Chapter 66

Bernie Rawlins arrived about then, late, with his small harem and the other couple who had taken to hanging out with them -- the Bradleys, I think. The Bradley concubine looked like she'd been to Medical overnight; she had that 'just tuned up' look. Bernie came in from behind us and settled across the way, his eyes on Farris' arm -- the one connected to my ass at the hand. "So," he murmured.

"Yes," Farris nodded.

That was the whole conversation; I don't think I'll ever understand men... Trinity, originally Bernie's sister-in-law, I think, said brightly, "So, Harriet -- you're hooked up?"

I couldn't think of much to say -- embarrassment was a big part of it. "Uh huh."

"It's about time!" She grinned from ear to ear. "You go, Girl!" Trinity was quite a bit more brash than her sister Felicity, and seemed to have taken over the top spot in the Rawlins harem. I was a little embarrassed for Felicity over it. "We're thinking about looking over some couples personal ads this afternoon -- want to come? Kathy and her man are looking to fill some slots..."

"I don't know..." I muttered.

"Oh, come on!" Trinity cajoled. "Everybody knows that when you have an opinion, you don't hesitate -- it'll help some of us..." She glanced around.

"It's... really up to Farris," I temporized.

"We were thinking along the same lines," Farris announced. "When? Where? We need to do a little stop at Medical, first."

"Oh? What's the plan?" Trinity flirted. "A stud like you probably doesn't need much..."

Farris blushed; the woman could be INCREDIBLY rude! "I thought that if we were going to act like teenagers, we should be under thirty, physically, at least," Farris replied, "Besides, I thought that in the presence of another male, I might need to be able to, um, demonstrate superiority..."

"See?" Trinity waved a finger at Gene Bradley. "There's nothing to be ashamed of in getting things tuned up for your harem! I was just telling Kathy that when there is more than one woman in the house..."

"Trini..." Bernie growled.

"Master?" Trinity turned to Bernie and vamped him, batting her eyes, while going totally servile. She had the tools, all right! Poor Felicity...

"I'm sure Gene does fine on his own," Bernie admonished.

"Oh, I am, too, Master -- but being a stud for one woman and being a stud for four are two different things -- wouldn't you agree?" Trini insisted.

"Sorry, Gene," Bernie apologized, "But she has a point. This bunch tried to kill me for a couple of days..."

"Yes, maybe..." I realized Gene's eyes looked haunted. "She may have a point. What do you think, Kathy?"

Kathy was VERY careful with her response -- almost scripted. "Well, since you HAVE to take on more women, you should probably look to making sure that you're up to it. Obviously there is no shame in a little improvement to help you carry the load..."

"Yes... Perhaps it's best..." A blind person could see that Gene was covering an inadequacy. "Maybe I'll pop down to Medical with you, Doctor, if you don't mind..."

"No, that's perfectly all right," Farris replied blandly. I wondered if he had picked up the undertones of the conversation or not. "What's the plan, if I might ask?"

Bernie waved at Trini, who leaned forward. "I thought we would get one of those meeting suites, you know? And we girls can go through the ads and look them over and laugh and make noises, and you guys could, like, relax in another room, and we could only forward to you the ones we were serious about. I'm sure you don't want to wade through ALL of that mess..."

Farris shrugged, pulling a face. "Is there a set time? It appears that some of us have an appointment..."

"Two?" Trini looked around. "I'm sure none of you needs a major overhaul..."

"Two it is, then. Would you care to meet us at a particular medical facility, Eugene? I don't want to interfere with your luncheon," Farris asked.

"I'm not really hungry," Gene announced. "Kathy, please stay with Bernie and his group. Call me with the suite number when you've settled in." Suddenly the three of us were on our feet. Farris waved Gene forward and we walked out, Farris' hand STILL on my ass...

"Farris," I whispered, "I'm going to start squeezing YOUR butt in a second..."

"Gene, if you'll excuse us for a moment..." The next thing I knew, I was being pressed against the wall; Farris grabbed my hands as I brought them up to defend myself. "Now, STOP!"

