Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 6

Lab Results and Quarantines

Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.

 

The Docs signed off, leaving me alone in the little meeting room again. Not knowing when I would be able to leave, I decided to try and fall back on one of my old military instincts; sleep when you can. So I got comfortable in the chair, closed my eyes, and let myself drift into a fitful, not-quite-soothing sleep.

"Harri," someone said, and I woke with a start as my shoulder was touched.

"Urm," I grunted, and sniffed in a breath as I blinked rapidly and looked around. I was still in the room, and Miriam was smiling at me. She was dressed in fatigues here in the military office complex instead of her service dress blues and her hair was up in a standard military bun hidden beneath the standard issue cap.

"Just like a grunt to take any reason for a nap," she grinned at me. "Come on. We can talk in my office."

I stood, yawned and stretched, feeling something pop in my back and my shoulder from the uncomfortable position I'd been in. "Lead the way, Lieutenant Colonel," I said.

She rolled her eyes at me a little but didn't say anything, just opening the door and walking through. I followed her back into that hallway where Brent had clocked me. He wasn't in the waiting room at the end of the hall. "Is Brent,” I started to ask.

"He's waiting on another floor," Miriam said. "Refuses to leave until he sees his daughter is alright. It's making operations slow down over at the construction site, but I can't blame him."

"Neither can I," I said, touching the tenderness of my black eye.

Miriam led me through several very plain corridors lined with doors. None of them had windows to see in, and most had nameplate mounts but lacked names, and instead were labelled with numbers. It struck me as secretive, and that meant I was probably in the Air Force part of the building and not the Vaccine Test Center part. If they were trying to make people feel at ease joining an experimental program, these plain walls and doors forming a maze were not the way to do it. Confounding an enemy trying to sneak through this part of the building, though? It was perfect.

I followed Miriam until she stopped at a seemingly random door and opened it, leading me into a large office. It had a large bank of windows, but extra-heavy curtains had been hung over them and were drawn shut to the point I wondered if they were nailed in place. One wall was entirely covered in a whiteboard with all sorts of coded writing on it. There were two desks in the room; the main desk was scattered with papers and a computer terminal, with a plush office chair tucked in behind it. The second desk had more stuff on it, but in neater piles, and Captain Bloomberg was sitting behind it at work. She glanced up at us as we entered and gave me a slightly judgmental look, before going back to the printout she was reading. The rest of the office space was dominated by file shelving units, a gun safe, and a leather couch that looked uncomfortable but was probably soft as hell.

"Captain, could you give us five?" Miriam asked.

"Of course, Ma'am," she nodded, set down the papers face-down and stepped around her desk to the door. She shot Miriam a quick look, and Miriam gave her one back, and the Captain left. If I had to guess it was to do with the fact that the office was probably full of classified material and information and the Captain was silently reminding her superior officer not to let me poke around or leave me alone in there.

"Sit, please," Miriam sighed once the door was closed and we were alone, gesturing at the couch. I did, instantly sinking into it, and she sat on the other end and turned to me. "So, now that we know it's not life-threatening, you feel ready to get teased yet?"

I snorted a little and scratched at my beard. "It's still a little raw," I admitted.

"Just like how you fucked her?" Miriam asked with a grin. "Sorry, that's the only one."

I shook my head and chuckled. There were few kinds of people who could be as morbidly crude and insulting, and mean it in the best way, as a military friend.

"Seriously, Harri," she said. "I got a briefing on it. She's fine, you're fine. No one is in trouble."

"Tell that to her father," I said. "And I can't blame him for probably wanting to kill me."

"Yeah, well, tough shit for him," Miriam said. "We've expanded his Need to Know status and gave him some more info on the vaccine to calm him down. He's not happy, but he's not worried anymore. Seriously though, did you have to go and fuck my lead civilian contractor's daughter?"

"We were friendly with her," I said, and let out a long breath. "Erica said she thought Vanessa might be a little interested. I don't think either of us expected her to show up on our proverbial doorstep and ask for a foursome."

"I always did think Erica was a smart woman after we met," Miriam said. "Though I figured you'd lost a few brain cells since you weren't dating her at the time."

"There's a whole story behind that," I said, waving her off.

"I'm sure there is," Miriam smiled. "Doesn't mean it's a good excuse though."

"Well, Vanessa seems to think you have a crush on me after she met you for all of two minutes," I shot back at her.

Miriam flushed for a moment but didn't look away from me, still in command in her own office. "Vanessa might have been doing a bit of projecting," she said. "I'm not into hillbillies with bushy beards and big guts."

"Ouch," I laughed, holding my stomach. Sure, I wasn't in the peak physical form I'd been in coming out of the military, but I hadn't gone that soft.

