Vanishing Manhood: Part 15

Israel Jenkins and the Last Real Man on Earth.

Based on ‘One In Ten’ by FinalStand, adapted into 17 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.

Your mind is your arsenal, fortress, and armory. Your words are potential weapons you give to your enemies to assault the citadel of your soul.

In a final act of feminine superiority, Dimples had destroyed Western Civilization. She had to share credit with the T2 virus for the rest of the global catastrophe and I was sure she was okay with that. For me, it was the start of my flight to freedom. I could do no more damage there. That wasn't really important because at this stage of the disaster, Capri had been willing to use her stun gun on me and drag my ass to the elevators if I hadn't cooperated.

"Ladies, I have to run. Take care and be good to one another. I wish you all the best of luck," I signed off. "The Final Word for today is 'Resilience.’" The presidential staff cut her connection. Maribel nodded good-bye and returned to her job. She was telling the audience that GNN would start running continuous updates on plague outbreaks and work toward a cure.

What else could she say? No one chased Capri and me to the elevators. No one on this floor was jumping ship. In a sad reversal of fate, they were the ones realizing there was nowhere for them to run while I had finally found a way out. Special Agents Fraklos and Vabishi met us at the elevator. They must have made it up seconds ago.

"Time to go, Israel," Fraklos gave me a weary half-smile. "We are going to try and bluff our way out the back. For some reason there are over a thousand young ladies gathered out front."

"What?" I gasped.

"Less impressive sex, Bitch," Capri muttered. Her phone rang. She saw the number and groaned.

"Hi, Mom," Capri plastered on a happy face.

"Honey, did you overnight that shipment?" Mom got straight to the point.

"Oh, I tried Mom, but he fountained so much into me that I gagged. I ran to the bathroom, threw up and accidently hit the sensor, it all got flushed down the drain, all three loads," Capri sniffled.

"You What!" her mother snapped.

"I know Mom, I've let you down again. I know I'm a failure, but I promise to try harder. I can go down on Israel right now," she turned the phone my way for a second. "I'll suck him off before the elevator makes it to the ground floor and, I don't know, spit it into my purse and send that to you," Capri pleaded.

"Ah, I'll call you back," Capri's Mom stammered and the connection went dead.

"Whore," Capri griped. Her phone rang again. "Damn it," Capri growled. "This is new," her tone changed when a video of an ambulance appeared. It took Capri a second to figure out who the driver was.

"We need to get here," Capri showed the screen to Fraklos and Vabishi.

"That's straight through the mob," Vabishi looked at her dubiously. "We won't make it." I was paralyzed by the thought of me in a sea of female bodies tightly packed together. I had done this. Since Monday, I had done all this to myself.

I was an emotional masochist. I hurled my fractured psyche at the very things that I knew would tear me up inside and chisel away at what little mental reserves I had left.

Angel.

Angel's eyes, her smell and the way her lips parted slightly before she spoke. How her eyebrows came close together before she unleashed her anger at me, often deserved.

The way my heart felt when I cried while she held me, the absence of my shame and her lack of condemnation, or pity. She wouldn't always like me. She did love me. I couldn't give up my faith in that belief. Not now.

"Angel is with Roni," I spoke up. "We are going to the ambulance."

"Israel, I'm not sure we can get you there," Fraklos observed.

"That's okay, you are not coming," I grinned at her. "Capri and I have a better chance on our own and quite frankly, if I don't go for Angel, she'll come for me. I might as well make it easy on her for once in our relationship."

"Israel,” Vabishi started to try and talk some sense into me.

"Give it up," Capri sighed. "He loves her. He's going. I'm following along because I have jack-all for job opportunities now." Capri really liked me, or maybe she was remembering her promise to kill me once we survived all this chaos. I preferred to think she liked me.

"We'll run interference with the police and reservists while you two make a break for it," Fraklos shrugged. "It hasn't been a pleasure in the slightest and thank you for making my life long dreams and ambitions totally irrelevant, Israel Jensen."

"Stick with Dimples. She'll see you through," was my only advice.

The elevator doors opened and a half dozen female faces were looking our way. Barring strict protocol or routine, if someone acts like they know what they are doing, people tend to accept that they know what they are doing. That was the scenario Fraklos and Vabishi were playing out. The Metropolitan Police and the Army Reservists had orders concerning me.

To the police, "this was a Federation matter.” To the Army, "the President had just been arrested for treason so they had to go back up their chain of command to figure out if they had valid orders or not.” They were FBI, they were elite FBI. Could they be mistaken? Could they be helping a male fugitive from responsibility make his escape through a mob of girls?

That was crazy talk. Besides, I didn't look like a man about to make his bid for freedom. I looked almost catatonic. That was because I was nearly catatonic from fear. Less we forget, I was gang-raped by a bunch of girls close to the age and social make-up of the ladies outside, right down to them being interested in me because of the sexual favors I had willingly given to another.

I had no internal hero to call upon. I never viewed myself as heroic. I was a victim and an exceptionally unfortunate one at that. There was no shard of my psyche that could do this.

'You are free to do whatever you want', bunny hop with a smile, 'you were that man before you came here', holding hands, 'thank you.’

I had not given up the will to live for 87 days. I had exited that sorority to graduate at the top of my class. I walked into a sea of policewomen to save the life of a boy I had never seen and would, most likely, never know. I was not a coward. I was a survivor and a good man, a good human being.

I was a survivor. Survivors were rarely respected. I wasn't a hero, but I could pretend to be one for as long as it took to make it into Angel's arms. They only tore heroes apart after the fact. We walked out into the light downpour. Capri opened my umbrella. I didn't need it. I needed to be seen and I was. They called out my name and pushed forward against the line of patrolwomen.

The reservists had an answer for that. Those hexagonal devices I had noticed coming in were sonic crowd suppression devices. They ruined your equilibrium and made you vomit. From both ends, the women at the controls began working over the mob of young women. Two ranks beyond the cops, women began going down in droves.

The soldier closest to us operating the device was suddenly showered with shrapnel. She received a few painful lacerations to her upper arms, but was okay. She was still trying to figure out what had happened to cause the near-total destruction of her weapon when the device on the other end of the column shut down.

The rotator assembly had exploded, fortunately sending slivers of composite away from the woman operating that weapon. That soldier was going 'what the fuck,' when the first one figured it out.

"Sniper!" she shouted over her com-net and ducked down into her vehicle. The reservist sergeant in charge of this detail didn't panic.

She starting figuring out what kind of casualties she was looking at, none, and where the fire was coming from. The first sonic technician was doing those physics herself. It took her a few seconds to work the trajectories and she didn't like what she came up with. She should be dead, as should her comrade controlling the other device.

That sniper hadn't missed. She'd hit exactly what she was aiming at without killing any of the soldiers involved.

"Sergeant, rounds coming from the south, down Marlowe Avenue. She must have at least five meters of elevation, if not more," she said. That was only a few acres of real estate.

Right about then, the fifteen seconds those sonic devices effected someone after they had been subjected to the attack wore off. The policewomen had easily held back the closest two ranks of girls the devices had not affected. Now those girls behind those two ranks were getting back on their feet, covered in their own vomit. Those girls were very, very angry. They surged forward.

The policewoman in charge gave the order to use tasers while calling all units to rush to the scene. Patrol cars had been coming this way since the growing number of girls was detected. They had been moving in cautiously so as to not incite an incident. It was a slow escalation of force. Now they turned on their sirens and came running.

More cops would have come running if not for another calamity a few kilometers away. Keverich mobsters had attacked and killed the Mayor and most of her entourage. That was what the reports were saying anyway. Beyond that, the police were still rounding up and detaining thousands of men. They were stretched thin.

The police went to tasers, a few girls went down, and then one girl countered with wasp spray. In many ways, it is worse than pepper spray. For starters, it has a longer range. This girl dowsed the cop who just tasered her friend. This woman closed her eyes and got an arm somewhat in the way, she was partially incapacitated.

The girl then turned the stream on the cop to the left with the same results. The patrolwoman on the right had her eyes wide open when the spray hit her face and went down screaming. The police cordon collapsed. This was not the Arena. The ladies wanted their plight to be recognized, or their support of me to be known.

There was anger, not bloodlust. The blinded policewoman was picked up by a group of girls, carried forward to one of the light transport vehicles and told to stay put. Cops were taken down fighting. A few tasers were stolen, no firearms. They wanted GNN to come out and record their voices and witness their defiance.

The reservists were putting a second, smaller, line together when I shouldered past them from behind and ran into the press of girls. Even those who weren't here to support me recognized me. Capri and I were quickly engulfed. I could feel the last sands of my resolve falling through the hourglass. I had to hold on just a little more.

I scanned the group of girls closest to me, seeking the lead lioness.

"I have to get to that ambulance," I shouted my appeal. She seemed worried and confused. "My girlfriend is there," I explained. There was that tinge of jealousy. There was also that spark of romance, a modern day 'Tale of Two Cities.’

This lead lioness began shoving other girls, getting their attention and forming a protective knot around me. My words came back to haunt me.

"We have to save one life, just one life, His!" she pointed at me. "Come on ladies, let's go." This group of total strangers forced a path against the tide, working toward the rear of the mob.

I never let go of Capri's hand. I couldn't have made it this far without her and I wouldn't have been worthy of continuing on if I let her go. An eternity later, the pressure eased and we emerged on the far side of the mass of humanity to see Roni and Angel outside the ambulance, waiting for me.

Angel took two steps toward me, I took a few steps toward her, I was losing the ability to count.

"She seems awful old," the lead lioness remarked boldly. I doubted Angel cared.

"Love is timeless," I turned and told my unknown saviors. "Thank you."

"Come on, Ladies," that girl laughed. "Let's go get them," and she led that dozen young ladies back to their chance to be famous.

"Come on, gang," Roni shouted over the noise. The reservists were using their middle vehicle's grenade launcher to bounce tear gas grenades off the surrounding buildings thus disrupting the crowd. "Capri, you and Israel get in the back," Roni helped me along. I saw Angel get in the driver's seat.

We were hustled into the rear of the ambulance, Roni shut the doors and ran back to the front passenger side. The vehicle rolled away, only accelerating when we were clear of the chaos. For a second, I thought of Doyle Crane. I wondered if he was finally living the life he'd always wanted, upholding the long tradition of investigative journalism and unrelenting social commentary.

"You did it, Israel. You made a difference," Capri comforted me. "I think a vacation is in order." Mouth agaip, I stared at her then I started laughing. It was my crippling hysteria; it was a deep vibrant echo of a former life. "What's so funny?" Capri studied me.

"I haven't had a vacation since I was ten and my Mom and I spent a few days at a rustic little bed and breakfast in upper Minnesota," I enlightened her.

"After that, it was all summer camps, therapy, college and finally here," I shook my head. "I've never had 'nothing' to do since 'that night'," referring to the night the Aurora Slasher took me.

"Nothing?" Capri chuckled. "Can you take a sexual joke?"

"I'll do my best," I sighed.

"When you get tired of sitting around 'doing nothing'," she 'quoted' with her fingers, "I think there will be a few women around who can help you with that." I wanted to joke back with Capri. She was fun. Those mental reserves? Those last grains were slipping past. I couldn't muster the strength to do anything more than keep my eyes open and my mind receptive.

Angel drove the ambulance to an abandoned, pre-Plague warehouse west of the city. We switched to a passenger van that Angel had liberated from Police Impound. As the women were transferring the medical equipment from the ambulance to our new ride, I overheard their quiet discussion.

Someone had to retrieve Venus and Samantha. Roni had contacted Samantha and those two were going to the Farmer's Market and wait to be picked up. They were coming to the conclusion, with Capri's urging, that Capri take Angel's personal vehicle. Roni was a paramedic with a skill set our group desperately required. I needed Angel to be there when I mentally returned to the world.

Capri joked that she was a lawyer; a profession that was about to be rendered useless. I wanted to say something except their logic was unassailable. Capri was right, Roni and Angel were correct in agreeing with her and I couldn't volunteer myself. I was in no shape to make the drive even if the other three would let me go. I knew they wouldn't.

I wasn't going to make a false declaration when I knew the outcome and the sacrifices being made on my behalf. Venus had rubbed everyone the wrong way at least once. Samantha, Samantha was the Quiet One. She didn't stand out, sparkle, or shine. She was steady and unspectacular. They were also part of us and the tribe had decided to not leave anyone behind.

Capri left in the car, going south. Angel, Roni and I headed west for a few more kilometers. We came across a home off the beaten path, decent acreage, mostly wood covered with the dwelling not clearly visible from the road. As we turned down the gravel driveway we saw a sign; 'Trespassers will be', with white tape over the bottom word(s) and the addendum 'use your imagination' finishing the warning.

The house was a sprawling one-story affair that didn't look fabricated. It looked woman-made, except that woman had an incomplete knowledge of architecture and home construction. Angel pulled around to the side of the house. It appeared we had been told to park there.

"Where are we?" I murmured.

"Kuiko and Aniqua's co-worker's home," Angel informed me. "I understand he's disreputable, if not downright criminal."

"We figure people won't know to look for you here," Roni added. We piled out of the van, gathered, then approached the door.

There were two hand-made, woodcarvings on either side of the main, side door. One was 'Jethro McFarlane' and the other was 'If the cunt ain't fresh, I ain't interested.’ Kuiko's information came flooding back. Still, who said shit like that? Angel drew her sidearm, put it behind her back and knocked on the door. Aniqua answered fifteen seconds later.

"Hey," she smiled with some relief, "you made it. Where is Capri?" My mind was rattling along as best it could. Aniqua didn't know about Capri because they were keeping their phone chatter to a minimum, that made sense.

"Israel, Israel?" Aniqua repeated.

"Huh?" I managed.

"Why don't you come in and take a nap?" she offered. "Get a bite to eat maybe?"

"Going down the home stretch," I muttered while trying to sound upbeat. That was it for me. My mind informed me I was out of gas by shutting down. My demons would always exact their toll and I was all out of the 'soul' currency they craved.

(The End of the Day)

I woke up in a strange bed with no recollection of how I got there. It stank. I was putting definitions to what smelled as I raised my head and looked around. Whoever lived in this place liked to kill animals, as witnessed by the stuffed animals and animal head wall ornaments, and had an all-consuming aversion to housework in any of its forms. There were clothes on the floor, every piece of furniture was stacked up with something.

On the wall the bed was pushed up against were animal horns of various kinds of creatures and every prong had a pair of women's panties dangling from them. I could almost touch them. When I moved I realized the ceiling above the bed was covered with a huge circular mirror. This made sense because the bed was circular too. Where the fuck was I?

I almost missed the eyes at the 'foot' of the bed. They were big brown eyes, slender eyebrows, a smallish nose bridge and bangs over the top quarter of the light brown or yellowish forehead with the rest of the hair pulled back.

"Hey, Kuiko," I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

The entirety of her head popped up.

"Hello Israel, are you feeling okay?" she asked compassionately.

"So-so, I guess," I shrugged. I had pushed myself up on my elbows. "How long have you been there?"

"About twenty minutes," she grinned. "I had to wait until everyone else was pre-occupied."

"Did everyone get here okay?" I maneuvered up to waist level.

"Yeah. Capri came in with Venus and Samantha a few hours ago. They brought most of your clothes," she related. "Jethro's bimbos made it too. They have some stupid names, Paisley and Lavender." I reached out and gingerly tapped the walls of my mental collage.

"Is Mistress Sano displeased?" I teased her. Kuiko rose higher. I imagined she was on her knees. She was also really happy. I was playing a game with her which suggested I was recovering from this morning's psychic marathon. She shook her head. "I'd really like a hug if it isn't too much trouble, Kuiko Sano."

Her teeth shined white-bright. Kuiko crawled up the bed. I thought she was trying to be non-threatening, so she slithered up the bed to be level with my lap. She placed the side of her head to my stomach and slowly, tenderly hugged me.

"Can I ask a favor?" she whispered.

"I'll do my best," I offered.

"Please stop trying to hurt yourself so often. Make an effort to avoid danger instead of running straight at it," she murmured into my shirt. "Not only for me, but for all of us who care about you."

"I'll work harder at it, I promise," I stroked her hair. "And Kuiko,”

"Yes," she replied quietly.

"I love you, too," I said loud and clear so there was no doubt. Kuiko jolted. Slowly she looked up at me.

"I wasn't sure you heard that," she whispered. "I hoped,”

"I hope you don't mind that I love two other women besides you," I met her gaze.

"Of course not, Silly," a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm totally and completely fine with it. How you deal with Zara and Angel is another matter."

"Hey, how did you know I love Zara?" I wondered.

"I'm not good at many things, but I'm good at welding and at seeing love and she's got it bad for you and you've got it bad for her. It's obvious," she grinned once more.

"You forgot one thing," I regarded her. She seemed confused. "You are good at the sexy."

Kuiko studied me then gained this wicked cast to her lips I hadn't seen before.

"Mistress Sano is very good at the sexy and she is very displeased," Kuiko play-scolded me. She sleekly mounted me on all fours. She repositioned herself so that her pubic area was on my crotch, which was very awake, and waggled her finger at me.

"Bad, bad Israel," she chastised me, "not giving your lady-friends enough of the sexy. I will have to punish you most severely." Punishment came in the form of her rubbing her vulva over my cock with ever increasing speed. "You are too happy," she noted. It was the truth. Kuiko made my spirit rise and my soul sing. She banished all the evil from my life, if only for a little while.

"I clearly must apply more punishment," Kuiko looked devilish. She dismounted me then remounted in reverse cowgirl. She looked over her shoulder victoriously. "It seems my tight little ass must torment, tease, and tantalize you as well." Someone had been looking at a thesaurus.

A few gyrations into this newfound peril, the door opened and a tall, over-stacked young lady with long black hair, short-shorts and a white t-shirt in danger of spilling its load, walked in.

"Oh, sorry," she babbled. "I came in for my,”

"That's okay," Kuiko squealed. "I'm riding my boyfriend to multiple orgasms!" At some future date Kuiko is going to understand how far her voice carries. At that moment, Roni was in a far bedroom, crashed out. Angel was asleep on the sofa in the living room where Venus and Capri were glued to the social media, taking the pulse of the city.

Samantha and Lavender were attempting to teach Aniqua something about cooking in the kitchen in the back of this ramshackle abode. Jethro was in the backyard dealing with his still. According to Capri, Angel went from quietly asleep to racing toward my room in one second flat. It took everyone else a few more seconds to figure out what Kuiko's proclamation meant.

Paisley went stumbling into the room as Angel shouldered past her. Kuiko vaulted off of me and squeaked when she tumbled off the corner of the bed, wedging herself between the curve of the bed and the wall, legs sticking up. Angel had on her 'cop' bra on with a shoulder holster for her pistol. Thankfully her look was one of concern, not anger.

"Israel, how do you feel?" Angel questioned.

"Hey,” Paisley groused.

"Whatever, Pansy," Angel didn't even look at the girl.

"It's Paisley," she insisted.

"Shut up before I pistol-whip you," Angel muttered. Paisley wisely opted to back away from Angel and deeper into the room.

"I'm feeling better, Love," I tried to reassure Angel. "Kuiko was teasing me for putting all of you through the ringer the past two days." Angel sighed and looked down.

"I,” Angel searched for the words.

"You can punish him if you want to," Kuiko mumbled from her stuck position. "A little help here."

"Can we spend some time together?" Angel clarified her desires.

"I'm looking for my Henna kit," Paisley stated.

"I'd love it if you would spend some time with me, Angel," I felt so desirous of her.

"Help," Kuiko repeated. There were too many conversations going on.

"I'm coming, Kuiko," I told my little lover. I locked wrists with her then pulled her back on the bed. "Here you go."

"What's a Henna kit look like?" Angel turned to Paisley. Kuiko snuck a quick kiss on my lips then joined the hunt for the ornate wooden Henna tattooing kit. With a bit of Angel's detective work, they traced the kit to the last place it had been used which led, in turn, to boxes and boxes of condoms. I barely knew what they were. Kuiko was at a total loss.

Both Paisley and Angel knew what they were. Angel had a friend or ex-friend who was in Sex Crimes. I didn't know enough about Paisley to hazard a guess about what she knew.

"Go," Angel pushed the Henna case into Paisley's midriff. Kuiko didn't need to be told. By this time I was on my knees looking at Angel.

I sensed that tiny bit of progress I was making. Angel was all wrong in so many ways yet I wanted her. I wanted her embrace, her comfort and her scent permeating me.

"I need to vent," Angel requested as she shed her pants and crawled onto the bed. I was totally clothed. I didn't think sex was in the offing but I liked the view, I honestly liked it.

"I deserve it," I said piteously. I really didn't want to get bitched out though I earned it. She crawled on all fours to me until her breath was strong in my face and our noses almost touching.

"I'm very angry with you," she glared.

"I apologize. I was confused and selfish," I confessed.

"Good, I'm glad we got that out of the way," Angel said then kissed me and kept on kissing me as she pushed me over and pressed herself down on my body. Fear clutched my heart. My heart reminded me that I could say 'stop' and Angel would stop. I loved her and she loved me. I had to feed that emotion.

Feverishly desperate kisses evolved into hungry French kisses with occasional brief hesitations to gather our breath.

"You still wearing clothes," Angel panted. I didn't feel that forcing any levity would be appropriate.

"You are on top of me," I moaned.

"You get top, I'll get bottom," Angel directed. My belt went 'bye-bye', my zipper down and my pants were yanked off. The underwear followed suit. She let me keep my socks. I managed to get my shirt off quick enough so that I was able to roughly remove her bra.

Angel gave me a feral look as I tossed her grey sports bra away. She took care of her panties. Now we both only had socks on. I was contemplating being playful when Angel pushed me down by my shoulders and got on top. Foreplay consisted of her maneuvering my cock into her cunt before she slammed down on my pelvis hard.

Angel's head rolled back as I filled her up. She took several deep breaths before she gazed down at my prone form. Oh God, she was crying.

"Israel, you make me so angry," she choked back a sob. "I'm so crazy about you. Everything in my life has fallen away and I so terrified of losing you too."

"I swear I'm going to do a better job of listening to you, Angel. I really need to work on our relationship," I said.

"That's sweet," Angel grunted then kissed me, "but I also want you to promise to fuck me every night before we go to sleep and first thing every morning when we wake up."

"I want you," kiss, kiss, "for more than sex," she panted, kiss. "I want to make sure that you to know I really, truly want sex too."

"Request noted," I grunted back. "Can I start playing with you now?"

"Go, right ahead," she grinned. I leveraged myself up with my right arm so I could snare her breast with my left hand and suckle from her teat.

My mind whirled with fear and worry. I felt so guilty that I ran away from the good things. At that moment, that was all washed away by the burning thought that I deserved to be happy, even if briefly. I didn't know if the survivor in me believed that when it embraced the idea. The instinct was to grab at anything that pulled me back from the precipice of mental disintegration.

I came to the epiphany as Angel writhed above me, seized in a torturous climax, that survivors were not nice people. They were not bad either. They cut away every bit of their mind and body that didn't keep them going because to keep going was all they had. If they could do that to themselves, they could do that to anyone, decide friendships were expendable.

In the same way I had found my world to be expendable. I knew it wasn't me and me alone. That was unimaginable hubris. I'd still abandoned ship instead of trying to save more, somehow. In the same vein, I had agreed to go with the Vanishers. In the same vein, I had surrounded myself with these companions.

It wasn't that I didn't have love and affection for these women. I did, yet that nice teenage boy those therapists had tried to resurrect and Bethany had shattered was gone forever. His shade remained, but his voice in the cacophony of instincts of my head had been nearly silenced. I could be Kuiko's best friend and Angel's lover yet that chiseled core I had talked to Flame about was at the center of my being; this Monster I had to live with.

I sat up until our bodies were perpendicular to the bed, her breasts pressing against the base of my shoulders. Angel held the sides of my jaws as we delved into a lengthy and vigorous kiss. When we finally broke it off I caught sight of the audience at the door. The gang I could deal with. The two newcomers were almost too much.

"My gun is on the bed," Angel whispered. "If they are going to be a problem, I could shoot them for you."

"You are the only one in the room," I answered. She liked that. Her vagina clamped down as she swiveled her hip, rocked back and forth.

"I'm going to make sure I am the only one you see," Angel smiled.

"Honey, I don't even know where we are," I grinned back.

"Good boy," she purred then kissed me again. I withheld the fact that I really didn't know where I was. I'd been telling the truth.

Stress, interrupted sleep and mental turmoil combined in a cauldron of sexual frustration. Angel orgasmed for a second time, my cock ached, but my sperm continued to not provide any release. I couldn't ejaculate. I had to roll over on top of Angel so we could keep copulating.

"This," she panted, "better not be, Venus' fault," Angel pried.

"Besides, I thought Aniqua, would be next," she added.

"It is not a rotation system," I clarified. "Asking Venus felt right for the moment. It isn't like earning a prize. It is more like courtship," I tossed out there. "As long as everyone understands that I have to have an hour-long sex session with Kuiko whenever I have sex with anyone else, we should be okay."

"Yippee!" came the shout at the door followed by some pummeling.

Angel wrapped her legs around the top of my thighs, clinching me tight.

"I think you are forgetting who your Number One Girl is," Angel gave me the sexiest smile I'd ever witnessed. No verbal comeback came to mind so I responded with the pulse of my body. Angel let her legs open and fall to the side, still folded at the knees.

Her arms unwrapped from my shoulders, coming to rest over her head. I could barely contain the image of the beauty that presented itself beneath me at that moment. Angel's eyes were closed in a casual fashion, no effort to shut them tightly. She was reveling in the touch and sound of our coupling, removing all extraneous input.

I started planting random kisses on her biceps, underarm and shoulder joint. At the same time I started making slower and longer penetrations into Angel's vagina. My glans rubbing against her labia at the top of each stroke was tearing Angel up. She would take a deep intake of breath every time I did it.

"This sex is not my apology," I told her softly.

"I know," she murmured, eyes shut but with a blissful turn to her lips. "You are not like that. You show me you love me when you wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is give me that precious, sleepy smile. I want you to know that means so much to me."

"It took me three long years to get that far," I kept relishing her sensuality. "Truth be told, you did more with me in one week than I did for myself in those three years."

"I was right to put my faith in you," Angel rubbed her clit against my pelvic bone to increase her pleasure even as she spoke. I couldn't help myself.

"When my Mother died, I went to live with my Aunt in a Sapphic nunnery where I was taught the arts of how to pleasure a woman. I became so skilled they named me Israel, which means the Promised Land," I teased her.

"Ah, 'Temple of Pleasure', I thought the male leads name was 'Canaan'," she purred.

"You mean there really is a book like that?" I groaned. "I thought Capri was making that up."

"No, no," Angel absorbed the sensitive stimulation from our carnal acts, "it is real alright. The strict, yet lonely Mother Superior, the anxious and curious neophyte, the Amazon Princess and even a male-eating tribe of cannibal women, who apparently will devour Canaan if he can't pleasure every one of them."

"I can relate to his anxiety," I grunted. Angel inserted a giggle within her panting.

"Oh, he has boyish good looks, a cock that is 10 inches long and 4 inches thick, and testicles the size of juicy plums," she informed me playfully. Oh God, those dimensions scared me and I'm a guy. "Don't worry," she teased. "I'm very happy with the equipment I have."

Her equipment? I pumped her a few times quickly as a test. Angel sucked in a tight breath, arched up against me and moaned heatedly. Yes, it was still my equipment. Gloating over that point, I almost missed Angel giving off these little huffing noises. She was close to climax.

"Are you my Amazon Princess?" I quietly taunted her.

"Oh God! Oh God, she likes to do it like a beast," Angel gasped while looking terribly excited, shower, fourth time that Saturday. I rapidly wrestled the stunned Angel's leg up, over and around, pulled up on her hips until she was on her elbows and knees and plunged into her steamy cunt once more. As I recalled during the shower I took it slow, but Angel liked it hard and fast.

All other imagery faded into vapor as I was engulfed in the presence of Angel. The glitter of sweat on her back, slowly pooling along her spine. The slapping of her ass against my hips going off like firecrackers. Her breath was coming in ragged puffs. Angel wasn't tired; she was erotically excited, a culmination of fatigue, her worry about me and a desire to recapture the magic of Saturday morning.

We did an excellent job doing just that. Angel bucked up against me as her orgasm grappled with her physique. Somewhere in the process, my body sought its own release and I inseminated her womb. I couldn't let go. I seized the moment with selfish hands and kept going. Angel was wondrously resilient and mirrored her passion with my own.

We rocked back until Angel was sitting in my lap, her back pressed against me and my hands cupping her breasts and twisting her nipples while her hands reached back and ran through my hair. Angel and I didn't roar to one last, simultaneous climax. We coasted into a tender, romantic, entwining of a pair of lovers.

It was a fantastic advancement for me and a huge leap for Angel. I was cuddling with her wrapped up in my arms as she reclined against me, vulnerable and trusting. Angel was allowing herself to be vulnerable, ramping up our trust and stepping outside the dominant role she had assumed in our relationship.

"I am still angry with you," Angel murmured with contentment.

"I wouldn't be me if you weren't," I kissed her ear. I received a very light elbow in the ribs for that one.

"Israel, are we really going to stay together, you and me?" Angel asked.

I could have said 'I hope so', or 'I'll try' yet that was clearly inadequate and untrue in my mind.

"I've lost too much love in my life, Angel. I don't want to go on without you. I doubt I could stand it," I confessed. I felt much the same way about Kuiko, Capri and Zara, but Angel, Angel would stand against the nightmares when I could not.

Kuiko would rebuild me with her cheerful patience. Capri was truly the one who would keep me on the right path. Zara would allow me to live without constantly looking over my shoulder. Angel would always be that first one in my bed since Bethany. I don't think she really understood that. Talking about my past, failed love affair was pointless.

Angel didn't need to go through that. In the same way I would never yell at Kuiko, never flip off Capri and never doubt Zara. I had to meet each commitment with a commitment of my own. That was going to be the way my life worked now.

"Thank you, Israel," Angel laid her arms over mine which surrounded her. "I'm pregnant."

I stopped breathing. I was pretty sure my heart stopped. Angel was using our proximity to judge my reaction. This was piling on the dread.

"Israel? Israel, are you okay with this?" Angel prodded me.

"Wow, yes. Yes, I'm okay with this. Are we going to have a boy, or a girl? What about names?" I began babbling.

"Israel, calm down," she told me. I tried. "I'm not pregnant."

"What? Huh? Did you have a miscarriage?" I gasped.

"No. I wanted you to go through some of the emotional hurricane I experienced last night wondering where you were," Angel growled, "only to discover you ran off with a hit-woman."

"You're not pregnant?" I mumbled.

"No, but we are even now," she informed me.

"Babe, that was cold. Seriously, I think that was out of bounds," I protested.

"Out of bounds? Israel, I combed over the bodies of nine hundred dead males praying I wouldn't see your face," Angel explained harshly.

"Your bracelet gave off its distress signal then died. Your phone wasn't working. For nearly an hour I had every reason to believe you had died, with me only a few hundred meters away in the same building. I was getting ready to shoot some policewomen myself," Angel grumbled.

"Thoughtless and stupid," I described my actions. "We are even."

"I know it was a low blow, I didn't want to break down in tears and that was my only other option," Angel switched up her emotions from anger to anguish.

"I am glad we are on the same page on that," I nodded. Yeah, Angel had come back with overkill. That was her nature and since I loved her, I was going to have to deal with that.

"Is that the reason we ended up in the position we are in now?" I altered course.

"Oh no," Angel shook her head. "I have a thing for Amazon Princesses, in a purely heterosexual way."

"Good to know," I kissed the nape of her neck. "I think we should rejoin the others before we end up stuck this way."

"True," Angel agreed. "Any more time in your lap and I'm going to start getting possessive once more."

'That's right Angel. Driving everyone from the room so we could have sex wasn't possessive in the least', I kept that slice of sarcasm to myself.

Sometime during the process of our love-making, our audience had departed and the door to the bedroom had been shut. We dressed, put an arm around one another's waists and opened the door. We were immediately gifted with the aroma of a freshly cooked meal. Angel and I must have been at it a while because dinner had been served.

Thankfully there was plenty to go around. People were around this good-sized dining room table. Samantha, Kuiko and Roni were leaning against the wall with their plates on various pieces of furniture. Closest to me, in the end chair, was Capri. She was looking at me intently, gauging my level of sanity.

On the right side of the table were Venus and an empty chair. On the left side were Paisley and a girl who had to be Lavender. She was like a Paisley clone, except white-blonde where Paisley was dark. Otherwise, they shared the long-leg, over-endowed chest and beautiful, youthful countenance our host seemed to favor.

This was my first time seeing our host. Quite frankly, he appeared the oldest human being I'd ever seen. He was certainly the roughest looking. White, wiry hair billowed down past his shoulders. His thick, white moustache drooped five or six centimeters past his chin. His cheeks and chin were covered with white and grey stubble.

The man, Jethro McFarlane, I guessed, had hazel eyes flecked with gold sheltered under thick, white eyebrows. The eyes were a bit bloodshot, yet burned with a fierce intellect and defiance that belied his advanced years. This guy was scary at 67. I would have hated to meet him when he was my age. Hell, I would have hated to meet him when he was 40.

Jethro put his fork down, stood up and extended a hand my way. I walked around the table, past the spare chair and clasped his hand. I then screamed and fell to my knees. Jethro squeezed my hand, grinding the knuckles together, they popped out of alignment. He let go of my appendage and I pulled it to my chest. Angel was coming up fast.

"Want to try that with me, Old Man?" she seethed.

"There is no point," Jethro responded laconically. "You are a girl."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Angel sizzled.

"It means you are not a man so you wouldn't understand, Cop," Jethro matched her glare.

"Bastard," Angel growled. She put a hand on my shoulder. "Israel, are you okay?"

I was searching for the answer to that as well as Jethro's needless cruelty. I didn't know the guy. Had someone he'd known died because of something he thought I did? And what was this about being something only a man would understand?

I had heard 'you don't get it, you aren't a woman' plenty of times in my life. That was because men didn't have much time for 'group think.’ No, men as I had known them didn't have group think but long before I was born it had been very different. No one said 'it's a man-thing' because men didn't have time for their own 'thing.’

Before men counted lionesses, women counted lions. My mind wrapped around that analogy. When a young lion walked into an established lion pride, the lionesses didn't rally to drive him out, the Pride's lion did, lions in rare instances. I didn't have a twin. I certainly wasn't a lion, but my lionesses couldn't help me and would be at a disadvantage if I did nothing.

I couldn't win, it was most likely I couldn't win. I had to continue to fight even without hope of an obvious victory because I had to be able to live with the consequences of my actions. For reasons I didn't understand, men of a dozen nations, fighting under the French flag died in a hopeless cause two hundred years ago. The last six, out of ammunition, charged their vastly superior enemy.

This tiny snapshot of history didn't apply to me. It applied to Jethro. He was one of those six.

"I'm doing fine," I pushed myself back to my feet. "I don't think we've been properly introduced," I extended my hand to Jethro, "I'm Israel Jensen." He took my hand in his. This time I wasn't surprised by his steely grip. It took me five seconds to wince in pain.

Jethro let go of my hand and sat back down

"Nice to meet you," he said as he resumed his seat. "I'll get you something to eat. You look like you need it." He followed this with, "Paisley, get Mr. Jensen a plate full."

Paisley hopped to obey like it was nothing. She even smiled at the old timer and sashayed around him on her way to the kitchen. He slapped her ass in passing, again, like it was nothing.

I surreptitiously scanned the table. Only Lavender appeared to be taking this interchange in stride. It wasn't like we didn't know that there were Alpha males. They existed, but they hid it well because instinctively Alpha females went after them, the lust for conquest is genderless. The thing was, in our society, the male couldn't win.

Women had the power and their culture put a low premium on independent-minded men. The lady had the law and numbers on her side, thus the lioness analogy. Stupid Alpha females took a man on alone. It wasn't that they couldn't win, except why play fair? No, they gathered three or four friends, cornered a guy, taxis worked wonderfully, and wore him down.

Unless they physically damaged you, the man had no recourse. This meant Alpha males were very careful. They chose their dates carefully and exited in haste with their prize. If confronted with an Alpha female, they knuckled under like every other man, took their medicine and waited for the ordeal to be over. Alpha males certainly never advertised the way Jethro was.

"Here you go," Paisley placed the plate in front of me. She patted me on the shoulder before making her way back to her seat.

"Thank you," I responded. She smiled then went back to eating. Angel had to go get her own grub. This was awkward for me because I looked to Angel for protection and Jethro scared me.

Life became more difficult to comprehend. Kuiko moved to my side, between Jethro and me, knelt and started trying to feed me. Where the hell was that coming from?

"Kuiko, I've got this," I told her. "I've pretty much been able to feed myself for the past seventeen years."

"Please?" Kuiko looked up at me. No one was of any assistance.

"Okay, a few bites," I conceded. Kuiko lit into my steak, cutting it into several pieces, rubbed a chunk around some sort of sauce then pushed the piece of meat to my lips. It was different than any beef product I'd ever tasted, way different.

"Thanks, Kuiko," I mumbled as I chewed. After I swallowed I addressed Jethro, "Mr. McFarlane, what is this?"

"White-tail deer," he replied. He reached out to pat Kuiko on the head. My response was unexpected, even to me.

I met Jethro's gaze with an intense stare that very effectively communicated an answer to his challenge. Jethro eyeballing me and the hand movement were a possessive expression and for some unknown reason I was not okay with it. I had never been possessive of any person my entire twenty-one years, until now. Kuiko was mine, ours. I would not sit by and allow him to undermine our group.

I thought no one noticed the exchanged. Jethro certainly didn't back down. He patted Kuiko's head, she turned and smiled at him then returned her attention to me. She had to prod my lips with my next slice of deer because I was still grappling with the concept that I had not wanted Kuiko to be with that man.

Angel returned with her dinner, took a station behind me and glowered at Jethro the entire time. I didn't have to see her to know that was what was going on. She didn't comment on Kuiko feeding me. I did send her away after three more bites. I was a grown man after all. Funny tasting water, it came from a well out back, and something called Wild Cherry, which tried its best to incinerate my digestive track and succeeded in making me gasp and cry, were handed around as beverages.

It was not much of a consolation that most of the women, Paisley and Lavender included, had my reaction. Jethro drank it like I'd drink a Coke, effortlessly. As the meal wound down, Jethro stood up, ordered the women to clear the table and motioned me to come with him.

"We are not your damned servants," Venus groused. Jethro slowly turned and regarded her.

"Did you like the deer I shot? Did you like the alcohol I brewed? Did you like the vegetables my hard work paid for?" Jethro calmly responded.

"I,” Venus stuttered.

"Then shut up and pitch in, you stupid bitch, because if you are adverse to work you can leave right now," Jethro glared.

"Don't call Venus a stupid bitch," Angel and I said at the same time. I was standing right next to Jethro while Angel was a few steps behind me. If someone got clobbered for opening their big mouth, it would be me. Jethro shrugged and kept walking.

"Come on, boy," he called out. Angel and I followed him around to the kitchen and the door leading out to the backyard.

"Stay, Cop. This is man stuff," Jethro stated calmly.

"Listen up, Caveman," Angel growled, "I'm not letting you walk off into the woods with Israel. I don't fucking know you."

"In case you missed it, Bitch," Jethro gave Angel a measured stare, "that wasn't a request."

"You seem to have a problem with me," Angel shouldered me aside so she could come face to face with Jethro. "Why don't we step outside and settle it right now?"

"When I finish with sissy-boy here, I'll come back and we can settle things, Officer Kristi," Jethro smiled. "I haven't killed a cop in a long while so I guess I'm due."

"I'm not letting you take Israel," Angel countered.

"That's not your choice to make. It is his," Jethro reposed.

"Let's get this over with," I placed a hand on Angel's shoulder. "If he wanted me dead, he could have killed me in my sleep." Angel very reluctantly stepped aside.

Jethro and I walked in silence some way from the house until I was lost in the woods with the last rays of the Sun fading in the West. Out of nowhere, Jethro turned and punched me in the gut. I folded up and fell over. Jethro shook his head then offered me a hand up. I took it so he punched me in the eye. Down I went again. He offered me his hand again.

"Don't be like that," Jethro chided me as I pulled myself away from him. "Come on." My hand touched on a downed branch. I swung with what limited strength I could from my prone position. Jethro twisted his hips and took the fragile branch on his boot-covered shin. It snapped into pieces. I fully expected hate to start raining down and to hear myself crying out for help.

Jethro looked down at me then gradually smiled. I crawled away then returned to my feet.

"That's the first lesson," Jethro related. "Never accept help to do anything if you can do it yourself. If you become used to being helped, you'll wait around for help to come when you could do the job on your own. That goes for both sexes."

"Second lesson; men are warriors. It is our nature. We scrap, we establish pecking orders, and jockey for resources. Women can do these things, but it is not their job. Women want to talk shit out when a thirty second brawl will settle the issue. If you beat a man then treat him right, he will work with you. Women exist to back-bite and argue. They need men to keep them in line."

"That's not to say you don't listen to a woman's advice. Women are just as smart as men. It doesn't mean we should let them make decisions, though. Men make decisions because they are the ones who should be putting their lives on the line first and foremost. Being a warrior is more than just martial prowess, it is the willingness to make decisions and be responsible for them."

"There are too few men to behave that way," I responded.

"Bullshit. Kuiko tells me you've been fighting for your life for the past five years. You kept it together during some really tough shit," Jethro said. "Where you went wrong was that you kept trusting other people to save you when things went wrong."

"My friends are helping me get my life together," I challenged him. "I don't think that's wrong. They give a crap about me and that's not wrong."

"Don't be stupid, Kid," Jethro sighed. "If you get gut-shot, see a doctor. If your car doesn't run, see a mechanic. If you have a problem you can't solve, there is nothing wrong with going to someone who can solve the problem for you."

"Trying to do something you are unprepared for is stupid, not macho," Jethro stared at me. We were walking back for around a minute when, "Why did you eye-ball me over Kuiko?" I had to think over my reply because I wasn't sure myself.

"I saw your move and I grew angry," I worked out.

"Nothing wrong with that, Kid," Jethro chuckled. "Besides, Kuiko's like a daughter to me. I'm not trying to get her to jump in bed, or anything. Good to know you are willing to let another man know where the property line is."

"Kuiko isn't my property," I stated angrily. "I love her."

"How do you figure that, the not property part?" Jethro smirked.

"Ah, she's a human being. People shouldn't own people," I answered.

"Yet it is okay for that cop to own you?" Jethro turned things around.

"Angel doesn't own me. I love her, too. I also love a third woman named Zara, but that's it," I responded.

"Ha," he laughed. "Yeah, I heard you were hell in the sack. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Still, this Angel-girl has a gun and appears comfortable to tell you what you can and can't do. In my experience, guns and authority go hand in hand."

"Bullshit," I countered. "She let me go to the Arena. She was worried about my safety, for good reason. Just because I don't live my life like yours doesn't mean I'm not a man."

"Thus endeth the third lesson," Jethro chuckled. "In the final accounting, each man has to live his own life. I'm going to tell you some useful shit over the next few days. Take it, or leave it as you see fit. I don't want you to be me. I want you to be the man you should be."

"Who is that supposed to be?" I mumbled. I already had too many people in my mind.

"You'll figure it out soon enough," Jethro assured me. "Think of this. Wolves run with wolves, dogs with dogs and lions with lions. Don't worry about being a cougar, leopard, or tiger. You are not a loner."

"Okay," I finally replied.

"Shit, you have been fucking buried in their culture," he shook his head. "Boy, look at the women you chose to surround yourself with, that's who you are." That made no sense what so ever. I abhorred violence yet I chose women skilled and comfortable with it. It hit me far harder than Jethro had. Those women had something else in common; they protected people.

As we approached the house, lodging, whatever Jethro's domicile was called, he reached to the small of his back and pulled out a revolver.

"What's that for?" I hesitantly asked.

"I'm going to shoot your cop friend," Jethro said matter-of-factly.

Attacking him was pointless. Screaming to warn Angel wouldn't as useful as it might have seemed. We were in the dark; she was in a lit building.

"Don't," I took a deep breath, "I'll take care of it."

"Remember, be firm," he advised.

"Are you telling me how to deal with my woman?" I gulped. Did I just say 'my woman'?

"Yes," he affirmed. "You haven't a clue what you are doing and I don't want to make Kuiko cry when I kill her friend."

"Oh, in that case, thanks," I nodded.

When we entered the space lit by the floodlights, Angel came storming out. Like Jethro, she had her gun out and pointed down.

"Stop," I held up my hand and basically pleaded with my lover. Angel wasn't paying attention to me.

"Angel!" I screamed. That brought her up short. "Get back in the house."

"What?" Angel sounded incredulous.

"You don't know what is going on, so get back in the house," I stated in a steady voice that belied my inner fear and turmoil.

"Israel," she got out.

"Now!" I yelled at her. There was a hush. Even the wildlife had gone quiet.

"That's not how it works," Angel growled. Her baleful gaze flickered from Jethro to me.

"You are acting like a child," I countered aggressive. "Now get in the damn house."

"No," Angel defied me. I struggled for the reaction, or words. I took a few steps toward her.

"I'm disappointed in you," I said softly. I tried to move past her. She grabbed my arm.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Angel demanded.

"I know what's going on. You don't, yet you won't listen to me," I grumbled.

"You aren't ignoring me because I'm crazy, or in danger. You are ignoring me because this is a violent situation and I'm a man," I explained. "That shames me because I love and trust you."

Angel blinked. Her mouth opened and closed.

"Let go of me," I commanded. "I'm going inside. You and this old man can start shooting at each other whenever for a reason, or reasons, I don't understand."

"He hit you," she pointed out.

"Yes. I am well aware that he hit me. It is my problem, not yours. Had I needed your help, I would have called out. You could have assumed that since I didn't, I had the situation well in hand, but you refused to," I outlined for her. She had no comeback to my logic.

"Israel, I apologize," Angel whispered.

"Apology accepted," I stroked her cheek. "Now get your ass in the house." She stared at me.

"If you slap my ass, I'm going to arm-bar you," Angel warned me as she headed inside in front of me.

"I'm more of a massage kind of guy," I sighed, both happy and weary. I was also true to my word. I caught up with Angel, put my hands on her tightly clothed posterior and massaged those wonderful pieces of female workmanship. This time around, the Wild Cherry was a welcome distraction from the stress permeating the house.

We retired to something Lavender called a 'Man Cave' though it wasn't subterranean. I made the brilliant decision to make use of Jethro's home gym. Only when I got my shorts and shirt, came back and began adjusting the machines did I realize they weren't on a man's setting. A woman had been the last one to use these.

I was garnering attention, which I had learned to ignore long ago. I trusted enough of the women in the cavernous room so that I wasn't too intimidated by the looks I was getting.

"Take off your shirt," Jethro called out.

"Huh?" I was almost propelled off the treadmill.

"Give the girls some eye-candy," he snorted.

"We don't treat Israel that way," Aniqua spoke up. Angel was biting her tongue. There was a stalemate going on, then Kuiko jumped off her seat and fell on her knees.

"Show us the sexy," she pleaded to me with her playful expression lighting up her face.

Kuiko implored me with her hands held up in supplication. She was so freaking adorable. Suddenly Samantha fell on her knees beside Kuiko, quickly followed by Aniqua and Venus. Roni added to the mix somewhat reluctantly.

"Please, please, please," they chorused.

Aren't there something like twenty porn channels out there plus hundreds of websites?

"You don't need to tell women what to do," Jethro laughed. "Just have what they want."

I didn't want to have what women wanted! That was my nightmare three times over. My female companions were, fuck, they were playing with me. Damn it.

I languidly peeled my shirt off, hopefully maximizing my sex appeal. Had I understood sex appeal more, I might have done a better job. By the wide eyes staring at me, I mistakenly did something right. Trauma warred with the desire to heal, to be cleansed somehow.

"Kuiko, this is all you fault and you must be punished," I glared intense menace her way.

Kuiko looked enraptured with ecstasy. She began tearing off her clothes much to the shock or amazement of the other occupants. After she wiggled her shorts off all she had on was this pink thong with a strategically placed heart as its centerpiece. Kuiko popped up and started running around the room, arms out like an airplane.

"I've been bad and I'm going to get punished," she squealed repeatedly as she circuited the room.

Jethro's stare caught my gaze and his look was indecipherable.

"Worse case of negative reinforcement I've ever seen," he laughed. I lowered my head in defeat and returned to my exercises. It was better that way. The machines had safety features where my life had none.

I was ten minutes from completing my routine when something beeped on Jethro's TV. The old man flipped open one of the arms on his recliner and pulled out a sawed-off pump action shotgun.

"We've got company and I ain't expecting anyone else," he rumbled as he stood.

Angel also rose to her feet, taking in the male with a weapon.

"How many ways in?" Angel barked.

"Too many," Jethro calmly replied. "This place is made for egress, not to be a fortress."

"We'll talk about your firearms later," Angel grumbled.

"We can talk about how little I care later, but right now Cop, go to the side entrance where you came in," Jethro directed. "I'll take the front door."

"What should the rest of us do?" half the voices called out. Not me though.

"I'm a paramedic, but most of my gear is still in the van," Roni added. "Do you have a medical kit?"

"Paisley, show her where we keep the medical supplies," Jethro directed. He was already heading out, swiftly followed by Angel. I went after those two.

"What are you doing?" Angel snapped at me.

"Being a man?" I shrugged. Jethro chuckled.

"Here ya go," he handed me his revolver. "Ever used one?"

"I was taught by an expert," I pledged. As far as I knew, Flame was an expert. Surprisingly, Angel kept her mouth shut though she looked exasperated with both Jethro and me. She had barely separated from us when there was banging on the door.

Whomever had driven up must have been driving recklessly fast.

"Israel, open up!" yelled the voice from outside. Jethro was looking at a screen I couldn't see. I didn't need to see who it was because I knew the voice. I ran to the door. It wouldn't open.

"It is a friend," I shouted over my shoulder to Jethro.

"Who is your friend's banged-up buddy?" Jethro inquired laconically.

"Short, or tall?" I requested.

"Tall," he filled me in.

"That would be Silent. The maniac about to blow her way in here if you don't open the door is Flame," I explained.

The door clicked, I turned the knob and opened it and Flame came tumbling in with a semi-conscious Silent.

"Roni!" I yelled. I stepped up and hugged Flame. I almost wept.

"I knew you couldn't die," I murmured.

"Of course not," Flame snorted in amusement. "I haven't killed you yet." Someone cleared their throat. "Nice welcome wagon, an old fossil and a pissed off fuck machine." I had to fix my mind on the second reference. Flame had seen Angel's sex tape.

"This is Jethro McFarlane, it's his home. The woman with the pistol is Detective Angel Kristi, my lover and friend," I started introductions.

"Jethro and Angel, this is Flame aka Brigit and Silent aka Davia. They are part of the Keverich organization," I finished.

"I've heard of them," Jethro mulled things over. "I'm kind of curious why I'm not already shooting them."

"Me too," Angel added. No one moved, or spoke, for a few seconds.

"Israel, I think they want you to move so the bullets can start flying," Flame snickered.

"I'm actually aware of that," I kept hugging her. Silent moaned. Roni finally arrived.

"Can I take care of the wounded woman?" she addressed the room.

Flame muscled free of my embrace, dragged or carried Silent to the living room sofa and plopped her down. There was a pregnant pause as Roni maneuvered around the furniture with a first aid kit and knelt down next to the wounded bodyguard.

"So, what happened?" I finally asked. "Where is Magdalena?"

"Dead or in custody," Flame shrugged. "When I last saw her, she was wounded in the left shoulder and down on the ground. About that time I discovered that while my Baby will fracture the glass armor on an attack helicopter's canopy, it won't penetrate, so I ran."

"Are you okay?" I worried. Flame patted my cheek.

"That's what I like about you," she smiled flippantly. "You care. I don't know why, but you care."

"What exactly happened to Little M?" Angel advanced.

"Looked like Army types and SWAT stormed one of our safe-houses," Flame sighed. "It was in a high-rise and they came at us from all angles."

"That's bad," Angel muttered.

"Amen to that," Jethro confirmed.

"Huh?" I looked back to the two people who seemed to know what was going on.

"Back at the rail station," Capri came stepping up beside Jethro, "when the soldiers came for you this morning, Israel. That was illegal because there was no State of Emergency or Martial Law."

"Now the Army really is in charge and can round up anyone they wish," she continued. "The curiosity is why they haven't declared their intentions and a curfew."

"Isobel Diaz pointed those bitches our way," Flame related. "That's for certain."

"That's nice," Jethro stared. "How did you know to come here?"

"After Davia and I fought free, we had nowhere to go. All the gang's operations had cops all over them. I figured the Outfit was done for and we needed out. The only person I was sure had an exit plan was Israel, so I went looking for him. I knew his normal haunts would be crawling with surveillance then I remembered his buddy, Kuiko," Flame informed us.

"I went to Kuiko's workplace, talked to her boss and she told me about this place. Here I am," she grinned.

"You killed Amy (Kuiko's and Aniqua's boss), didn't you?" Jethro glared.

"She's in Hell alright," Flame snickered. "Plastered her brains all over the back wall, destroyed her personal and business computers then set the building on fire. I like being thorough."

"You appear to take pride in being a remorseless psychopath," Capri noted.

"Flame is my friend and she's a fighter," I argued. "We'll need her with us on the road we will be taking."

"Flame is it?" Jethro asked. Flame snorted. "You can stay as long as you know who is in charge."

"I suck at taking orders," Flame responded.

"That's not my problem anymore," Jethro grinned maliciously. "Israel, it is up to you to keep that cunt in line." What the fuck? How did that come about? Flame punched me in the arm.

"Are you going to tame this kitty?" she laughed.

I looked around for a lifeline. Kuiko had put her shirt on, but was otherwise only in her thong.

"Kuiko, could you show Flame to the kitchen and help her get some food and drink," I requested. "She's most likely not eaten all day."

"Sure thing," she beamed. Kuiko wiggled through the group of women by that portal.

"Come on," she beckoned Flame. Flame smirked at me then walked over to Kuiko. Kuiko linked arms with Flame. I feared a beating was in the offing. "Thank you for looking after Israel last night," Kuiko smiled. "We appreciate it."

"You do realize I put a gun to his head and nearly killed him, right?" Flame mused.

"Of course," Kuiko giggled, "but you didn't. It is because you two are friends."

"He fucks you a whole bunch, I can tell," Flame teased her.

"Yes," Kuiko bubbled. "Every time he has sex with another woman, I get a non-stop hour of sex with him too. He's going to torture my nipples later on, if you want to watch."

"Tons of fun," Flame chuckled. "I can't wait. Nipple torture, how does that work?" was the last thing I heard as they went out of hearing range. Events took on a life of their own after that. Roni sent Angel to their van for medical supplies. Paisley was a junior Biology student, so she volunteered to assist Roni. Aniqua and Samantha hung around so that the four of them could easily move Silent to the floor when the time came.

To be continued

By FinalStand for Literotica