He scared the crap out of me! My first instinct was to knee him one, but he turned sideways. "Harriet! Stop! Now! No one is going to hurt you!" I was puffing like a freight train, scared out of my mind; he held me there until I settled down a bit. I hopped around some and he ended up between my legs, so he was safe from being kicked -- and I was even more exposed.

"I can't take this!" I wailed. He leaned in and pressed himself against me and I wanted him gone for a while, but he kept whispering to me softly and I slowly settled down. After I stopped flopping around and being actively hysterical, he stopped just going, "Shhhh..." and murmuring and asked some questions.

"You've never been married, never dated, never done much..." he muttered in my ear, "Right?"

"Uh huh." I was too shaken to lie.

"You've never really been close to anyone, have you?"

"No." I'd spent my entire adult life more or less taking care of Mom; she had a stroke when I was in high school...

"That's changing. You KNOW I mean you no harm, right?"

"I..." I couldn't quite go that far.

"I'm going to let go of your hands now..." He did, and I dropped them; they just sort of flopped. It seemed like all of the blood rushed out of them while he pressed them to the wall above my head.

"You scared me to death!" I whined.

"You're not used to affection," Farris theorized. "That's a problem, because I want to give you affection -- a LOT of it."

"I... You'll have to..." I gasped and shut up; his lips were on my neck, creating goosebumps. His hands were on the wall, but his body was pressed against me -- and I could feel his cock through his pants, pressed against my pussy mound. I don't know what I planned to say next, but what came out was, "Uuuuhhh!"

"Things have changed," he whispered. "We're... more than married. You're going to sleep with me tonight and tomorrow night and the next night and the next..." -- then his lips were messing with a spot right behind my ear and I had my head cocked and turned so he could get at it and my hands were rubbing his back... I got lost in the sensations; when he let up and I came back to sanity, I had one leg up, wrapped around his and was rubbing myself against his boner... VERY embarrassing! "Are you better?" he asked.

'Fuck me!' went through my head, but I choked out, "Yes." I looked past Farris to where Gene was standing there, looking everywhere but at us, and was instantly mortified. "I'll be... fine..." I put my foot down and let go of him.

"Just hold my hand," Farris murmured. "We'll work on the other stuff. I'm sorry I scared you; it's just... I've been waiting a long time to be able to give..." I wanted to cry; I'd known all along that Farris wasn't ever in a relationship, but it hadn't occurred to me that he was as needy as I was! I'd acted like I was being attacked by a serial rapist, when all he wanted to do was love me!

"I'm fine, now..." I muttered.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

"We need to go," he husked and I nodded and stepped out next to him, meekly.

Gene eyed us and asked diffidently, "Can I ask...?"

"We're... not used to being in relationships, Farris related. "I... rushed things. I was in a hurry. I scared her."

"Oh." I think Gene understood, but only dimly.

I went into the tube first; I think it was so Gene and Farris could discuss sizing their cocks without embarrassment. When I came out I felt younger and tighter and my hair was red again from tip to root. I tried to remember if I'd been this size at eighteen -- and couldn't. When I was eighteen, what I looked like really didn't matter much; I was going to school at home in between Momma's diaper changes, and had been for almost two years. "You're going to smooth out and drop a little more over the next twenty-four hours," the medic told me, adding, "In case you don't know it, he likes your ass." Farris emerged younger and dapper-looking, with the white and grey banished from his beard and moustache. I wondered what he'd settled on for a cock size; the medic seemed able to read my mind, because she leaned in and whispered, "You'll like it."

"What he had was fine," I whispered back.

"The other guy..." the medic shrugged. "He needed work. Do you do him?"

"No."

"We had to, um, recommend that he not get stupid," the medic related. "He was going to overcompensate." I just nodded -- too much information.

Farris came and took my hand again and said, "I think we're due. I got the suite number relayed from the AI. Shall we?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak; Farris looked HOT with hair... We headed off down the hallway, with Gene trailing us.

Phase Two of getting Kathy fixed up was going to be harder than Phase One -- she was going to have to get past her issues. Kathy had been to Medical and I knew that the 'new' Kathy helped her self-image, but she still had a serious problem with the whole 'other women' thing. What she NEEDED was to get past the icy shock, one way or the other; she was clingy and, well, basically scared shitless that her meal-ticket was going to drop her like a rock if he saw something better. The plan was to get her past the fear, one way or another -- and, well, maybe get a little strange from Gene...

What Gene came back from Medical with could help or hurt, depending. The timing wasn't what I'd hoped for when I got Kathy going; what I'd wanted was for her to come home all hot-looking and sit on Gene's new dick and then we could go from there. Now, we were gonna be looking at couples without any idea what Gene ordered up in the way of meat...

Mister Snippy and Harriet the Harridan were a delaying tactic; they made a fine excuse to get Gene off to Medical and they slowed things down -- but when they showed up at the suite at two, I wondered if I hadn't underestimated them. Mister Snippy was looking, hey, pretty hot, and Harriet had just the beginnings of a glow on. Add to that the fact that they were holding hands like a couple of young kids and it was too cute for words... I almost missed Gene skulking in behind them...

I didn't, though. I scooted over to Kathy and said, "Are you going to check it out?"

She got big-eyed. "Should I? Now?"

"Well, we're gonna be looking at guys," I pointed out. "You probably ought to have a basis for comparison. See if you can get him into one of the side rooms and at least get a look... Want some help?"

"No, no..." Kathy took off like her tail feathers were on fire. They were hilarious from a distance; Kathy, remembering that she needed to wheedle, whispered in his ear and you could read Gene's lips when he exploded, "What? Here?" -- but she led him off to another room and closed the door...

I figured that she would get a look and come back out to report -- but somebody (maybe TWO somebodies) wanted more than that; I ended up tap-dancing and pretending to arrange screens and wasting time trying to pull preferences out of Bernie and Mr. Snippy (who was being a lot less prissy than his wont) while Kathy bounced on her new toy. She was bowlegged and smiling when she came out of the room, and Gene emerged looking positively stupid and grinning from ear to ear, so I had to figure that he'd been fitted with a decent upgrade... "So how was it?" I asked in a whisper.

"Omigod!" Kathy came back. "It's HUGE! Like, eight inches!"

"Well, now you know..." Yeah, I was gonna have to show Gene my signature corkscrew blowjob... If Bernie didn't pick up a second dick, I could ride Gene -- and if I was lucky, I'd have Kathy thinking I was doing her a favor...

It was time to read Harriet in; the guys had retired to the room next door to smoke and joke or whatever. "Harriet, can we talk?"

"Okay."

"Look, there's a hidden agenda here, Hon," I began.

Harriet looked wary. "What is it?"

"Kathy has the 'unhappy wife syndrome' -- did you get that in class?" I asked.

Harriet gave a snort, reminding me that a wise old head sat on those smooth new shoulders. "Yeah, sort of. I didn't pay much attention, since it didn't apply to me."

"Well, she's got it bad," I explained. "She's got a lot of time and energy invested in her meal ticket and she has self-image problems..."

"And who doesn't?" Harriet grunted.

"Yeah, exactly," I agreed, trying to put things back on track. "In short, she's jealous and clingy and worried that her old man will find greener grass to mow. We're trying to help -- we got her to talk Gene into a makeover for her, which was a good thing -- but Gene got one, too, which might NOT be..." I waved at the wall, where Harrah, Kathy, and Sis were already screening some couple's video. "This is about Kathy feeling like she has some control over who is coming in."

"Okay..." Harriet waited.

"There is still the other problem -- we have to find a way to desensitize her to the whole idea of some other woman riding Gene's nice new pole..."

Harriet looked right through me, "Which is why YOU volunteered, I bet..."

I flinched. "Well... Bernie might not pick up any backup; he has worries about his manhood -- why, I'll never know, since he's an absolute GOD in the sack... That being the case, if his daughter Susan doesn't check out and set up her own place on her fourteenth and take Harrah with her, Sis and I could have to share a lot more of him than we might like. Gene might be an acceptable backup, you know? Not family, so no real threat..."

"And Kathy isn't going to freak when you muscle in on her man?" Harriet asked dubiously.

"Not if it's done right..." I argued. "I really AM trying to help -- if she freaks out the way some women do..."

"Well, you're juggling priorities," Harriet retorted. "Try to remember which balls stay in the air..."

"The big thing this afternoon," I explained, trying to keep things on track, "is trying to keep her from only picking total dogs. I'm pretty sure that Gene is smart enough to realize he has a veto, but we don't really want her to be that obvious. She's hoping to control things..."

"Surely she realizes that Medical can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?" Harriet exclaimed quietly.

"Well..." I grinned sheepishly. "She does, but like a lot of us, she isn't thinking about it. We tend to go with what we see, instead of what we hear, you know? She might actually screw the pooch pretty bad if she picks a really nice but ugly chick..."

"Hey, what about this one?" Harrah yelled. I rolled my eyes at Harriet and we went over to scope their catch...

I don't know what possessed me to have the AI set up a big screen with a view of the women -- basic caution, I guess. Or maybe I thought we could laugh at their antics while they thought we weren't looking. But when Trini pulled Harriet off to talk to her privately, Farris frowned, "Something is up."

"AI," I directed, "Please give us that conversation between Trinity and Harriet..."

By the time it was over, all three of us were surprised! "I had a vague idea of the whole 'unhappy wife' thing," I admitted to Gene, "But I wasn't aware that Trinity planned to put you out to stud!"

Gene looked deeply embarrassed. "I wouldn't have done much for her before this afternoon," he admitted. "I wasn't much good in the sack -- and was getting slowly worse."

"Yeah, but..." I mused. "Trini is... manipulative. I'm aware of it. She has me on the hooks, even -- I'm embarrassed to say how. She's also an accomplished sexpot. I thought Felicity was, but her sister learned a few things in the school of hard knocks..."

"What do you want to do about this?" Gene asked.

"Well..."

Farris interjected, "You could stop it -- or you could take advantage of it. Gene, your concubine has what is perceived to be a serious problem in this culture; you may want Trinity to proceed, even to the point of bedding you." He turned to me, "On the other hand, you may want to clip Trinity's wings, before or after." After some thought, he added, "There is going to be a problem with Kathy's perception of the woman involved. If she's got a serious problem..."

"She does," Gene interjected.

"Then the first woman to have sex with you, whether she is present or not, is going to spark some hatred, unless it is handled VERY carefully..."

I nodded. "We need expert advice."

"Guilt may blunt this effect," the AI announced itself. All three of us jumped, I think.

"Explain?" Farris directed.

"If the concubine Kathy is placed in a situation where she must be sexed by another male, there would be a certain 'payback' aspect to sex between Eugene Bradley and a female. Kathy is loyal to the father of her children because she believes it is the coin she pays for his fidelity in. Given her issues, even if she were instructed to have sex with another male, she would feel some guilt -- especially, if she enjoyed the encounter -- because that contract of fidelity is breached through her action. This would tend to render her powerless when presented with another female enjoying sex with Eugene, because the contract will have been broken."

Gene frowned, thinking about it. "Maybe..."

"The concubine Trinity is no doubt aware of the difficulties, and may have come upon a tactic for handling them," the AI posited. "As has been indicated, she is devious and manipulative. You may wish to discover exactly what her planned tactic is -- and allow her to execute it if it appears capable of succeeding. Some possible tactics suggest themselves..."

"Such as?" I inquired.

"Something similar to her attack on you," the AI replied, embarrassing me. "She may offer to give Kathy instruction in fellatio. This would place her in contact with Eugene's sexual organs in the framework of a teaching situation that it would be difficult for Kathy to object to. This would tend to blunt the impact upon Kathy while actually breaking the barrier, desensitizing her."

"Attack on you?" Farris looked amused.

"Yeah." I grimaced. "She organized a little fellatio party that ultimately led to me breaking down and accepting her and Harrah as concubines. I... wasn't thinking with my big head."

Farris shrugged. "How bad has it been?"

"It hasn't -- but then, Trini has managed to muscle her way into the Number One spot -- and she obviously has too many bright ideas." I pursed my lips. "Actually, Felicity is still Number One, if push comes to shove -- but Trini has, um, operational control."

"What do you think Felicity thinks of that?" Farris queried.

"She trusts her sister, but I bet she has nagging worries."

Farris sat back and played with his wineglass. "Are you ready for a couple?" he asked Gene.

"No." Gene looked away.

"Bernard?" Farris turned to me.

"No, not really. I'm beginning to understand Trini's thought process, but..." I admitted.

"I'm not, either," Farris sighed. "But I plan to proceed, anyway. Neither Harriet nor I is particularly gifted at child-rearing; neither of us has any experience at all. We need to shake down, too -- but there is no time. As a result, we may select a couple and allow them to continue their relationship more or less undisturbed until we have our own under control, then slowly introduce the added dimension." He frowned. "Neither of you may have that option, but then you DO have a certain foundation with your concubines."

"Some of them," I mused. "If I bring in a couple, the only way I'll keep Trini off the male will be a direct order backed by dire threats."

"That will be ineffective, Bernard Rawlins," the AI declared. "Trinity will disobey -- it is in her nature. The issue will not even be the male -- it is not now. The issue will be her unconscious desire to force you to demonstrate your dominance over her -- physically. Trinity's history is not coincidental; she seeks out dominant males who will bring her to heel. Her current machinations are as much based upon this desire as the other, more visible goals."

I blinked. "Run that by me again?"

"Trinity wants you to exercise control over her -- preferably physically. She wants you to discover her plots and punish her for her temerity in executing them."

"How, exactly?" I'm not violent; I can do whatever is necessary to protect my family, and I would take up a gun or whatever, but Trini's procession of spouses and boyfriends tended to be brutal...

"There are multiple methods -- the simplest, perhaps, being a slap or a spanking. More complex might be deprivation of some type, such as not allowing her to eat or making her sleep on the floor -- anything that establishes that you are a force in her life to be reckoned with. Once such a demonstration occurs, she will submit -- and the urge, satisfied, will be quiescent for a time. But regular flare-ups will occur and will need to be dealt with."

"How is it I never heard about this?" I rasped.

"It is not in her to discuss it. She does not even recognize the need, consciously."

"How would I explain this to Felicity?"

"You are not required to," the AI replied, "but you could make the attempt. If you do, allowing her to discuss the subject with Trinity would be counter-productive, as Trinity would assume -- correctly -- that you are manipulating her. However, a successful demonstration would probably provide Felicity with all the evidence she might require."

"So how would I keep her from screwing up in the first place?" I asked.

"Exercise your will over something else -- her attempt to blackmail you, for instance," the AI retorted.

"Hey!" I erupted.

"Trinity has nothing with which to blackmail you in any case," the AI wound ponderously on, "Sex with your daughter Susan will be fully authorized when she reaches fourteen." I covered my face.

After a moment, Farris said quietly, "They're remorseless, those AIs. But it's right -- who cares, if Susan doesn't?"

"Felicity might..."

"Too bad," Farris retorted. "You KNOW she doesn't get a vote..."

"How long would it last?" I asked the AI.

"Indeterminate," the AI replied. "You will know when a new treatment is required -- she will not be deceptive about it. Trinity will engage in activity designed to attract your attention. The more forceful your control, the longer an application will last, and there may be things that you can do over time to contain her. That is your prerogative."

At that point, a second screen lit -- actually mirroring the first, which the women were not aware of. "Hey, guys!" Trinity yelped, "We may have a winner, here!"

The look on Bernie's face gave me a little shiver; the other two were up to something, too, I think, but I shook it off as I passed the video to them. I'd been riding Bernie ever since the night of the blowjob lesson and he hadn't even kicked -- he probably wouldn't care about this deal, anyway, even if I didn't come out with any threats about telling Sis that he wanted to stick his dick in little Susie.

The Flowers were godawful. The mother's name was Carrie, the father, Stanford Flowers III. Where I come from, if you have a 'III' after your name, Granddad did all the work and you and your old man lived off the interest -- and it was true of Stanford. They had a little girl named Candace, about Little Patty's age, who was showing signs of spoilage already. I thought it was kind of cute, you had 'Carry Flowers' and 'Candy Flowers' -- and 'Flowers Stand'... Okay, maybe I'm weird...

Anyway, they were rich -- that's how they got into the school, apparently. Now, naked and penniless, they just people, you know? Not hot shots. Carrie and Stan both looked... wasted -- like burnouts. Jaded. They were scared now, though -- you could tell. They weren't EVEN special here...

That was the draw for Kathy; Carrie looked sorta like Kathy had looked before going down to Medical -- only maybe a little worse. And Stan just looked like a stupid jerk. That made them perfect for Kathy...

I watched the guys flinch as their scores came up. They sat through the video, which was a riot, since Carrie was busy pretending that they were temporarily inconvenienced, not screwed for life... "What do you think guys?" I asked.

Gene leaned up to answer, but Mister Snippy leaned up and waved and said, "We'll get back to you." Then the video of the guys' room blanked. Yeah, they were up to something all right...

"That's what we can expect, I guess," Farris announced. "I stopped you because I was thinking that maybe you could just use them to get Kathy over the hump."

Gene blinked. "I don't get it."

"Interview them," Farris explained. "Have Kathy do something sexual with Stanford and sex the woman in front of her -- then tell them you're not interested."

"That seems kind of nasty..." Gene mused.

'I'm certain that they've used others similarly," Farris pointed out.

"Indeed," the AI remarked. "Data gathered during their CAP testing indicates that their wealth and their wealth alone has kept them from incarceration on numerous occasions, mostly for wanton disregard of one rule or regulation or another. The child may be salvageable, but the couple is without any redeeming features. It is expected that they will be unemployable in roles expected of a concubine..."

Gene shook his head. "Given that the basics for the woman are to lie down and spread her legs, that's pretty bad..."

"It is anticipated that at some point, they will commit some offense that will lead to their termination, especially in view of their records," the AI revealed.

"If that happens, notify me," I said. "I'll want to see what can be done for the child."

"Noted."

"So what do we tell Kathy?" Gene asked.

"Tell her to that you'll think about it, but she can do better," Farris advised.

I had high hopes, but when the guys came back, Gene said, "Make a note of them, Hon, but they're low priority. I just don't think they're our type." I nodded, disappointed, and the guys cut the video again.

Trinity came over and said, "They were AWFUL, Kath! Come on, you can be a little more subtle than that, can't you?" The other women nodded in agreement, so I tossed them on the rejected pile and we went back at it.

Trini and Felicity weren't seriously looking, but the other woman, Harriet, was; she made me look bad by picking out two or three decent-looking couples for her man, Farris, to look at. I got by pretending that once she'd glommed onto a couple, I didn't want to cut her out; Farris screwed that up by saying no, which released them, though. Fortunately, Gene didn't call me on it... It's all so HARD! Don't people understand that I love Gene? I don't know what I would do without him...

As the afternoon wore on, I felt more and more pressure to 'get real' and I got more and more desperate. Gene's new cock made one tactic no good; I couldn't pick a guy with something really big dangling and have Gene say no because he was now pretty good-sized and could get more if he needed it. That left fat, homely women -- something there was no shortage of -- but all Gene had to say was no... Toward the end of the day, he started saying, "Let's go back to so-and-so..." and I knew he was lowering his standards -- something I couldn't afford... I know that from Trini's viewpoint I was supposed to be picking someone out, but I just couldn't do it!

Finally, it was dinner time -- and I'd survived the afternoon. We were starting to skate close to something Gene might approve of, just because -- but I got lucky. The men announced that it was dinner time and we got up to leave the room -- and Trini leaned over to me and said, "So, how's your head?"