Miriam and I continued to chat and laugh for a few more minutes until the Captain came back and then Miriam let me borrow some sound-cancelling headphones and hang out on their couch while they were working. They had food ordered in and Miriam and I ate dinner together while Captain Bloomberg ate as she kept working at her desk. It wasn't until I noticed that the faint bit of light leaking around the edges of the curtains was dimming that it had been a long day and I hadn't been able to contact Erica and Ivy.

I asked Miriam if I could have my phone back just to update them, and she and the Captain had to discuss it for a long moment before they decided they could probably do the texting for me, but for security protocols I couldn't be given control of the phone. When my phone powered on it took a long moment for it to connect to service, and then it started buzzing like crazy and a bunch of messages came in. Miriam was holding it, and her eyes went a little wide as the message notification scrolled by. "Um," she said. "Well, it looks like you and your partners are... happy together."

"Oh no," I groaned. "What did they send?"

"Well, you have a whole bunch of messages from Brent Peters chewing you out, so there's that," Miriam said. "But, uh, well, there are photos from your partners."

"Sorry," I shrugged, once again finding my face heating up at the exposure of my sex life.

"It's fine," Miriam said. "It was my idea to do the texting anyways." She tapped around on the phone for a moment. "Alright, I'll just say 'Harri isn't allowed to use his phone right now. This is Miriam Abarbanel. He is fine, no trouble. Vanessa is also fine and healthy. They will return tomorrow.'"

"That's fine," I said with a nod. I would have liked to tell them more, and that I loved them. And that they shouldn't have been trying to send me whatever scandalous photos they had considering I was in military custody at the moment.

Miriam hit send and a minute later another text came through and she opened it, immediately rolling her eyes and setting my phone down.

"What?" I asked.

"Erica sent another photo, and I think it was for me," she said.

"What? Really?" I asked.

Miriam opened the photo again and turned my phone around to show me. Erica and Ivy were both sunbathing in the chairs, topless. The third Adirondack had a name tag written on a piece of paper and taped to the back of the chair that red 'Vanessa.' Beside it, they had put out another lawn chair and had quickly put another nametag on it that said 'Miriam.'

I couldn't help the little snort of laughter that came out of me, and I covered my mouth to try and stop from giggling a bit. "I'm sorry," I said.

Miriam laughed once and set my phone down. "You know, Erica is the right kind of trouble for you I think," she said.

"You haven't spent enough time with Ivy," I countered. "That girl is mischievous. I bet the Vanessa one was Erica's idea to try and cheer her up, and the other one was Ivy."

"If you've got any pictures from that Danielle woman, I wouldn't mind checking those out," Captain Bloomberg said from over at her desk.

"Laura," Miriam said, a little shocked.

"What? I told you when we first saw her, that woman could turn a bigoted granny gay," Laura said.

"That's fair," Miriam said thoughtfully.

"Hey, no arguments from me," I said.

Miriam and the Captain ended up finishing their work days, though Miriam told me that she was on call 24/7 anyways and they stayed in apartments lower in the building. She offered to try and find me a free one to rest overnight, but I asked her if I could see Vanessa and stay in whatever medical room she was in. I didn't want her to wake up from the process and be alone. This started a silent conversation of sharp looks between Miriam and Laura, until Laura sighed.

"She's not alone. Her father hasn't left her side since we let him see her. This is... let's call it a legal grey area at the moment. Technically you're not even extended family, so he would get precedent on deciding who can be there," she said. "But under the circumstances of the Vaccine imprinting, there's been some debate going around the legal circles of what constitutes a civil union. The matter's still up in the air, but there's a case to be made that you and she are now more intimately connected than she and her father. So I guess the question is do you want to push the issue?"

"Oh, fuck," I groaned, and had to massage the bridge of my nose. "On the one hand, yes I want to see her. On the other, Brent deserves to be pissed at me and worried about her. Can I just talk to him?"

"Honestly, Harri," Miriam said. "I think you should probably leave that whole conversation to Vanessa and how she wants to have it. Doesn't matter how much you defend yourself, you're still the guy that fucked that man's daughter in a pretty... degenerate seems too strong, but pervy is too weak. Anyways, you fucking her like that brought her here, and he's now aware that she's going to be intimately connected to you for a while."

I puffed out my cheeks and let the air blow out slowly, unsure of what to do.

"I can try talking to him," Laura offered. "But honestly, I don't know if it would do any good."

"It's fine," I finally conceded. "He can be there, just find me another room where I can crash, and let me know when she's awake?"

"I'll leave a standing order with the nurses," Miriam nodded.

So, as Miriam and Laura finished up for the day, they sent for the night sentry who patrolled the floor and let him know I would be in the staff break room and was allowed to eat out of the cupboards and use the washrooms. Once the airman was gone Laura excused herself and left me with Miriam.

"It was nice having you around, Harri," she grinned, dropping her command facade again. She put her hand on my upper arm and grinned, giving me a wink. "And I was joking when I called you fat."

"Yeah, well, you really hurt my feelings," I fake-cried, making her laugh.

"I'll see you tomorrow before you leave, alright? And I still expect that beer next time I'm up at the site," she said and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"You got it," I said, and pecked her back. "And thank you for all of this today, by the way."

"Happy to help," she said, and then escorted me to the room where I would spend the next seven hours.

The sentry woke me up around four in the morning. I had Cheeto dust on my shirt and fingers, the bag I'd found in the staff room cupboard almost empty and crumpled up on my chest.

"Sir, I've been asked to bring you down to the medical wing," he said.

"Fuck," I said, blinking awake and standing up. "Uh, give me a second." I went into the men's washroom and quickly washed my hands and my face, and tried to get myself straightened out. Looking in the mirror, I could tell that I'd been running on empty for a bit, but I didn't look as bad as I might have if I hadn't been getting in some light napping at least.

The airman brought me to the elevator and punched a button for about a dozen floors down, and when we stepped off of it, it was clear that we were in a more public-facing area, though the number of armed airmen on guard was actually higher. The floor was still quiet, this early in the morning, and generally featured a lot more stuff. There were glass panes and windows everywhere and the place looked like what I would picture a medical bay would in a not-too-distant future medical show. There were a few nurses around, but most of the rooms and beds were empty. We passed by one room that was sealed up with a little yellow light near the handle flashing 'Quarantine Active.'

That got me gulping and moving. We turned a corner and I saw her.

Vanessa was sitting up in a hospital bed, an IV drip hooked in to one arm. She was in a hospital gown and didn't have any of her usual makeup on, so she looked... sick wasn't the right word. She looked different enough that I noticed it, but it was like seeing Erica without her makeup that first time. It was different but I liked seeing the natural her.

"Vanessa, I'm,” I started, but then she threw a magazine at my head.

"Harri, I swear to God if you try and apologize to me, I'll throw another one," Vanessa said. She had a stack of a few of them on a little rolling bedside stand, where she also had a tray from a shitty cafeteria meal.

"You look good, Vee," I said, changing my mind.

She blushed and smiled. "No, I don't. Liar."

"Okay, you look as good as someone in a hospital bed can," I said.

"Come sit, Harri," she said, shifting herself in the bed and patting beside her. I did, and she took my hand in one of hers and lifted the other to brush a finger against my bruised eye. "The night nurse told me what happened when I woke up."

I opened my mouth to apologize again but remembered what she'd said and clicked it shut.

She smirked and squeezed my fingers. "Good, you're learning."

"So you're not pissed off?" I asked.

Vanessa leaned her head back on the pillows propping her up, taking a deep breath. "Maybe at the world, a little. But at you? Or Erica and Ivy? No. I went in there knowing what I was asking for, and you told me the risk. I decided getting off with you three was worth it." She broke into a small smile. "And from what I remember, it was pretty fantastic."

"It was," I chuckled. "I mean, wild and filthy, but fantastic."

She was looking at me, searching my face for something. I couldn't tell if she found it or not. "I spoke to my Dad. He told me he decked you pretty good but I wasn't expecting a full-on shiner."

"He definitely got me," I said, touching my eye. "Wasn't as bad as I felt I deserved."

"Yeah, well I told him if he does it again I'll deck him," she said. "And that if he tries to take any revenge on you, he's just punishing me."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" I asked.

She brought my hand up to her chest and put it over her heart. "Harri, I'm stuck with you no matter what at this point, but if you guys will have me I'd like to move into your crammed RV life. I thought you and Erica were cool since we met, and we know we're sexually compatible. The way I see it, I can either fight this thing just for the sake of fighting, or I can get on board the Harrison train and enjoy the ride."

"Vanessa, I; God, I wish I had my phone right now," I said. "There's a picture the girls sent that you'll want to see."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and her smile grew. "Oh, I got several pictures," Vanessa said. "I've already seen them. Why don't you have your phone?"

"I was up on a secure floor," I said. "Lieutenant Colonel Abarbanel was actually the one to see them when she helped me message back that we were Okay."

"Then you have some surprises waiting for you I think," Vanessa grinned. "But for now, you're all mine." She pulled me towards her and guided me into a kiss. Then she whispered into my lips as our noses rubbed against each other. "Pull the privacy screen around us."

"Here? Really?" I asked.

"My nurse actually encouraged it," Vanessa said. "She said we just need to try and keep it down."

I stood up and went to the curtain built into the rolling track around Vanessa's bed and pulled it around us, blocking out the rest of the room, and the hallway beyond the glass observation doors. When I turned back to her, Vanessa was shrugging out of her hospital gown, her cute little tits jiggling. I kicked off my shoes and got up on the hospital bed with her, picking her up a bit and sliding her down into a laying position and tucking my head down to suck on one of her nipples.

"Oh, