

First posted 3/3/2023.

I'm always eager for comments, whether good, bad or mixed.
Comments to sterling27@live.com.

I have written many other stories and they can all be found at
http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/Sterling/

There is a more user-friendly web version of many of my stories
here: http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/~Sterling

Sterling

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Bond-Mates: Necessary, Sometimes Horrible, Usually Magnificent

Chapter 1

At North Brookfield High School, a lot of the kids started doing
it young. Some of them did it a lot. But none of them ever formed
a bond. Eighteen was the youngest a person had ever entered a
bond. Twenty was the most common age.

Lucy started feeling the first signs of "bondless syndrome" just
before her 20th birthday. First she thought it was a cold, then
she held out a faint hope that it was only a cold, and then she
knew she had come of age. That meant she'd better start having
sex regularly until she formed a bond.

Lucy wasn't a virgin. Shortly after she turned 18 she had a
friend Alex who she liked and had no trouble convincing him to do
the job. She'd made sure in advance the penetration didn't hurt,
and she was wet enough for it to be a smooth mating. He'd come
inside her after a couple minutes, and that was fine. She got the
sense then that deep down sex was a good and right thing, a
perspective she never lost. That was true whether she came or
not. Alex was eager to do it again, and she wanted to get used to
it. The fourth and last time, she asked if she could ride him,
because she had heard a girl could come that way. And it worked!
That was wonderful, to get that pleasure and release while his
organ was way up inside her. It was exciting to then have him
urgently turn her over, re-enter, thrust like crazy, and come
almost at once.

But after those few experimental encounters, Lucy wasn't inclined
to do it again. She knew that whatever her opinions on the
subject, she would soon start having a lot of sex, and it would
go on for many years. A couple more years of not thinking about
it felt like extending her childhood in a nice way.

Bondless syndrome also had a more colorful name: the Creeping
Yuckies. The symptoms varied from person to person. Sneezing,
coughing, ear and sinus pain, headaches, vertigo, muscle aches,
sweats and fever... But whatever they were they slowly got worse,
a little bit, day by day. If left unchecked, bondless syndrome
got worse and inevitably led to death.

The solution was to form a bond, and the way to do that was to
have sex with a partner. At some point during an act of
intercourse the bond would just happen, and which pairings
created a bond was basically random. But it was roughly one
mating in ten that produced a bond, so any person, man or woman,
had to be prepared to have a lot of sex to get a bond.

So it was time. Time to start asking boys for sex. Many of her
schoolmates had propositioned her in the past couple years, and
she had turned them down politely. She now looked up the ones she
had had good feelings about.

The night before she set out on her quest, she stripped naked and
took a look at herself in the full-length mirror. Height: 5'6".
Weight: 125 pounds. Shoulder-length wavy brown hair. Brown eyes
set a bit close together -- or at least not big and wide like the
prettiest girls. Her breasts were on the small side but not too
small, and they didn't droop. She was a little bit more muscular
than the prettiest girls. Her hips were of course wider than a
boy's, but probably narrower than most girls. And down there was
her pubic hair, obscuring all the really important sex organs.
She thought she looked OK. Probably a bit above average for a
20-year-old.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Pete, how's it going?"

"Fine, Lucy. How are you? I didn't expect to hear from you,
unless -- you're looking for a bond partner?"

"Yeah."

"I'd be happy to help. I mean, I think you're sexy and I'd enjoy
it too, of course."

"Thanks, yeah." That was one little problem. Everyone needed to
have a bond, but any girl would feel better if she thought her
partner wasn't just doing her a favor. "How many bonds do you
have now?"

"Two -- but I'd be happy to get rid of either of them. No real
problems, just it would be nice to have a change of pace. You'd
be a fun one."

"Yeah, well, I picked you for a reason, too --"

"Not just because I'm so muscular and handsome you couldn't
resist?"

"Well, that too," said Lucy, playing along. They both knew what
she meant was that he wouldn't be a bad person to have a bond
with. Of course it would probably just be a single act of sexual
intercourse and no bond would be formed, however bad or good or
fantastic it was as a sexual encounter. She didn't want him to
know he was the first one she'd picked in search of a bond,
because that would imply he was more special to her than he was.
She had had her eye on him for a few years, but it was nothing
profound.

She came to his house and things became something of a blur. In
his room... stripping... a stiff penis sticking straight out...
then on her back, "are you ready?"... the plunge in... the
grunting and happy sighs of this young man on top of her, his
stiff meat shoving in and out... And lots of warm sexy feelings
down there for her.

He paused after a couple minutes and said, "Guess not, huh?"

Lucy said, "Guess not." She had lost track in the moment of the
fact that they were seeking a bond, since she was just enjoying
having sex. She'd never felt what it was like to have a bond
form, but they said there was no way you'd miss it if it
happened. Two full minutes of penis-in-vagina thrusting was
deemed to be enough to get your answer. If it hadn't happened by
then, it wasn't going to.

"You OK if I finish?" he asked. She nodded eagerly, but noted
that he wouldn't have wanted to hear a "no" just then. Thirty
more seconds of thrusting and he came. Her experiences a couple
years before meant she knew what to expect. His increasing
excitement, his cock getting just a little bit bigger and
stiffer, and then sudden relaxation meant he was coming, and
within a couple seconds she felt how wet things were up inside
her vagina. He pulled out and slid onto his back beside her,
breathing hard and with a very satisfied expression on his face.
She hadn't gotten off herself, but that was OK.

She had had her IUD put in at the age of 12. That was the law.

Some subtle change in Pete's breathing told her he was ready for
her to leave. She had figured it might be impolite to just get up
the instant his cock slipped out of her pussy. And her judgment
was confirmed that it was time when he didn't protest.

"Thanks," she said, getting dressed. Pete lay on the bed looking
at her with a friendly smile -- perhaps admiring her. Glancing
again, she saw the smile was partly a leer. That was good, right?
She would need lots of men to fuck her, and it would be far
easier if they were eager to do it.

"Oh, I had a lot of fun. And it would have been great if it had
worked. Making a bond with you."

It was of course nice of him to say that. She honestly didn't
know how sincere he was.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Philip... I'm looking for a bond-mate. You willing and
able?"

"Oh, jeez, Lucy, I'd love to, but I'm full up and I don't want to
bounce either of mine."

"Oh, OK." He had bonds with two women already, and of course if
he succeeded in forming a bond with Lucy, one of the other two
would instantly break. That was a hard-and-fast rule. No one ever
had more than two bonds at a time. Of course there were other
possibilities as to his thinking. He might not want to risk
giving up either of his bonds for Lucy, but he might be willing
to risk it for a woman he found more attractive. Or he might only
have one bond and pretend to have two as a good excuse because he
didn't want a bond with her no matter what. It was unlikely he
had no bond at all, or he would be really unlikely to decline any
reasonably attractive woman. But she decided to take what he said
at face value, and believe that he would have been delighted to
have her as a bond partner if only he didn't already have two he
valued.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Lucy, this is Bruce. Thanks for calling me back -- I got
your message. I'm still not used to these message machines, but I
think they're going to be really helpful."

"Yeah, they're great! I'm trying to convince my father to buy
one, but no luck yet."

"Up for some sex? I'd love to have a bond with you. Only got one
now."

"Sure," said Lucy. Bruce was a handsome fellow who had seemed
nice enough in school. "But can I start out on top?" That one
time during her experimental phase -- hopefully that could be
repeated.

"Oh, of course!" said Bruce.

She figured if he was the one asking her, she could ask for what
she wanted. She got up on her knees over him, aimed his cock, got
the tip in past the opening and another half inch until the
lubricated path was clear, and then she plunged down all at once.
Ah, what pleasure!

Bruce gasped too. "Ah, that was nice!" He then smiled up at her
and caressed her breasts as they hung down over him. She felt
fine about her small but not too small breasts and figured no man
would be troubled if they hung down and jiggled back and forth.
Now she set herself down on Bruce's cock rhythmically, over and
over, finding the ways that felt the very best.

He was so sexy and nice, and his cock was deliciously thick...
She got to the edge of orgasm pretty quickly, but those same nice
things made her not want it to end too soon. But it's not like
they were regular lovers or anything, so after a minute of
delicious hanging on the edge, she pressed down as hard as she
could and came. She loved the feel of his pubic bone mashing
against her clit, and her pussy clutched his cock over and over.

"Mind if I finish?" he asked.

He asked? Were there really females who would come themselves and
not let a guy finish? "Oh, please, go ahead!" She was prepared
for him to turn her over, but all he did was lift her pelvis up a
few inches off of him and thrust upward into her hard and deep
and in no time -- ten seconds maybe? -- he held still with his
cock shoved up into her just as far as it would go -- and gasped
and groaned. Then he pulled out. She would have been happy to
turn over on her back for the usual way, but what Bruce had done
was fine too. She figured she would soon be learning about a
whole bunch of different ways to have sex.

But she brought herself back to reality. They had been hoping for
a bond, none had formed, they'd had great sex -- at least from
her point of view -- and they were all done.

Five minutes later she was on her way.

============================================================

Chapter 2

Lucy had done it with 13 guys and no bond had formed. Most people
would form a bond in fewer than 13 tries. And her bondless
syndrome had been getting worse. She felt like she had a cold all
the time. She sighed as she finished dressing for the day. The
last item was a red sweater to keep her warm on this chilly fall
day. But the color signaled she was likely to accept just about
any proposition she got. Kids knew to stop wearing red when they
turned 12 or so. When a grown-up wore red it expressed a need for
sex that was bordering on desperation.

Some of the less attractive women and men began wearing red
whenever they needed a bond, because they knew it might take a
while, and it was no fun to proposition people and get turned
down over and over again. Others waited until they were pretty
desperate. Lucy was certainly not fat or ugly, but she was
getting desperate.

There were lots of places where you could meet people, but it was
obvious enough that it was convenient if there was a bed nearby
when you met a potential mate. So instead of going to some
commercial street or park, she walked down a block with row
houses and a few apartment buildings.

She attracted attention at once. "A standard quickie, OK?" said a
middle-aged man with a sizable belly and jowls. That was OK,
right? Into his place, back in the bedroom. She started stripping
and was all naked on top and stepping out of her skirt when she
noticed he had taken off trousers and underpants but nothing
else. Well, OK, then! She ditched her panties but kept her shoes
and socks on and lay back. She then started a quick little
flutter down on her clit to get wet enough. "First one of the
day, eh?" said the man with a smirk. She learned what that meant
soon enough. After one guy had left a load inside her, she was
plenty wet for the next one. This one let himself down on her,
his belly spreading to cover her stomach. He inserted and began
thrusting. He was silent, with closed eyes, thrusting in and out.
Then she heard him mutter, "Ninety," and then a bit later, "A
hundred." He was counting the seconds! Two minutes was a fair
test. "A hundred ten" was said with notable tension and ten
seconds later he plunged deep and held still with a loud, deep
"Ooohhhh!" A few seconds later he pulled out and went straight
for his underpants and trousers. Lucy hurried to get dressed
herself, and was soon on her way.

At the door, he said, "Sorry it didn't work, hon. Sure is a lot
of fun trying, though."

As Lucy went out the street again she thought about how she was
feeling. She had congestion and bad muscle aches, but that was
unfortunately old news these past days. All her sexy nerves were
engaged, her reproductive tract felt fine, very wet. The memory
of that belly kind of enveloping her stomach wasn't a great one,
but she had gotten what she needed and what she had asked for. It
hadn't formed a bond but it had been a genuine attempt.

---------------------------------------------------------

She had evidently been seen walking down the street and entering
Mr. Belly's home, because when she re-emerged there were half a
dozen men waiting for her.

The nearest looked to be in his 70s, and his face was
expressionless and his left arm twitched. He was wearing a red
shirt. She'd never turned a guy down before, but... this?

A tall, red-headed guy saw her dismay and said, "You can say no."
To the man he said, "You ought to give it up, Fred! Or at least
wait for the girls to come get you." Fred stepped back.

"I, on the other hand," he said, raising his arm to show off his
biceps.

Lucy frowned and turned away. She was turned off by his bravado
and was tempted to just run home and crawl into bed. But -- those
muscle aches!

A slouching guy who hadn't shaved in a couple days said, "I'll do
you, but first look at my place. I'm looking for a bond to last,
and when I do make a bond with some women, they're picky and when
they see my place they dump me as soon as they can. Want to take
a look?"

Lucy shrugged and followed him up into his apartment. It smelled
faintly of garbage and dirty laundry. The living room was a total
mess, with a footpath cleared through newspapers, take-out
containers and clothing that looked like it had been flung off
and left where it landed. She could barely see into the kitchen,
but she could see piles of dishes obscuring what was probably the
sink. But she wasn't going to live with the guy, just fuck him,
right? The bondless syndrome was progressing and she felt pretty
darn bad. Following the path of bare floor to his bedroom she saw
there was one clear space just big enough for a man to sleep in.
She thought of how the last guy had not stripped, so she just
stepped out of her skirt and took her panties off. Turning, she
saw him naked from the waist down -- but his cock gave no sign of
being aroused. "Can you help me out, kiddo?" he asked. She
reached out to caress it, and it started swelling a bit. "Could
you suck it?" he asked.

She pulled back in disgust. The guy hadn't bathed in a while.
"No," she said. "No deal!"

"Oh, come on!" he said.

She was afraid he might not let her go, but once she was dressed
he just muttered unhappily while she followed the path out to the
door.

---------------------------------------------------------

When she got back to the sidewalk, there were a couple of the men
who had been there before, but there was a new man who had placed
himself in front of the others. An average-looking guy in his
40s. "I'd be willing to try," he said.

Average-looking was to Lucy looking very good just then!

She followed the guy up into his place and into his bedroom. She
waited for him to start stripping, but he didn't. "I can't
actually give you a try," he said. "I'm bonded with two women I
love and I don't want to risk losing either of them. But you
looked so miserable out there I thought I'd give you a chance to
recover a bit. Want a hug?"

This wasn't going to help her achieve her goal, but a hug from a
friendly, considerate man sounded very good. She drew herself up
against him as they stood. She felt herself sort of melt in his
arms.

"Want to just lie here and relax for a while?" he said. "It's not
even noon yet."

She lay down on the bed. He took her shoes off, first one and
then the other. She closed her eyes and was aware of the man just
sitting beside her on the edge of the bed. She felt the tears
coming. The syndrome. "It hurts... my muscles are hurting so
bad!"

"Oh, sweetie!" he said softly and patted her hand. With that she
just let loose and cried like a little girl. And the sweet man
just sat there stroking her hand.

After ten minutes she realized she had a job to do. The muscle
aches were bad but to make them go away she had to take action!
She sighed and got up.

"I'm Aaron, by the way."

"I'm Lucy."

"Would you give me your number? We never know when a bond is
going to just break, and I'd love to see if you could be my
second bond if that happens." She shrugged, and he quick found a
scrap of paper and a pen.

He smiled. "I've had a bad case of the bondless syndrome. And I
don't ever want to go through that again. And you could really
use a partner too."

"I hope I don't have to wait for one of your bonds to break
before I feel better again."

"Oh, me too, me too! But bonds come and go. Maybe you'll find a
nice bond but be willing to consider me for your second."

"I sure would!" she said, then felt a little embarrassed as if
she loved him or something. "You sure are organized about all
this," she said, managing to find the energy to tease him.

He shrugged and kissed her on the cheek and then she was out the
door.

---------------------------------------------------------

On the street there was no one waiting. She realized she'd been
in with the nice man for the better part of an hour, probably.
But as she walked, the tall skinny red-head appeared from his
doorway and hurried out to her.

He said, "From the rear, bent over the sofa?"

Lucy sighed and looked at him.

"I was just kidding," he said. "I'll do it however you want. If
you've got a way to get off, I can last a good long time."

"OK," said Lucy, and followed him up into his place. She was
feeling pretty annoyed. Of course he didn't know how rotten she
was feeling, but shouldn't he suspect that when a woman was
wearing a red sweater? She didn't want to try to get off with
this guy. She didn't even want to look at him, and so, hmmmm...

"Come to think of it, why not try it from the rear? I've never
done it that way. It will be a new experience."

"You're serious?" said the guy.

"Yes," said Lucy with a sigh of irritation.

"Oh, man, that's quite a treat," the guy said. "I love it when I
can, but not many girls like it."

"Maybe I'll know why in a minute," she said wearily.

With her skirt and panties off, she leaned over the sofa back.
She didn't look back. He would do whatever needed doing, surely,
and then... Yes, that was his cock nudging against her pussy lips
and then surging up inside. Just what she needed. Cunt fucked by
a dick were the words that came to mind. But she was surprised.
This felt really nice! Why wouldn't girls like this?

"Oh, my God," whispered the man.

And then she felt it too, this growing sensation like nothing she
had ever felt before, warm and welcoming and very sexy. "This is
a bond?" she whispered.

"Yes... Almost complete," he said, thrusting in and out evenly.

Lucy was aware of something else, a separate part of her brain
perhaps. When she shut her eyes, she saw herself mounted on a
young woman from the rear, and she had an enormous clitoris that
was shoved way up into the woman's vagina. Then she had a sharp
intake of breath. She was seeing what he saw, and feeling what he
felt. That was his penis, not her clitoris!

"What do you.. For sex, what do you want?" asked the man softly.

Lucy was a bit uncomfortable in that position, but then realized
the big news. The muscle aches were gone! In the moment, one of
her thighs was pressed hard on the back of the sofa, with the
opposite arm reaching down to the sofa seat holding most of her
weight. Her vagina was stuffed with exactly the sort of thing she
wanted it to be stuffed with -- an erect penis. But when she let
reality flicker, she was aware of that enormous clitoris -- wait,
that penis -- deep inside that tight, wet cave, feeling fantastic
but wanting more than anything to finish.

"Oh, come, for God's sake! Come in me!"

"OK," said the man. Stroke followed delicious stroke, and in all
of twenty he came. There was the usual sensation of his
excitement and then relaxation, and there was the extra wetness
up inside. But there was something else, too -- something
wonderful. She felt the pleasure of his orgasm. Her consciousness
flickering back to her own sensations, which were also very nice.

He stroked idly back and forth for a few seconds, and then she
felt that penis jam in deep -- so deep it bumped against her on
the inside and hurt.

"Oh, sorry," said the man, who drew back and didn't press in that
far again. "Didn't mean to hurt you, for sure." How did he know?
Oh, he was experiencing reality through her eyes! And not just
her eyes, her reality including sensations of her cervix way up
inside her vagina.

He pulled out of her and offered her a hand to get up off the
sofa to a standing position.

"What do we do now?" asked Lucy dreamily, staring into his eyes.
"I'm Lucy."

"I'm William. Yeah, you've never been here before. It's always
wonderful. But it's extra spicy with a bond virgin." He lowered
his face towards her and they kissed. This was like no other kiss
-- so sweet. First she felt his lips gently sliding over hers,
then the next moment she felt her own lips slipping over his.

"What is really special is if we go to bed for real and make
love."

That sounded terrific to Lucy. "Can I start out on top?" She was
about to ask if he was ready to go, because guys need a break
between, but she could feel without looking his strong erection
and that he was very much ready. Having a strong erection -- that
was a feeling she had never had before.

They stripped naked, lay out on his bed, kissing and making out
and fondling. She mounted him and felt for the first time what it
was like to have her penis seized by a vagina. He sucked her left
nipple... that was wonderful, but harder and faster would be so
much nicer. And that's just what he did. There were sexy tissues
touching other sexy tissues in sexy ways, male and female jumbled
together. It was magnificent. But she was the one controlling the
body with the clitoris, and she thrust up and down like a woman
trying to get off, and that did the trick. He moaned and gave a
big smile when Lucy had her orgasm.

After a few moments she pulled off of him and lay back on the
bed. She was eager to find out what it felt like to stick her
very hard cock into the pussy of a very eager woman.

And she did. Deep. The urge was so strong for "in" and "deep".
She could finish at any moment, but held off a little. Down in
the female body that was really hers she felt her clit glow with
sudden pleasure and then felt the pussy contract on her penis. In
fast and deep and in ten strokes she was spurting into...
herself. And she felt two orgasms at once. It was all mixed up
but in such a wonderful jumble that she had no desire to sort it
out.

She kissed him for a minute with their bodies interlocked, then
pulled back.

"That was great!" he said. "Girls come to orgasm in a kind of
different way -- more open, all-encompassing -- and you more than
most."

She could sense the contrast now that he mentioned it -- his
orgasm was kind of more sharp and intense.

After a moment she said, "The muscle aches went away so fast back
when we bonded. And now my nose is clear too. So fast!"

"That's what happens, they say."

"They say?"

"I've been lucky I've always bonded pretty quickly."

He told her a bit about his job and the family he had come from.
She shared her own background. He related that he had one other
bond that he was content with. And she was aware that his mind
was pretty even and balanced somehow.

After some leisurely snuggling and caressing, it was another
round of fantastic interwoven lovemaking.

Then it was time for more practical considerations. Lucy was
expected back at her parents' house for dinner. William had to
prepare for his next day at the office.

============================================================

Chapter 3

Op-ed piece: Why are our sexual patterns so unusual?

Evolution by natural selection is a theory that has been
confirmed a million times over. No one could doubt its truth. And
yet there are still puzzles. One of the greatest is the sexual
patterns of our very own species.

Our closest relatives are the great apes. They have different
sexual systems, but they all fit within the framework of
evolution by natural selection. The gorillas live in widely
separated bands and have a strict harem model. Chimps live in
troops with promiscuous mating. Humanomorphs form lifelong pair
bonds and jointly provide for their offspring.

We are compelled to have sex as adults. In every other species,
sex is its own reward. Some members of every species don't get
partners, but they don't get sick. In the humanomorphs, the
pairings are lifelong, so they can raise their children together
and continue their sexual relationship to make more. Our bonds
hardly ever last for the entirety of a single childhood. Instead
of monogamy, the need for bonds enforces an ever-shifting web of
sexual partners, enhanced by the greater pleasure from sex within
a bond. Our system does allow pairings that are unrelated to
bonding, and that at least makes sense. But adults are pulled
apart by the greater pleasure of outside relationships, and men
and women alike are typically devoting resources to children who
are not their biological offspring.

Scientists have discovered that in all our ape cousins and many
other animals, there are sexually transmitted diseases. In our
species, there are none.

The mind-melding aspects of bonding are an intriguing subject. We
have not detected that in any other animal. There is a plausible
benefit to that in evolutionary terms. People can experience a
wider variety of perspectives on life, notably how life feels to
the opposite sex. Also, it is much harder to keep antisocial
secrets, and that may confer a survival benefit within groups.

============================================================

Chapter 4

There were many books describing how to handle sex once a person
came of age. The most popular was "Not Less Than One, Not More
Than Two", often just called "the handbook". Lucy had read its
section on bonds before, but now she reread it with attention to
detail. Regular sex with William would help the bond last, but if
it was more often than once a week that tended to cause the bond
to break. But mating several times during those delightful first
hours after the bond is formed was OK.

She couldn't read William's thoughts, but she could experience
his emotional state. Usually she was not aware of his existence,
but when his emotions got strong it drew her attention. In this
respect her experience so far matched the handbook.

When they got together a few days later, it was just to talk, for
fear of over-using their bond. She related how sweet it had been
to experience his next sexual encounter. His partner had given
William a blow job and he came in her mouth. That was a new
feeling! She was dimly aware of him eating her out, but it didn't
come through as intensely, as he was doing it for her sake and
not his.

William in turn told her how great it felt when she masturbated
to climax. She hadn't been thinking of William "listening in" --
she was just doing it for herself, though the memory of those
magic times with William was very much on her mind. He said that
as just one person, in control of every little thing, her
pleasure was perfect and very intense. Lucy figured that sounded
about right, but she hadn't really analyzed it that way before.

"Why didn't you have real sex with that woman?" she asked him.

"If I did it might break one of my bonds," he said. "And I like
both of mine, especially this new one with you." His smile was
both sweet and tinged with lust. "And I figured you wanted to
keep our bond, as you had just had a bad case of the yuckies."

Of course! Lucy felt touched. It would be bad enough if her bond
with William just spontaneously broke, but if William had done
things to bring it on, she would hate that.

"Say, I'm going to have sex with Karen -- she's my other
bond-mate -- Thursday night at about 10pm. If you want to be in a
private place you can be as sexy as you want." That sort of made
sense, though his oral sex experience with that other woman
hadn't aroused her a great deal. But she followed his advice. And
when Lucy felt the power of bond sex transmitted through William,
she was very glad she was alone and could urgently massage her
clit! His pleasure turned her on a great deal. She was not quite
there herself when William came, but she soon finished up. If she
had been in a social situation and unable to touch herself, it
would have been frustrating.

She hugged him goodbye, but found her pelvis briefly writhing
against his leg. "You sure we can't do it? It would be so great!"

"Delayed gratification," he said with a sad smile. Lucy's smile
was sad too. She knew what it meant.

Later she also took in the fact that the situation with Karen was
symmetric. Whenever she and William made love, Karen could and
likely did share vicariously in what she and William felt. A
little bit of her had instinctively hoped their pleasure was
private -- just the two of them. But why not share?

---------------------------------------------------------

Once the yuckies were gone and she had her bond with William, she
was immensely relieved to give up on getting disgusting men to
fuck her. But then she realized that when the bond with William
broke -- as it almost certainly would, at some point -- she would
start down that path of the bondless syndrome all over again.
Much better to have a spare!

It was also good to have sex, if you felt good about your
partner. She called up Bruce and asked if he'd like to do it
again. There was virtually no hope of a bond, as they had tried
once and failed, but plenty of hope for some satisfying sex. He
was delighted as well. On top of him, moving up and down, she
felt an almost ferocious desire rise in her which she then
satisfied with a wonderful climax, pussy rhythmically clutching
his cock. Warm and content in afterglow, she was entirely happy
to be his plaything as he turned her over and fucked her hard and
deep, growling and clutching at her back before crushing her
beneath his full weight as his frenzy built up to his own orgasm.
It triggered her and she had another one of her own.

When next they met, William told her how good it had felt when
she was with Bruce. Once again she was reminded that what had
seemed private really wasn't. She didn't mind so much because the
one benefiting was William, her bond-mate, and she adored him.

She had known for years that sexual intercourse outside of a bond
had different implications depending on how many bonds the person
had going into the encounter. Now it really sunk in. With one,
there was nothing to be lost, just another bond for both of them
if it was a bond-forming act. But with two, creating one bond was
instantly destroying another.

---------------------------------------------------------

Eric was a handsome man who asked her politely if she would
consider sex. He said he had one bond and would like another. He
also said he thought she was very sexy. It was perhaps true, but
saying "I'd like another bond even though you're a dog" was
uncommon, to say the least.

He proposed a "standard" at her house -- a "standard" meaning two
minutes of the man thrusting, culminating with his orgasm, and no
time or activity specifically designed for the woman's pleasure.

But fifteen seconds into the act, she felt that swelling in her
brain again -- that same delicious feeling she had gotten with
William. They both relished the new-found closeness and smiled at
each other. Eric came at once. But that was fine, because she
shared in his pleasure. What's more, the heightened sexual
feedback loop meant he was ready again in no time. This time she
mounted him and took her own pleasure before he had his second
orgasm.

It was wonderful, yet she was aware of something that wasn't
quite right -- like static or unease. The first thing she
realized was that he had lied to her about having one bond
already -- he had none. He was delighted to have this new bond
with her, but he was not a happy person.

That very first night after he went home she had a rude
awakening, discovering the nature of that unhappiness. He was
living with a woman named Fran. Years before they had shared a
bond and decided to start a family. She had the IUD removed, got
pregnant, and little Thomas was born -- and a new IUD
conveniently inserted at the same time. Then the bond broke and
things became tense. They both hoped that Thomas would not be an
only child, so Fran had her IUD removed once more and Luke had
been born. But instead of improving things, Luke's addition to
the family made things much worse. Everyone got angrier. Eric was
now angry at his wife and both of his sons. Fran and he were
sniping at each other constantly. Thomas was rebelling at the age
of 15 and playing off the two parents against each other.

Lucy was distraught and arranged to meet him the very next day.
In the mean time she looked at the handbook and consulted with
her friends and family and former lovers.

She didn't waste time on preliminaries. "I'm sorry you live like
that and feel so bad, but it's really awful for me to have to
experience that!" she said.

"Yeah, well, it's a lot worse for me than for you."

"That's true, but you're stuck in the situation -- or choosing to
stay in it -- through your own choices. I didn't have any
choice."

"You chose to have sex with me."

"Oh, come on!" Everyone knew that each adult had to have sex with
new unfamiliar partners. "You should have advertised yourself as
having an angry and bitter home life." The handbook made that
much clear.

"I had the syndrome," he said, not meeting her gaze. "It was
getting bad."

"Then you should have found some very angry woman to try to bond
with. There are a great many of them looking for bonds, of
course."

"Can you imagine how that would be? Having my own anger and then
having hers too?"

Lucy had been planning to have sex with him -- as her new
bond-mate it should have been terrific. But she was too upset.
She left feeling deeply troubled.

Lucy now had an unpleasant life again. It wasn't the yuckies,
which when serious caused raw physical pain. It was instead a
pain of the mind. Her attention shifted among her own, William's,
and Eric's feelings. But it was the strong emotions that drew a
person's attention, and Eric's were usually the strongest.
Sometimes they were strong enough to wake her up feeling awful,
and other times she suspected they were the source of some
nightmares.

Lucy consulted the handbook, discussed the situation at length
with her parents and William, and confronted Eric on their next
visit.

"You should move out and not live with Fran any more."

"Hey, it's not your life."

"But it is, kind of, for now. I'm your bond-mate. I have to feel
it all."

"But the boys... I couldn't leave Thomas and Luke."

"You can still visit with them. Thomas and Luke are now growing
up in a very unhealthy environment. Separate households will be
far better for them. You can do things your way when they're with
you, and Fran can have her way when they're with her."

"I'll think about it."

Lucy knew through their bond that he wasn't going to seriously
consider the idea.

"Are you going to try to break our bond?" he asked. "I'd have to
start over, fighting off the syndrome."

Lucy was already on the fence about trying to break the bond, but
when she understood he wasn't even going to consider moving out
it made up her mind.

"Yes, I'm going to try to break our bond!"

"Oh, no, please!" he said. If he had been tracking Lucy's end of
the bond he would have known before that it was a strong
possibility. But then attention followed strong emotions, and his
were so strong as to leave him stewing in his own misery.

"You have no intention of taking my advice and moving out. And it
isn't just my advice, it's from my parents and William and the
handbook. Start now, while you still have a bond and don't have
the syndrome. Are you at least going to try to form another
bond?"

From his reaction she knew he wasn't.

"If I looked for a new one and moved out, would you not try to
break our bond?"

Lucy was repelled by this sort of reward and punishment thinking
and felt a strong surge of anger. Her strong feeling made it
through to Eric. "I guess not, huh," he said, before she had
decided just what to say.

Lucy started up again on having a lot of sex, hoping that a new
bond would break the one she had with Eric. The chances were
50-50 that William would be the one who got booted instead of
Eric. But William understood and accepted it.

============================================================

Chapter 5

"Hi, Lucy?"

"Yes, that's me."

"It's Aaron." She knew that name instantly.

"Aaron!"

"Well, I told you I might call you if one of my bonds broke..."

"I'm ready! Where? Now? Can you come to my house?"

"Hold on, hold on, tell me what's going on."

She explained the situation, and he agreed they should meet soon.
He also explained the grief he was feeling as one of his
treasured bonds had snapped. She tried to be truly sympathetic,
but she only had so much compassion at the moment.

Lucy's heart swelled as Aaron led her into the same room where he
had comforted her some six months earlier.

"I'm so sorry about Rebecca," she said.

"Thanks," said Aaron.

"Could you keep trying with her and maybe it will come back?"

"You know that never works. Once a bond breaks, it never forms
again."

Lucy did know that was the rule, but thought there might be
exceptions.

"Could I give you some oral sex -- some nice leisurely oral sex
-- first? Of course it's really unlikely we will bond, but I'd
love to do that at least, while we still have some hope we'll
bond?"

Lucy hesitated just a moment, then said, "OK."

"Why the hesitation?" asked Aaron.

"Part of me wants to not waste another moment before having the
chance to get rid of Eric. But I've lived with him in my head for
two months already. I'd love it if you'd do that. I could return
the favor."

"First things first," said Aaron. A couple men had tried giving
her oral sex before, but it had been a sideshow -- a distraction
from the main event. But with Aaron... oh my goodness, did that
feel good! His tongue made side trips to her labia and into her
vagina, but mostly it focused on her clitoris, the lower part and
then a millimeter higher. Firm pressure and the lightest touch.
An exquisitely slow lick from bottom to top. Again, and again
once more. And when she was at the very edge, he gave firm tongue
presses in rapid succession. And she had the purest physical
orgasm she had ever had. Some with William had had that other
dimension to pleasure, but when it came to stimulation of her own
sexual parts, this was unmatched.

She was also aware that the intensity of her pleasure had broken
through the intensity of Eric's anger. Across town, he had felt
good too. That couldn't be helped, and heck, she didn't
ultimately want to make him suffer.

"What can I do to make it fantastic for you?" she whispered when
she had recovered.

"Oh, I'm not sure, but I have this feeling that if you just let
me thrust in and out of you for four and a half hours that would
be heaven." Surely he was joking! His smile showed at once that
he was. "But I do like to go on for a good long time when I've
got a sexy girl. And I figure given what you just felt you
wouldn't feel frustrated that you weren't getting off."

"Oh, I think you do have that figured out. But how about three
and half hours?"

They smiled at each other as he mounted and she prepared to
accept that stiff penis, but suddenly she froze. He sensed it and
stopped immediately.

"Do you... do you have dark secrets? A terrible home life? Do you
torture puppies in your spare time?" She was making light of it,
but it was a true fear, and Aaron understood. He was silent a
bit, and Lucy said, "Uh oh."

He smiled. "No, it's not anything bad I wanted to tell, though I
can't say everything is perfect. But... Could you trust me?"

Lucy hesitated a moment, then said, "Yes." She would trust him.

She felt the penis tip probing at her lady parts, then probing in
just the right place, then pushing in a little, then a little
more, and then, slowly, all the way. She prepared for exquisite
intercourse for a good long time, if not three and a half hours.
But it was not to be. Because it became clear within all of ten
seconds that they were bonding. They smiled at each other.

"Did I promise to last a long time?" he said. "I like to keep my
promises." For a moment she thought he was seriously concerned.

"Oh, you!" said Lucy. "We're bonded. All previous agreements are
null and void! Come, please! Come quick! Then we can do it over
and over again for four and a half hours!"

"Oh, you're so welcoming and sexually calm... In your brain.. I
love that."

"You're not so calm. You're stiff and swollen and urgent and you
should fuck me hard and come!"

And within seconds the doubled, cross-amplified orgasm was upon
them.

She realized there was a calm and quiet in her head. Eric was
gone!

"Eric, I lost Eric!" she said, laughing and squeezing Aaron as
hard as she could in her arms.

Aaron smiled with genuine delight and hugged Lucy. There's only
so much joy and relief and happiness that a person can feel at
any given time, and Lucy had reached the limit. But within twenty
minutes her joy at getting rid of Eric had been overcome by the
lust for her new bond-mate. He penetrated her, and they both gave
sighs of satisfaction. More mutual lovemaking with wonderful
Aaron. Somehow he knew how to do it just right, and she came
while just lying on her back and letting him screw her. That was
wonderful!

As they lay in bed, Lucy said, "I kinda want to talk about Eric,
but that feels impolite."

"No, not at all!" said Aaron, turning on his side to face her.

"Could I make his life better? Is it just an idle dream?"

As they talked it through, Lucy saw the path he was proposing,
and it sounded good.

But they interrupted the conversation for a brief but intense
bout of joyous raw fucking. When they calmed down the
conversation continued.

"How come you always understand everybody and know what to do?"

"Oh," said Aaron. "I was pretty good at it -- partly how my
parents raised me, I guess. I started studying to be a
psychotherapist but gave it up."

"Why?"

"I can only do it in small doses, with people I care about. Doing
it day after day would burn me out. I found that out pretty
quickly in training."

Lucy turned to him. She feared that if he did what she really
wanted him to do -- fuck her like crazy -- it would risk breaking
their bond. She said, "I want to make love to your cock. I really
do. Would you be willing to fill up my mouth with sperm?"

Aaron looked at her. "You really do, don't you... Well, OK." He
smiled. "More than OK."

While Lucy's hands were all over Aaron's balls and lower cock,
her mouth did its very best on the sensitive upper part. He
sighed and moaned with pleasure for the better part of half an
hour, and she got to feel it in her own brain. Then he strained
upward and began spurting. Wonderful, delicious sperm, foaming
and gathering in her mouth, then flowing out and down his cock to
his pubic hair. "Oops, was I supposed to swallow?" she realized.

"No, my dear! It's not important. Some guys care about it, but
not me." He smiled. "Just as long as you swallow it when I shoot
it into your pussy!"

Lucy smiled. His analogy wasn't entirely accurate, but she got
his point.

============================================================

Chapter 6

Eric answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, it's Lucy."

"Lucy! My former bond-mate! I hope you are happy," he said
sarcastically. "Why are you bothering me?"

"I want to help you improve your life."

"Why would you want to do that? You're free of me."

"Along with all the pain, I also got to know you. I sensed the
man underneath who wasn't always angry. I think you can be
happier. My new bond-mate is a psychologist guy, and he cares
about me and wants to help me help you. Could you meet us
somewhere to talk?"

There were a few seconds of silence. "I guess... It was quite
something when you broke the bond. That massive orgasm you had
sure got my attention. And then to feel his dick going into you,
feeling your pleasure, and then over the course of two seconds,
it faded and then. Snap! Bond broken."

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

Sarcasm returned. "Of course not! You're an angel. Goody
two-shoes."

"Will you meet with us?"

"Yeah, OK, I'll meet with you and your shrink."

---------------------------------------------------------

"Hi, I'm Aaron."

"Eric, of course."

"Lucy told me about your situation. About the strained relations
with your partner and your sons, especially the older one."

"Guess I had no secrets from Lucy, eh?"

"Lucy suggested you move out. Given what she's told me, I think
that's a good idea too."

"Do you now?"

"Yes. Do you have reasons why you don't want to do that?"

Eric was quiet a moment, then sighed. "Not really. But I'm sure
Fran or Thomas or both would tell me how stupid and awful I am,
like for anything else I do. It would be a huge long fight."

"But the reward is you'll be free of that -- or most of it."

Eric sighed. "I hate to get my hopes up. It's never worked for me
to get my hopes up."

"What would you think if we did most of the work?"

"What?"

"We'll help you find a place. And then Lucy and I will move you
out. You never have to go back. Except maybe to pick up the boys
or drop them off."

"You going to pay the rent too?" Eric's smile was not exactly
friendly. But Lucy knew it was just one more way of not getting
his hopes up.

"Lucy knows you can afford a modest place."

---------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, hello, you must be Aaron and Lucy."

"Yes, we are," said Lucy.

"Come on in... I got Eric's letter. Coward couldn't tell me
himself!"

As they took seats in the living room, a teenage boy appeared and
leaned against the wall by the hallway, arms folded.

Aaron said, "Look at the big picture, Fran. Lucy knows a lot
about the innards of this family from being Eric's bond-mate. She
knows you've been miserable. You've been through so much
together, what's a detail like whether he told you in person?
None of us expected you would have said, 'Oh, that's a great
idea, Eric. I'm so glad you thought of it!' It would have been
another sniping argument, right?"

Fran nodded glumly.

"Let's sort over what stuff is his, and we'll take it out to the
moving truck. We thought he should get everything in the study."

"He doesn't deserve --"

Aaron raised his hands in an emphatic motion to break in.

"You've both worked for money. You're getting the house itself,
the bedroom, the kitchen, the living room. He could ask for half
of everything and if he went to court he'd get it. Lucy and I
think the study is fair."

Fran didn't try to argue.

Lucy and Aaron focused on the study and Eric's clothes from the
bedroom. Thomas helped retrieve a few boxes of Eric's things from
the attic, memorabilia from his parents and his childhood. Lucy
thought that was a good sign. Fran put together a small pile of
things from the kitchen, living room, and bedroom that she said
were more his than hers. In two hours they were all packed up.

The younger boy Luke looked on quietly throughout, until they
were about ready to go. "Do we get to visit daddy?"

Aaron said, "For an initial arrangement, you live one week with
mom, and then the next with him, back and forth."

"No! They should stay with me! This is their home!"

"You both work. You're getting to keep the house. Start out this
way, and see how it goes. If he took you to court, that's what
you'd end up with."

Aaron and Lucy not only delivered Eric's things, they also bought
him the essentials of housekeeping: kitchen equipment, a bed,
living room furniture. Eric reimbursed them for that and the
moving van, though they had not been at all certain he would.

"What's next on your agenda?" said Lucy as they prepared to say
goodbye.

"I know, I know! Getting a bond-mate," he said with irritation.

"Good. I hope things improve for you."

As they were headed out the door, Eric said, "I know I'm an angry
man -- maybe a broken man too -- but you two have been good to
me. Maybe nothing good will happen. But I, um, sort of thank you
for trying anyway." He looked to the side and didn't meet their
gaze.

"You're welcome," said Aaron.

Lucy ran over and gave Eric a big hug. He looked surprised and
didn't really hug her back, but she broke away and the two happy
bond-mates left.

---------------------------------------------------------

Eric said: "I'm Eric and I've got the syndrome, but not too bad.
You need to know I'm angry a lot. I used to live with my partner
and two sons and we were all angry with each other. Now I live
alone except when they visit, half the time. I'm better than I
used to be, but it's still not great."

Potential bond-mates, in turn, said:

"I'm depressed a lot. The blackest moods. I try to do better,
but..." No bond.

"I get manic sometimes. Lose touch with reality. It's scary, I
can't deny it." No bond.

"I get panic attacks a lot. My past couple bond-mates just
couldn't stand it." A bond! Susan. Her name was Susan.

Eric convinced Susan to come live with him.

"You're panicking."

"I know, I know!"

"I'm here with you."

"Yeah, you are, aren't you." She palpated his chest. "Thank you
so much."

"You're furious at your son Thomas."

"You're damn right I am!"

"He's a teenager. If he pisses you off, it's because he trusts
you will be there for him. He trusts you. The anger will pass."

That took the edge off his fury. "You're right, it will!" said
Eric, hugging his woman.

The bond broke. but Susan and Eric still lived together. They
kept each other stable, or at least a little more stable. Each of
them got a little bit happier.

============================================================

Chapter 7

Thomas had a bad home life, but lots of kids had bad home lives.
His used to be a lot worse before his dad moved out. He had sex
early, and found plenty of willing girls to screw. Sex was great!

When he was 19, he was still at it, fucking away with whichever
of his girl peers was up for it.

One Friday evening at 7pm, he had worked his cock deep into
Cecilia, checking that there would be no chafing. He looked down
at her and said, "Ready?"

Cecilia nodded enthusiastically.

"You sure?"

Cecilia didn't answer but gave a devious smile and he felt her
pussy squeeze tight. What a nice touch!

He began thrusting in earnest, and it felt good in that usual,
wonderful, way, but some new sort of feeling was building.
Something very pleasurable. He slowed a bit. "What is that?" he
asked.

"You feel it too? It must be... wow, is that nice... Must be a
bond!"

"Wow... So it's your first one too?"

"Yeah! This is amazing. I feel your cock inside me, I mean it
feels like *my* cock up inside of me, and I feel me too."

"Oh, God, I'm feeling your pussy too! It's driving me crazy... I
want to fuck and come!"

"Me too, yeah, go for it!" Ten seconds later Thomas came in
Cecilia. They both felt his penis contracting as it shot out gobs
of sperm. They both felt the sensation in her vagina of being
firmly stuffed and then wetted for good measure. But most of all
they both felt the ecstasy of both Thomas's orgasm and Cecilia's
as they happened together. When they opened their eyes, both were
glowing with adoration for the other.

They hugged, kissed, fondled, and generally luxuriated in each
other's bodies for all of five minutes until Thomas was hard once
more, and then shoved their joint penis into their joint vagina.
Orgasm. Rest. Repeat.

At 1:00 am they were both exhausted. Thomas explored a bit more
of Cecilia's mind. Her studied expression of him suggest she was
doing the same. There were no dark secrets.

Cecilia was busy the next day, but Thomas was not. He found one
eager girl to screw, and then another, and then ended up
inserting his penis into Stephanie at 4pm. As the in-and-out
began, he recognized that same feeling at once. They were forming
a bond! Stephanie had never had one before. When entering into
such a magnificent state, curiosity and concern are much reduced,
but he answered the few questions she posed. After several rounds
of sex they made a trip to the kitchen to get some food. Usually
Stephanie's family had food that was prepared in the more
traditional manner, but they kept a few frozen dinners on hand.
Under the circumstances, Thomas and Stephanie were happy to get
the food as quickly as possible, taking time to pee and drink
while it was heating up. Then it was back into the bedroom for
some more exquisite, ecstasy-inducing sex that is the peak of
pleasure -- intercourse between a bonded pair.

When he was alone next, Thomas reviewed how bonding worked. If he
had sex with anyone else, then if it formed a bond it would break
his bond with either Cecilia or Stephanie. But he really wanted
to! To be confined to the two of them, and no more than once or
at most a couple times a week each -- that would be hard! He
consulted the girls by phone. Cecilia was hesitant at first, but
got accustomed to the idea quickly. She thought it was just fine
when she had sex with five more guys and formed a bond with
Matthew. When she formed a bond with John, it broke her bond with
Thomas, which was a new experience for both of them. But she
phoned him and they agreed it had been a wonderful experience and
wished each other the best. Then both proceeded to find more
partners, and bond with them. Thomas and Stephanie did it once
every day.

Thomas never tired of it. However many dozens or hundreds of
times he had sex with a bonded partner, it was fantastic. Now his
cock was stuffed deep inside Stephanie, pounding away as he
approached orgasm. He came, he felt great pleasure, but then
something shifted. It was as if someone had turned out half the
lights in a room. The two partners looked at each other with
alarm, and then Stephanie said, "Oh, yeah, the bond can break at
any time. And lots of sex tends to make it break sooner. Maybe we
should have taken it more slowly."

After a few moments, Thomas said, "Maybe, I guess. But if you
keep screwing all the sexy young men who are eager to get at you,
you'll bond with one of them and then you can do this with them
all day."

"Until that one breaks."

"True. But there are always more fish in the sea. You're great,
but I never really hoped to get into a long-term thing, did you?"

"No, no, I didn't." But her voice indicated some mixed feelings.

"Because if you get into a long-term thing, then you pretty much
have to stop doing it with anyone new when you form a second
bond, or else pretty soon you'll break the bond with your
long-term partner."

"That wouldn't be so bad. Just be happy with the two of them."

"You sure? You've got your two bonds. But some of those other
fish in the sea -- some really sexy guy wants to kiss you, and
you let him. He touches you all over. He goes down on you until
your pussy is crazy with desire. And then you tell him you
can't?"

Thomas had been caressing Stephanie all over, ending with some
subtle work on her pussy lips. He rose into mating position.

"He could get me off that way and I could give him head."

"Yeah, but would that really be enough? The next guy and the one
after that... And not a single cock --" He surged forward to fill
Stephanie's vagina with his own stiff meat " -- stuffed up into
your pussy?"

Stephanie sighed with pleasure. "It's not the same as with a
bond, but it still is pretty nice!"

"Oh, yeah... that's for sure." He pushed deep, thrust a good long
while, and his penis twitched once more. Stephanie didn't get
off, but she hardly felt disappointed given what they had been
doing all afternoon.

"I say make bonds, fuck like crazy with each of your bond-mates
until one bond breaks, then go out and play the field until you
fill your second slot. Then go back to fucking them like crazy."

"Sounds like a plan. That's a lot of fucking." Stephanie paused,
and then it looked like she had erased all doubt. "But fucking is
super-fun with a bond-mate!"

There was a large class of people who eagerly agreed with
Thomas's suggestion, a group dominated by those who were young
and unencumbered by family responsibilities, school or
employment. Men with cocks that didn't stay soft for long, and
women whose pussies stayed wet and tight no matter what.

============================================================

Chapter 8

Aaron had had two bonds that lasted a remarkably long time. The
first was to Janice, the mother of his two younger children.
George was now 5. Their bond had lasted six years and was still
intact! His little brother Zach was 2. He had an 11-year-old
daughter Eleanor by way of a woman Beth he had known before.
Their bond had not lasted more than a year, but they felt enough
connection to have a child together. Few relationships benefit
from an enduring bond to constantly replenish positive energy in
a relationship. Of the others, some work in the long run and some
don't. Aaron's relationship with Beth did not. Like many sober
and responsible people, both Aaron and Janice tried to keep two
bonds going, so they would not suddenly be faced with the
bondless syndrome when a bond broke. Aaron had gone through a
series of bond-mates until he met Rebecca two years before.
Rebecca was childless and hoped for one, but Aaron refused,
already having two families. Rebecca tried to keep her second
bond slot open so she could take sperm from one man after
another. During those times Aaron made sure not to come inside
her, but it was a source of tension between them. But then the
second bond would form, and she had to stop and get an IUD put in
again, or else risk losing the bond with Aaron.

Both Janice and Rebecca felt jealous when they felt Aaron's
ecstasy as he was with the other one of them, but they confided
their mutual jealousy and were comforted by the shared
experience. They also proposed particularly sensual forms of
masturbation to engage in while Aaron was making love with the
other one.

Since Rebecca's heart was so focused on children, as much as
possible Aaron met Rebecca at her place. Rebecca had helped with
Janice's children at first, but eventually it became too painful,
as a reminder of what she desperately wanted and was not getting.

Lucy came into this picture after the bond between Aaron and
Rebecca broke. Rebecca was sad but the upside was that she could
now engage aspiring fathers in intercourse just as often as she
wished. Without her IUD, she could let a different man ejaculate
into her every day or even multiple men a day. If a bond broke,
she could go right on fucking until she formed a new one. Within
a few months she did become pregnant, joyous news for all
concerned. When the baby was born, she strongly resembled one of
the fathers who was in the running due to the timing of their
mating, and Rebecca and he started their family together.

Lucy was only 20 and felt no hurry to become a mother. She was
delighted to get to interact with George and Zach, and she became
their favorite grown-up after Aaron and Janice. She got on well
with Janice too, and Janice shared with her the tips she and
Rebecca had used to combat jealousy.

---------------------------------------------------------

Lucy was the only child of Paul and Claire. Then their bond broke
when she was 3 and both parents decided to have children with a
new partner. That's how the adults Heather and Hans came into the
household. In due course the new matings produced a girl and twin
brothers. What's more, both Heather and Hans had children from
prior relationships, and they were often visiting.

It was nice for Lucy to have two adults who cared for her like a
daughter in addition to her two biological parents. But it was
also a crowded and complicated place, and Lucy at the age of 20
was delighted to move in with Aaron and his family.

---------------------------------------------------------

Not long after they met, Janice had described to Lucy the mutual
jealousy she and Rebecca had felt and shared with her the
techniques they had used to combat it. But then Lucy had another
idea, one which made her smile.

Aaron at the age of 48 was in good physical condition. He had a
handsome face and a hairy chest. Janice at the age of 35 was in
the prime of life. She had motherly breasts, motherly stretch
marks, and a bit of extra weight in her thighs, but really not so
much. Lucy at 20 called her a MILF, a label she was content to
accept as Aaron and other men had shown a strong desire to F her.
Lucy was her average self, but Janice told her she was sexier
than her in several ways. She had smaller breasts, a narrower
waist, more lustrous hair, and above all the skin -- the
20-year-old skin, glowing with vitality.

And now, for the very first time, all three were naked on the
same large bed. All three had some cause for discomfort, and they
had worked out in advance a plan for how to proceed.

Both of the females got themselves lubricated with finger work.
Aaron first mounted and penetrated Janice, while Lucy knelt
beside him, caressing him and encouraging him in various ways
such as nibbling his ear. "Oh, it feels great!" said Lucy. What
she saw in front of her was her bond-mate's cock, pumping in and
out of another woman. But what she felt inside was that it was
*her* cock. All the lust and pleasure that Aaron felt was hers as
well.

"I want you too!" said Aaron. Lucy lay back ready to get it.
Aaron pulled his stiff cock out of Janice and plunged it into
Lucy.

"Oh, that's so nice," said Janice, getting Aaron's sensations
through their bond.

Lucy now felt the same sense of "her" cock sliding in and out of
a hot vagina, but now she had the delicious, hungry, receptive
feel of that vagina -- it was her very own! Janice rose to her
knees and caressed Aaron's thighs and his butt, as he contracted
it over and over again to push his cock deep into Lucy.

"I've gotta finish off now -- sorry. Can't resist."

"Yeah, you do. We can feel it too, right?" said Janice.

"Yeah, you gotta finish -- release the tension -- and all the
sperm too!" said Lucy.

"Ohhh nooooo, oohhhh yesssss!" growled Aaron as he delivered
inside.

Lucy orgasmed herself, a mere second after Aaron did.

She glanced over to see Janice rapidly massaging her own
clitoris. Driven wild by Aaron's orgasm, she was on the edge
herself and it was plain from the outside when she had big,
satisfying orgasm, all of ten seconds later.

The three of them relaxed in bed, one woman on each side of her
man.

They all wanted to do it again, but knew there was a certain
risk. Desire overcame prudence for a second round, in which Aaron
unloaded in his senior mate instead of Lucy.

But then prudence prevailed, and they called it quits for the
day. They all thought it had been a great success, and did it two
more times.

============================================================

Chapter 9

William had a second bond-mate Abigail. Lucy had found it part of
her pleasant life to feel William's joy and lust and satisfaction
with Abigail. But now she became aware of his pleasure as he had
intercourse with a third woman. He was risking their bond! She
got furious, and it passed through the bond right into William,
who felt angry in return. He continued fucking the new girl for
almost two minutes as his erection softened. There was no bond
formed.

Lucy left several messages on William's machine before he finally
returned her call.

"I thought you treasured your bond with me. Why are you doing
other women?"

"She was really attractive... It was hard to resist."

"It's not that hard if it's important to you."

William whined, "You don't know how powerful the desire is for a
man -- not really."

"I've got a pretty good idea, but in any case that's no excuse.
Do you promise not to risk taking the risk of making any more
bonds?"

"OK, I promise," said William with a notable lack of enthusiasm.

---------------------------------------------------------

"I couldn't help following that interaction with William. You're
a pretty assertive woman now, Lucy," said Aaron.

"Is that good?"

"It's very good. A person can overdo it but you're in no danger
of that."

Aaron and Lucy stopped talking and started making out, the
sensations from foreplay becoming especially delicious, when Lucy
became dimly aware of something. It was a penis going in and out
of a vagina -- but Aaron's was not inside her yet. It was
William! She tried to let it go. The bond she really treasured
was with Aaron, the man on top of her, the man who would -- yes,
there it went in! Lucy gave herself over fully to the sweet man
who was kindly doing the thing she wanted most in the world --
fucking her cunt good and hard! It ended as it usually did, with
orgasm and relief.

"Something was bugging you, I could feel it," said Aaron when
they had both rested a while.

"I'm sorry... it's William. He just happened to be having sex
when we were."

"Oh, that's sneaky," said Aaron. "That was no coincidence. He was
probably with her and waited until he felt you getting excited
here with me, and hoped it would mask his excitement."

"Oh, the creep!" said Lucy.

She got dressed quickly. On the way out Aaron said, "There goes
my assertive bond-mate!"

Lucy smiled to herself, and then drove to William's house, faster
than usual, not obeying quite all of the traffic signs.

It was 11pm. Lucy knocked on William's door repeatedly. At last
he opened up.

"Is she still here?" she ask, seething, as she pushed past him
into his house.

"No, she left in a hurry. Can't blame her."

"Yeah, me neither. If you want to break our bond, do it like a
man, OK? Fuck me, and then fuck me again, and again, and again!"

"Lucy, I don't want to break the bond."

"Right -- you're just willing to, if you can get another hot
babe. If you just want sex, you could eat her out and get a blow
job, you know."

Lucy took William by the hand and tugged him to the bedroom,
stripped, and lay back for the taking.

"Come on, do me," she said.

"OK," said William, biting his lip. He lay on top of her. With
Aaron's load inside her she was plenty lubricated. When William's
cock slid into her, her anger was overwhelmed by the pure
pleasure of it... his pleasure, her pleasure, back and forth. She
felt him holding back.

"Let it go!" said Lucy. "We're going to do it again!"

William grinned at her then, humped into her hard ten times and
came. Oh, the joy of it!

"You're a sneak," said Lucy. William didn't reply. "You're a
sneaky asshole. Waiting 'til I was doing it with Aaron and hoping
I wouldn't notice."

"Yeah, maybe I am," said William with resignation. But Lucy also
felt his cock hardening against her side.

"Fuck me again, sneaky asshole!" said Lucy. So many times they
had finished and felt the temptation to do it again, but had
resisted for fear of breaking the bond.

William didn't resist. "Oh, God," he moaned. Lucy felt his
pleasure.

"Go on, give me your goop!" she said. William pumped harder and
harder, and even though he had just come five minutes earlier, he
climaxed again. Lucy came too, this time. The male orgasm bounced
to the female and back, the female bounced to the male and back.
"Good boy, you did it!" said Lucy, pretending she was addressing
a small child.

They disengaged and rested.

"Asshole," muttered Lucy. "Sneaky asshole." She sensed amusement
from William, and she also sensed his sexual desire and felt his
cock getting hard.

She could also feel he was tired. "Come on," she said. "Here's
where it goes," she said, grabbing his index finger and sliding
it up into her vagina an inch.

"Why don't you do it?" he said. "I'm exhausted."

"OK, asshole. I'll impale myself on asshole prick." But once
impaled lust rose once more and she plunged up and down, over and
over, decisively. Within a couple minutes she had her first
orgasm, and felt it echo in William, and then as her second was
on its way she dragged him along. "Come on," she said. "Your fuck
pole can do it again. Come on..."

William's cock twitched weakly, but the orgasm in his brain was
as strong as ever.

"I've gotta... sleep," he said. Lucy couldn't disagree. It had
been exhausting, all that pleasure. But she said, "You used to
really want me. You held me back because the bond meant so much
to you. What changed?"

"I told you I didn't want to break the bond with you, but I don't
know, the desire for variety was enough to make me risk it.
You're the one who's determined to do it."

Lucy tried to sort through her motivations. "I don't want to walk
around knowing the bond will just break when you do it with some
new girl. I want to get it resolved. And besides, I really wanted
the chance to just do it with you over and over without ever
needing to stop."

"That part has been really fun. Even if you're really angry with
me."

She woke desperately needing to pee, and saw the clock read 3:33.
On the toilet, a fair amount of creamy stuff slid out of her
vagina while urine gushed out of her.

Back in bed, she shook William's shoulder, and then shook it
harder. "Wake up, Billy boy, wake up!" He groaned. "I bet you
gotta pee," she said.

He was quiet a moment, then said, "Holy shit, you're right, and
stumbled out of bed and to the toilet.

Lucy heard him sit down and had a sudden desire. She leapt out of
bed and barged in through the open door and said, "Stand up,
stand up, asshole!"

"What? Why?" moaned William.

"I want to hear it thundering down..." It was a fond memory from
the aftermath of previous matings.

"Jeez, OK," he said. "But I'm afraid I'll fall over."

"I'll hold you," said Lucy, lifting him up. The light was dim,
but she saw what she wanted to see. There was William's cock,
held in his hand, and out of the end flowed a thick stream,
thundering as it hit the water below. She saw the same reflected
in the mirror, and she saw herself standing holding him up,
breast showing to one side, cleft and pubic hair peeking out from
behind his thigh. On and on it went, the stream churning the
water below as it landed. She began to get tired holding him up,
and as she relaxed her grip he held himself up. At last the
stream ended, and he gave a few squirts to finish up. She didn't
get to see that very often in life, and it was kind of funny. She
laughed.

"Ah, much better!" said William turning and returning to bed. He
sat heavily on his side of the bed, then fell onto his side,
facing away from her.

"No you don't," send Lucy. "You've got a girl to fuck. Come on,
do your job!" She reached over his hip to fondle his limp organ.

He gave a big sigh. "You sexy girl... But just stay on your side
and I'll do you from behind."

"Asshole!" she muttered.

"No, pussy!" said William, snickering. Lucy snickered too, but
arched her back. She could feel William's stiff cock and his
desire, breaking through his fatigue, to shove it back into her
pussy, which was very eager to receive it, and -- there! Getting
fucked again, by a bond-mate How much pleasure could a person
stand?

She felt a surge of anger from William taking its place beside
his lust. "Maybe I'm an asshole, but I'm fucking your cunt, and
you want it so much, right up there, you're going to get it!"

She ought to object to the rude word, but she was too focused on
the mutual joy. The desire to finish the mating act trumps all
other desires in the male animal, and William surged in deep
while his cock spewed. Lucy's pussy squeezed it gently, over and
over. Oh, the pleasure! Such fucking pleasure!

Then the world shifted, in an instant. She was in her own mind
and hers alone. Behind her was a man, distinct from her, his cock
softening in her pussy.

"I guess we did it," sighed William.

"Yeah, we did." Lucy's plan had been to get up and go home the
moment she was free of the sneaky asshole William, but she was
just so tired... "Asshole," she muttered.

The sun was already shining brightly when she woke up. William
was snoring softly. All she had to do was get up and sneak out.
He didn't deserve a goodbye.

But her heart softened a bit when she saw that familiar figure.
So many times they had held back, not wanting to break the bond,
but last night they had just let their lust carry them from one
coupling to the next and the next. She leaned over him and saw
his cock, reddish and maybe a bit raw around the corona thing --
was that what it was called? She was tired and about as sexually
satisfied as a person could be. But still she fondled it gently,
and it rose. At first she felt disappointed that she didn't feel
William's interest in her brain, but then she realized -- she
didn't know what he was thinking. Their bond was broken. As his
cock was nearing full hardness, he stirred, then turned onto his
back, yawning and stretching.

"Are you just fooling around, or do you want to do it?" he asked.

He had to ask. He didn't just know.

"Asshole," she said.

He suddenly looked alert. "Enough of that," he said. "I screwed
up, it's true. But I think we had a pretty darn good bond. And
one hell of a good time breaking it."

Lucy didn't argue. It wasn't the whole story, but it was a big
part of the story. "I do want to do it," she said. "I want to be
on top."

"I'm willing," he said. "And my aching muscles are delighted to
have you on top."

Lucy fondled his cock a few times, which had softened a bit while
they talked. Then she impaled herself, and began moving up and
down. She moved faster and pressed herself down harder. She was
horny and she was angry. There was no magical feedback loop to
push the anger aside. Then she started crying, just a little. And
-- were William's eyes glistening? They were! She needed release,
then. Release and completion. It took a minute, with the other
emotions swirling around, but she finally pressed down hard and
came. Not a fantastic orgasm. Not even a very good one. But
completion. She was finished. They were finished.

She felt a strong tendency to lie down on him and feel him enfold
her. Then she would cry for sure, and it looked like he would
too. Instead, she stood up and retrieved her clothing, one piece
at a time. William made to get up, but then lay back in bed,
watching her. She brought to mind the first time they met, when
he had shown off his biceps and it had annoyed her. But somehow
that memory of him annoying her didn't make her happier about the
bond being broken. More the opposite.

When she was all dressed, she said, "Goodbye, William."

"Goodbye, Lucy."

She resisted the temptation to mutter one last, "Asshole."
Forever after, though it was a little thing, she was thankful
that she didn't.

---------------------------------------------------------

It was Janice who she met first when she got back to Aaron's. She
gave a little smile, as she worked on the coffee. "Guess you had
a good time," she said. "At least part of you."

Lucy smiled and went into the bedroom where Aaron lay asleep on
his back. She sat on the edge of the bed, and the shift in the
mattress seemed to wake him up.

"Lucy!" he said. "I'm going to report you for not letting your
bond-mate sleep!" He had a twinkle in his eye.

"Sorry -- not sorry," said Lucy.

"I got so horny every time... Janice was happy to let me do it
before bed, but then two or three later, when I just couldn't
stand it any more, I woke her up and she was none too pleased.
But she felt my desire through the bond, and let me do a
quickie."

She felt it then... he wanted her. She was tired and sore.

Aaron sighed and said, "Yeah, you picked that up. Sorry. Ignore
it."

Lucy considered. Her bond-mate was horny. She certainly had been
favoring her other connection in a big way. "A quickie?" she
said.

"OK," he said, his face breaking into a smile.

Twenty seconds later he slid into her. Twenty seconds after that
he came. It was so sweet and comforting for her to feel his
orgasm from both sides.

They lay beside each other and she fell asleep again.

============================================================

Chapter 10

Lucy still had Aaron, but she was down to a single bond. At any
moment it might snap, and she would be on the road to getting the
syndrome. She never wanted that to happen again. Never.

So it was time to get another bond-mate -- and avoid people like
Eric. How should she go about it?

When she told Aaron, he told her what he knew.

"I grew up in West Brookfield, and every Friday night anyone who
wanted a bond would meet, both men and women, and they'd try a
bunch of different partners. When it got to be 30 women and 30
men on a typical night, most of them went home bonded."

"But that doesn't keep you from getting stuck with a guy like
Eric."

"That's true, but word gets around in a small town. Anyone who
gets someone like Eric is going to fuck like crazy until they get
rid of him, and then no other woman is going to let the tip of
his cock anywhere near her pussy."

"It sounds better than here in North Brookfield. The best I could
do was walk down a street with my red sweater on. Which happened
to be your street. And by the way, did you just happen to be
walking by and join a crowd of drooling guys wanting to fuck a
girl?"

"No," he said. "I looked out my window just as you went up with
that guy, and I went out to try to give you a break."

"Quite the compassionate soul, eh?"

"I like to think I'm compassionate," said Aaron. "But that wasn't
everything. I liked you, even through the window, even when you
were reluctantly going up to get screwed by a disgusting guy."

"I had on a sparkling, charming expression that captivated your
heart?"

"No, not at all. But fear and grief on a person's face says a lot
about them too -- maybe more. So I got to hug you, and watch you
lie on my bed resting. It happened to work out in the long run
too, but I just did it for the moment."

"So... You kind of had a crush on me? From the start? You, a
middle-aged man?"

"Yeah, I did," he said firmly, looking at her. "We may have to do
no end of fucking, but I think there still ought to be room for
crushes. Little sweet things."

They smiled at each other and leaned forward very slowly. Their
lips met in one delicate little kiss, held for a few seconds, and
then they pulled back.

In a spell, Lucy said, "Do you think we might stay in touch, at
least, when our bond breaks?"

"I would love that," said Aaron, looking into her eyes dreamily.
But then sat up, breaking out of the spell. Lucy came back to
reality too. "But it's hard to predict the future. If you have 20
bonds with people you really like, you can't still be super-close
with every one of them after the bond breaks."

"True," said Lucy.

"But back to you problem of getting a second bond... You should
go into Brookfield and look for your bond there."

"That's an hour away!"

"True, but how much driving would you have done to keep from
bonding with Eric?"

"A lot. What's in Brookfield?"

"They have a registry. You sign up and fill out a lot of info,
and include your picture. And then there's your reputation.
Brookfield's too big for word-of-mouth to protect anyone from
folks like Eric. But there your card has your reputation. One
complaint might just be a disgruntled bond-mate, but two is
looking suspicious, and three means you can't be trusted. But
there are hundreds of men registered, and you get to be pretty
picky."

---------------------------------------------------------

Before heading off to the registry, Aaron gave Lucy a list of six
names. "I got these from Janice, Rebecca, and Beth. I could have
guessed five, though the sixth was new to me. These are old
bond-mates of theirs they don't want in their life again, even if
it's just tangential. Really unlikely you'd run into any of them,
but it's good to be safe."

"OK," she said, taking in this new information. "If Janice found
Eric for a second bond I would be quite upset."

Aaron smiled.

The registry building was huge. The middle room alone was twice
the size of a basketball court. In the center were rows and rows
of 4-drawer filing cabinets. All around the edges were tiny
cubicles with a single bed in them, and a curtain that could be
drawn for privacy.

Long tables had stations, each with a chair and a single file
drawer. Most of the chairs were occupied by men or women who were
working their way through the hanging folders in their drawer.
Twenty-odd people in blue uniforms were working with the folders
in the central area, making new ones, or typing to update the
pages of others, or carrying drawers around.

Lucy went to the "New Registrations" table where a blue-suited
woman took a picture of her face, then had her take off her
sweater for side and front pictures of her body. She made a
folder with Lucy's name on it, and then gave her a form to fill
out.

It said "Female" at the top. The first field, in a larger
typeface, said, "List here anything important that you think
might deter the average person from having you as a bond-mate.
Include any severe dissatisfactions that former mates have
noted."

That made sense -- If you know most people won't consider you,
put it up front to save them the trouble of reading details.

Fields to fill in were name, age, address, and whether you had an
IUD in or not. Do you promise not to have the IUD removed without
informing your bond-mate?

There was space to list the people in your household and their
ages. Another space was for information about your other
bond-mate, if you had one. Another was for children who lived
elsewhere.

One question read: "Do you agree not to have intercourse with
anyone else when you have two bond-mates, assuming they have
presented themselves accurately in good faith?" That was a key
one, Lucy figured. Who would want to consider a partner who said
"no" to that?

If/when you have just one bond-mate, do you want to have
intercourse with other people? Is it OK if your bond-mate does?

What is your minimum, maximum, and preferred value for how often
you would like to have sex (intercourse or other) with the sort
of person you expect to bond with?

Do you have a secret you want a bond-mate to keep? Is is a secret
about illegal activity? Will you swear to keep a secret you learn
from a bond-mate? Including if it is illegal activity?

List psychological illnesses, if any.

List major medical conditions, including any that are
life-threatening.

Are you a strong political partisan? If yes, Liberal,
Conservative, or other?

Are you willing to consider relocating?

What are your favorite sexual activities? Are there any you are
unwilling to do, and any that your partner must be willing to do?

Are you interested in having a child within the next five years?
Would you consider getting pregnant by your bond-mate?

Do you require that the test sex be in total darkness? Would you
be willing to participate if someone required total darkness?

If you have no bonds, how many days since your last bond broke?

How many legitimate attempts did you make before forming your
last bond? The one before? The one before that?

Compared with other people who have gone that many days, how
would you compare your own suffering from the bondless syndrome
(also known as "the yuckies")?

Some people have difficulty finding a partner. Would you be
willing to try for a bond with someone to help relieve their
symptoms, despite their not being a good match for you?

Would you offer payment to someone who bonds with you
successfully? If so, how much?

The questions went on.

Wow, said Lucy to herself. Just wow.

---------------------------------------------------------

There were many drawers with currently available men, and when a
woman was done with one she marked the number of the drawer she
had just finished on a plastic sheet labeled "DONE" and put it on
top of the drawer. That let the blue-suited helper find a drawer
for her that she hadn't already scanned. That was how the system
worked.

Lucy got her first drawer. What did she want? First, what did she
NOT want? No secrets. No money. No angry people or crazy people.
No fat people. No people who looked superior. Someone who only
wanted sex with his bond-mate once a month? Not her top choice.

Someone who refused to give oral sex? It's not that she needed
oral sex, but somehow if he wouldn't consider it that felt kind
of selfish. Favorite activity is getting oral sex, partner must
be willing to do that. Meh. She liked it the standard old way.
Penis right up the vagina.

Here was a guy with a face that was a bit off -- not symmetric
somehow -- but he had a nice smile. Willing to do anything except
anal, favorite was intercourse. Sounded good! She wrote down his
ID number: 54707. One candidate.

"Previous partners have felt I am arrogant." Not good for Lucy.

Everything good, but had two children. Three and five. Hoped to
have more. He looked really nice. Lucy did want to have children,
and she enjoyed being with them. She wrote down his number,
54221.

And then after a dozen mismatches there was Eli. 57 years old,
but with a handsome face that looked contented, somehow. He had
some grandchildren. 53303.

Here was an intriguing guy. Nice smile, but only one leg. She
wasn't prejudiced, right? If his cock worked he didn't need both
legs, right? And look, he was in North Brookfield! And he had
been 43 days and reported himself to be suffering more from the
yuckies than most people. Oh, she knew how that felt! He had
nothing that he put in the top space of reasons women didn't like
him. But there were three females -- actually, four -- with
complaints. But a guy deserved a second chance. But then she
thought about it. The reports were "bad secret", "bad secret",
"dishonest", and "dishonest and bad secret". Four women. He had
had a second chance, and a third and a fourth. She remembered
Eric, at least how he was at the start. Pass that one by! Aaron
said she was assertive and it was good. Don't get bonded with
deceitful, devious guys!

Three would be enough for her first day. The system needed
several hours for her folder to make it into the system and for
guys to scan through to find her, so she checked into a cheap
hotel and tried a bit of sightseeing, though Brookfield was no
tourist destination.

When she arrived the next day, all three of the matches she had
selected had accepted her, and she had a 9am appointment.

The guy in cubicle 37 was the father, 54221. With some
trepidation she approached, and found the curtain open. The guy
was reading a magazine. He smiled when he saw her.

"Oh, my!" he said. Reaching out to brush her cheek with the back
of his hand. "Sometimes I suggest doing it from the rear... quick
and simple, but for you... Oh, that would be a shame."

Lucy would take it from the rear, but it was nice when a man was
really attracted to her. He took off all his clothes, and so did
she, and then lay back on the bed.

"Do you mind... Could I lick you a little bit? Just for fun. Of
course probably not a match, but..."

"OK," said Lucy. Tongue felt good from just anybody. And she soon
decided she had made the right choice. He knew what he was doing.
"Mmmm, that's nice," she said. "But my pussy is eager to get it
now."

"Very well," said the guy. He mounted. She spread her lips to
ease the penetration. And then he was in! That felt nice. Pumping
in and out.. She realized a minute had gone by with no bond. It
was more like three minutes when he said, "Guess no bond, eh? But
you mind if I finish?"

"No."

"Mind if it's a couple minutes?"

"That's all right. But if you hold yourself at this angle... that
would be nice."

"Delighted to, my dear," he said, and kissed her on the nose.

With the oral sex for a warm-up and that perfect position, she
got more and more excited, and... she came! A nice, satisfying
little orgasm. He saw, picked up his pace, and came ten seconds
later. "Oh... fuck, fuck, fuck!" he said. Then, as he was pulling
out, he said, "Oh, sorry about that, that's kind of crude of me."

"Oh, fucking's OK," she said. Might she just get together with
him for good old sex? Maybe she would. "Where do you live?"

It was not North Brookfield. Oh, well.

Her next appointment wasn't for a while, but there was a half
file drawer with 20-odd profiles in it -- men who had expressed
an interest in her. The somewhat hefty middle-aged woman in the
seat to her left had just two profiles in her box, and looked at
Lucy's and shook her head. "Beauty is skin deep," she murmured,
but then said, "No, you go for it, honey! Take advantage of it!"

Lucy looked at the 20 folders. It was easy to rule out 17 of
them. It kind of made sense that guys a little lower on the
pecking order would be looking up. But ID 54419 looked OK. Short
and bald. That was fine. She was done with the drawer.

Butt up in the air for number 54419. Cock in and out for a
minute, no hint of a bond, but then the extra excitement of
approaching orgasm, and... he came. "They say two minutes, but
you always know within one," he said. Lucy didn't disagree, and
pulled her underpants back up.

The guy with the asymmetric face (54707) looked really nervous,
and when he stripped she saw that his cock wasn't stiff. But she
had some things to try before getting too discouraged. She smiled
and started fondling it. It grew, but didn't become really hard.
She leaned over and sniffed, then dabbed her tongue on the back
of his cock. He was clean. She took the tip in her mouth. He
gasped and said, "Oh, you're so nice to a guy." A minute later he
was fully hard. He mounted, thrust, and did his full two minutes,
then pulled out without finishing. There were many possible
reasons for that. He said, "Nothing personal... I've come twice
already today." Lucy kissed him on the cheek on the way out.

Aged 53303 did her in missionary. Sweet, slow, dignified. But it
was still a stiff cock, and after three minutes he groaned. His
eyebrows and hair might be white, but he still had what it took
to finish -- maybe even make a girl pregnant. He didn't pull out
of her right away.

"You've got no bond-mates," said Lucy, remembering this detail
from his card. "You feeling OK?"

He got a startled expression, and said, "It's been six weeks at
least, hasn't it..."

"Fifty-one days, your card said."

"Then... then I'm free, aren't I? I feel fine after 51 days?"

"Sounds like it to me," said Lucy. Lucy was sitting up and
getting dressed.

"Oh, that's so wonderful!" he said.

"Were you having trouble getting bonded?"

"No... it's not that. It's Miriam. My old bond-mate Miriam is 63.
I'd like to live with her but she said she didn't want a partner
who was out screwing other women. And now I'm free, I don't have
to! We can just be a couple together!"

"So this was your last sex act?" said Lucy with a smile.

"Oh, Miriam might be up for it sometimes. But my last with a
young woman like you." He looked kind of sad. "I wondered...
Would you be willing to..."

To what? She didn't want to suck him, and didn't want to wait for
him to get it up again, which might take a good long while.

"Let me slide my finger into you, into the hot wet vagina of
yours -- just once so I can remember?"

That was easy enough. Lucy shrugged, pulled down her underpants
and hitched up her skirt, and the man's wrinkled finger slid up
into her vagina, which was indeed plenty hot and wet.

After five seconds he pulled it back out, and sniffed it. "Thank
you so much," he said, and Lucy left.

After her first day in the registry, she had had four tries at a
bond. So far, they were all pleasant, and the men were thankful.
And that was a good little thing in itself. She supposed some men
would just be doing a chore with an unattractive woman, but being
young and not fat was probably plenty to make most guys happy.

============================================================

Chapter 11

William entered his date Sherry and slid back and forth. After
ten strokes he could tell -- a match!

She was no beauty, and not especially young or especially thin,
but it was OK. She had a pussy, and now with the alluring
feedback of the bond, they finished the sex act to delicious
orgasms. After a brief rest they did it again.

But then her thoughts started coming through. He could tell she
was nervous, hoping he wouldn't guess her secret, which was...
She was the bookkeeper for a small business, and the business was
doing very poorly, and it was because she was stealing all the
profits! The owners were going to lose their home to foreclosure.
The man had made two suicide attempts.

She sighed. "So that didn't take long. Yeah, I'm a thief. It
doesn't affect you. And it's just money."

"Your boss is trying to kill himself because he's losing
everything!"

She didn't choose to answer that. "And you'll give me a bad
review," she said. "Because you tell the truth. You're a very
good boy." She was bitter.

"I have to," he said.

"Want to fuck again?" she asked. "It will feel good anyway,
right?"

It might, but he just didn't want to. He would fuck a lot of
women in a hurry to get free of Sherry.

---------------------------------------------------------

Sherry was on her back. She really hoped this one would work. The
muscle aches were getting unbearable. It was hard for her to get
guys to take her out for a spin and fuck her with the "has a bad
secret" label on her card, attested to by three men.

Theo was his name. He too had a bad secret, but that's who she'd
have to get -- a guy with a bad secret to match hers. In and out
and -- there, that was it! -- a bond! The sexual pleasure revved
up. She came, and he came, and the bondless syndrome started
fading at once.

And then she felt his panic, and why he was panicking.. A rapist!
Like twenty times! The same girl every time, a neighbor. And how
she cried the first few times, and then later just took it,
resigned. Sherry didn't want to know how old she was, but... he
couldn't keep that from leaking over into her brain too. Too
young! Sherry was getting dressed as fast as she could.

"I regret it so much," he said. "I was only 18. And I've got
this, at least." He shoved a letter into her hands.

"I'm the girl Theo raped. He shouldn't have done that. I forgive
him mostly. But no one deserves to die of the bondless syndrome.
So please help him if you can!"

But Sherry was on her way out the door. She was feeling much
better physically, but she wanted to get rid of this bond as soon
as she could.

"Just a thief, but a thief making people suicidal," said Theo
with a sigh. "Still can't match a rapist."

---------------------------------------------------------

Her name was Margaret. She would only ever do it in the dark, her
card said. She was blind, and as Theo approached her from the
rear it became apparent her butt was very large. So her desire
for a long cock was a matter of practicality! At 8 inches he
figured he met that qualification, but it still took some doing
to get to her pussy. She was holding her butt cheeks apart with a
lot of force. His tip found her pussy opening, and he pressed
some more, and got in an inch, and then two. That was enough...
In and out, in and out... a bond? Yes! It was not quite the
joyous bonding he was used to, but it was a bond nonetheless. As
he felt the symptoms of the syndrome melting away, the relief was
better than any orgasm.

He couldn't keep himself in enough to orgasm, but that was OK.
The bond was formed. Maybe when he was all recovered from the
weakness of the syndrome he'd have the stamina to do it.

"So you raped a girl," said Margaret in a monotone. "That's very
bad. That's who can stand me. A rapist." After a long pause, she
said, "I wish someone had raped me. I wish ten nasty men had
raped me. I'm too fat to get raped."

"So... Will you try to keep the bond?"

"Yes, I'll try. Will you?"

"Absolutely," said Theo. Her secret? Trashing the house when she
was really mad. Getting violent with a half dozen people who had
made fun of her. She had a condition that made it nearly
impossible to control her weight. She wasn't at the bottom of the
scale of desirability because of secrets. It was because of
size... and a lack of intelligence and blindness didn't help. But
he also felt a pang of guilt. She was innocent, and the victim of
circumstance. Theo was not. He had had a choice. Over and over
again he had had a choice, and he had chosen wrong.

"Maybe you didn't really," said Margaret. "Maybe it was just in
you."

It was a more profound thought than he had thought he would get
out of her.

"So I'll see you in two weeks?" he said. "Or, um, feel you at
least?"

"Yes," said Margaret. "Let's pray to God the bond holds."

"Amen," said Theo. He was an atheist but at the moment he didn't
feel like one.

============================================================

Chapter 12

Janice had recently lost her second bond, and in short order
picked up a new one. He was David, and Lucy found him to be an
intriguing character. He was dark and handsome. He had a deep
voice. He wasn't at all like Aaron, who picked up on everyone's
feelings. David was more obtuse. He rarely smiled. But when Lucy
saw him with Janice, he had a friendly smile. A friendly smile
for your bond-mate was a good start. And he was pretty good with
the boys.

Aaron reported confidentially to Lucy based on his bond with
Janice that David also had a strong sexual appetite and excellent
stamina.

At the moment both Lucy and David had just the one bond,
something they were both working on rectifying, but not with
great effort. Lucy felt confident she could get a good bond in
short order if she wasn't too picky.

---------------------------------------------------------

Lucy was out of the house when she felt it. Grief from Aaron.
Intense grief. And then she picked up why. His bond with Janice
had broken -- the bond that had lasted so long. Lucy hurried home
and comforted him as best she could. He had sex with her, and
while the physical pleasure was there, he was still deeply
troubled. He made no effort to get her off, but even in his grief
knew it and apologized. Lucy said it was nothing to worry about
at a time like this.

Janice was equally distraught if not more so, and David just
wasn't the sort of guy to hold your hand when you were sad. So
Lucy tried to do extra with the kids and the housework, and also
listened when Janice felt like talking.

Aaron and Janice could still have sex, and they still did, though
it was more funereal than fun, as Lucy could easily tell. They
were accustomed to being all over each other's brains during sex.
Now it was the simple matter of Aaron feeling his penis going
into a woman's body -- a woman very much distinct from him. The
penis of a distinct man entered Janice's vagina. Both of them
could still have that deeper relationship with someone else.
What's more, Aaron wouldn't really know how Janice was feeling
while making love with David, but he knew it was more intense
than what he felt with her. Same with Janice as regards Aaron and
Lucy.

Lucy's first glimpse of her idea was simply a length of rope
being joined at the ends to form a circle. Then there were people
on the rope. In the middle Aaron and Janice. Connected to Aaron
was Lucy, and connected to Janice was David. What would happen if
they connected Lucy to David? And what if all four of them got
together and had sex in couple?. The bond between Aaron and
Janice was the one being mourned, but they could still join their
bodies together and get the pleasure from sex -- which, after
all, is no small thing.

Then if David was screwing Lucy at the same time, each of them
would have a bond with someone of the opposite sex. Janice would
have a connection to David and his penis as he drove it home into
Lucy, but Aaron would have a connection to Lucy as she received
that very same penis. The situation would be identical for Lucy
and David, though there was no great emotional significance to
their act of sexual union. It was just a man screwing a woman --
but they too would get to feel the opposite sex partner.

Lucy had convinced Aaron and Janice some months before to join
her in a threesome, and they had done that a number of times. As
for this new idea, David seemed like no sort of prude. When she
explained it, David said it sounded like a good idea, and he
thought that screwing Lucy would be lots of fun. Lucy wasn't the
least bit surprised, since she knew he had had the hots for her
ever since they met. So they agreed to meet for sex. If they
formed a bond with each other, that would complicate things, but
it was unlikely, and best to find out at once.

David might not be sensitive to people's emotions, but his lust
for Lucy's body made her tingle with anticipation, and as he
turned those lusty thoughts into lusty actions, it was
terrifically exciting. With those dark, intense eyes looking into
hers, the muscled arms and legs and six-pack that enfolded her
were electrifying. At the center was his thick, long cock fucked
into her pussy as deep and tight as it could be fucked. Within a
minute of first penetration, they were sure no bond had been
formed, and as soon as that distraction was removed, Lucy came.
David laughed but in a good-natured way. "Shit, Lucy, you're one
really hot woman with a hair trigger no less!"

"Give me your wet way up in there deep, David my stud!" she said
joyously. Within a few seconds, David did as he was told. When
they separated, their mission was accomplished. The script called
for nothing but them to get up and get dressed and present their
plan to Aaron and Janice. But neither of them got up, and as soon
as Lucy was aware that David was not just dawdling but didn't
actually intend to get up, she knew that David knew the same
about her. They had the motive and the suspects, and all they
needed was the weapon. Lucy looked at it, and saw David looking
too, and it filled with blood very quickly. Thus loaded, David
used the weapon to stab into Lucy, mercilessly, over and over,
sending her into another orgasm, and thus encouraged David
shuddered and twitched and pulsed.

Surely all they needed to do now was get up once they caught
their breath. But once more, Lucy decided to wait until David got
up first. But he didn't. The weapon quickly came to full
readiness again. Lucy decided it was time to be assertive. Even
though David's sexual gestalt had gotten her off twice seeking
nothing but his own pleasure, on principle she needed to be on
top. She needed to know she could ask that and he would comply
gracefully. He seemed a bit surprised.

"Oh! Well, OK, as long as I get to fuck up into you, we can do it
any angle you want, babe!"

Lucy could have come in a minute, but she stretched it out just a
bit more, holding herself on the edge of feminine ecstasy. And
then she let herself go.

"Oooo, looks like that felt great, babe!" said David. "You let me
know when you're all just as finished as you want to be," he
said.

"Oh, I am, now. Thanks for asking."

Barely were the words out of her mouth than she felt herself
being manipulated this way and that -- arm here, leg there, torso
over there -- and she was on her back with Steve's stiff cock
plunged back into her. He took five minutes. Lucy tried not to
come before he did, not wanting to distract him or seem greedy,
but she couldn't hold off. He felt it, and said, "Holy shit, what
a sl --", stopping himself just in time as his thrusting slid
back to idle mode.

"What a sexually responsive woman, perhaps you meant to say?"

"That's it, that's it!" he said, his thrusting returned to high
gear, so insistently occupying her vagina again.

Sensing him approaching climax, she lifted her head and whispered
in his ear, "Stuff you slut's cunt, fuck it up tight, and cream
the little nasty slut, right up her cunt!" and then bit his ear,
not too hard but not too soft either.

David's voice rose up into the high register as he came, holding
himself in tight, dousing her insides once more with manly fluid.

They had rested just a minute when Lucy made herself get up.
David still looked dazed.

"Don't you dare say any of those words, you hear?" she said.
"Those are to come from my lips only!" She smiled.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a grin, and got up to dress.

---------------------------------------------------------

Now, thought Lucy, to explain the plan... But when they got to
the living room, Janice and Aaron were sitting on separate
couches, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"That was... that was... " said Janice.

"Unusual," said Aaron.

Of course! Each of them had felt the very strong emotions of
their bond-mate.

Aaron spoke to Janice, "It makes sense that it's kind of hard for
the two of them tiptoeing around us two people in mourning. If
they just want to just get off the good old way, simple and
joyful, that makes sense."

"I guess," said Janice. She looked at the other two. "But did you
have to like it *that* much?"

Lucy could see Aaron on the verge of softening Janice's words,
but she intervened instead. "It was just an initial test for a
new idea we think would be neat. We kind of did get carried away
with the test, I guess," she said with a sheepish expression,
"but here's the idea... Suppose that you were having sex
yourselves at the same time David and I were. You would feel your
bond-mates doing it with each other. Janice, you'd feel David's
penis driving into a vagina, but it's not just any vagina, it's
the vagina that Aaron is feeling... mine, if you're thinking
flesh and blood, but in Aaron's mind, yours.

Janice looked perplexed. Aaron looked thoughtful.

"So all four of us get on a bed, side by side. You two do it, and
we do it, and good feelings should be flying every direction."

"Like quadraphonic sound instead of boring old stereo," said
David.

After a while, Aaron said, "I think it sounds really
interesting... really promising."

Lucy could hear Aaron's voice later that evening, talking with
Janice -- explaining more of how it would work. She heard regular
sound waves, passing muffled through the wall. Aaron's feelings
were not strong enough to come to her through her bond.

---------------------------------------------------------

The two men mounted the two women. Penises slid in. The two
couples were almost touching on the queen-size bed, but then
close was good because this was really like a single sex act.
Soon the men matched strokes exactly. That meant that at the same
instant that David's penis achieved its maximum penetration of
Lucy, Aaron's penis achieved maximum penetration in Janice. Aaron
and Janice couldn't actually experience the other's sex organs,
but they could experience a set that was doing exactly the same
thing.

"Fantastic!" "Amazing!" "Holy shit!" "I can't believe it!"

The two men tried to come at the same time, but didn't quite make
it. So it wasn't a perfect ending. But they all agreed it had
great potential.

When opportunity permitted, they tried it again. All four put a
lot of effort into finding opportunities that would permit.

It worked with both women on top. It worked with the men doing
the women from the rear.

Most of all, it worked in vanilla missionary position, both men
perfectly synchronized.

---------------------------------------------------------

After twenty minutes of sexual intercourse, Lucy was approaching
orgasm, feeling Aaron's cock pushing right into a vagina that
felt to her like hers, faster and faster. All four were
vocalizing their pleasure. Then the men came in perfect
synchrony. Lucy felt David's first shot of sperm against her
cervix at exactly the moment she felt Aaron deliver into Janice.
Then it felt better, and even better. But it didn't stop there.
It felt better than it was supposed to feel, better and better.
Then like pure sugar, then a thousand times sweeter than that.
Something was wrong! And that was the last thing she remembered.

She woke in a hospital bed, but the nurses rapidly verified that
she was just fine and could be released. She learned that the
other three were also in the hospital. They were to be released
at the same time, but first they were shepherded into a
conference room with a doctor.

The doctor explained that against all precedent, two new bonds
had formed at the culmination of their last sexual encounter.
David and Lucy were now bonded, which according to the lore of
the species only happened within the first 2 minutes of
penis-in-vagina intercourse. Even more remarkable, Aaron and
Janice were bonded again! A second time!

"Given that we do not understand what happened, and that in your
last encounter you all went unconscious, the safest course is for
you all to refrain from sexual activity with each other. And
prudence would suggest you break your bonds as soon as possible,
by way of each of you making two new bonds with totally different
people.

"However -- and this is totally off the record -- it also seems
likely that you could solve your problem by a far less drastic
solution. You would either break the bond between Aaron and
Janice, or the one between David and Lucy. As a matter of
research, we would be very interested to learn of what happens if
you resumed your previous pattern of sexual activity after one of
those bonds has been broken. But the risk is yours alone."

The four took a taxi home in silence. When they were home, they
all sat in the living room together.

"Who is for the safe path?" asked Aaron. No one raised their
hand.

"Who is for trying to break one of the bonds?" All four hands
went up.

"Who would like to break the bond between me and Janice?" No
hands went up.

"Who would like to break the bond between Lucy and David?" All
hands went up. Lucy was relieved to see not the slightest
hesitation on David's part. She wasn't sure he would realize how
deeply important it would be if this second incarnation of Janice
and Aaron's bond could be preserved.

Aaron said, "And of course there are two major ways to break a
bond -- either form a bond with a third party, or engage in lots
of intense sex."

Janice said, "If either of them -- or both -- try to make a third
bond, it might break the wrong one."

"That really leaves only one choice," said Aaron.

---------------------------------------------------------

Lucy refused to meet David's gaze.

David said, "Shit, man... I mean... You all know how Lucy and I
really clicked, but we weren't bonded then. And we're expected to
do it again and again and again?"

"I think that's the idea," said Janice.

"Who's interested in some supper?" said Lucy in a hurry. They
were all interested in supper.

"Let's help put the boys to bed," said Lucy to David when supper
was over.

At last the boys were in bed. Asleep too. Lucy had run out of
ideas for delaying. David had not made the least objection to
either of her suggestions, so she sensed he was nervous too. From
the other end of the house, she faintly heard Aaron say, "Want to
lie down next to me and hold hands?"

Lucy ushered David into her room and shut the door. She leaned
back against it. David stood six feet in front of her, looking to
the side.

"I'm kind of worried about going unconscious or plain out dying,"
said David.

"Yeah, me too," said Lucy. Then, after a long pause, "But if so,
what a way it will be to go!"

David turned then to face Lucy, and his face was transformed to
one of joyous lust. Lucy thought she probably looked the same.

They quickly stripped, still staying at a distance. When they
were naked they looked at each other again. Two naked people.
That's what any kid would see, Lucy reflected. But even a kid
would see the one thing that was different. A huge prong of flesh
stuck straight out from David's groin.

Lucy raced to the bed and spread her legs wide. David mounted
her, and that huge prong of flesh suddenly disappeared. Both
gasped with orgasm the instant the last of it had disappeared up
inside Lucy.

After twitching and shuddering for half a minute, Lucy relaxed a
bit. "That's one," she said.

David stopped twitching and shuddering at the same time. "That's
one," he said.

His cock didn't soften, not one bit. He began sliding in and out,
both of them moaning with pleasure.

Lucy didn't know how high they would have to count before the
bond broke, but she knew this was going to be the best sex of her
life.

============================================================

Chapter 13

Op-ed piece: We're Zoo Animals! -- Ten Years On

When we wondered about life elsewhere in the universe, one
explanation for why there weren't any aliens here was the "zoo
hypothesis". Some one civilization is strong enough to keep all
others away, and chooses to observe some civilization secretly to
see how they develop rather than make their presence known.

How to summarize?

Our technology finally got good enough that our scientists could
see suspicious things going on. When they investigated further,
they discovered the zookeepers. That was ten years ago.

The zookeepers revealed themselves and congratulated us on
discovering them.

Large segments of the population reacted with fury. They were
watching us without permission! And who knew what they had
actually done with us without our consent or even knowledge! The
fury found no satisfactory target, since our weapons were as
effective as mosquitoes taking on a tank.

Their main bases were underground on the moon and Mars. Their
intermediate stations were in orbit around earth, cleverly
shielded. It was this shielding that our physicists discovered.
They told us that there are some "entities of alien origin" down
on earth, too, but they will not reveal details. They promise
that they do not change events down on the planet, but only
observe them. Some citizens believe them, and some do not.

A year after their discovery they admitted to the one large
intervention they had made. Our peculiar system of mating was
folded into our gene pool a hundred thousand years ago. We have
lived with it ever since. Rage erupted again: We were
manipulated! We were stooges! But these reactions faded in
intensity.

Some of our thinkers reflected that while the aliens used the
threat of pain to motivate us to do as they wished, they did not
set out to humiliate us or cause us pain. Our people have had a
lot of satisfying sex. The partial melding of minds that comes
with a bond is something special. Our pleasure is real. Our
sexual satisfaction is real. Our tender affection is real.

The aliens offered to restore a more normal sexual pattern to our
society. Some of us were all in favor. Others hesitated. We
didn't choose any other aspect of our physiology and psychology.
They were shaped by natural selection. So what if our sexual
system was determined by artificial selection?

The one change that received overwhelming approval was
eliminating the Bondless Syndrome. Unpopular people would not be
forced to take desperate measures. People would seek out and
enter into bonds only because they wanted to. This new system
would increase happiness overall, and yet some people noted that
those stressful situations of the past did produce interesting
parts of our culture.

Once the decision about exactly what to do was made it took a
year before everyone had been injected with genes to eliminate
the possibility of bondless syndrome, genes that would be passed
down in turn to children. The experiment that is our species and
civilization started on a new path.

Seven years on, things are stable. Bonding is optional. There are
no creeping yuckies. Bad bonds are rare, and a good bond is still
a wonderful experience. And we know that the zookeepers are
always watching.

============================================================

What did you think? I'm always eager for comments, whether
positive, negative or mixed. Comments to sterling27@live.com.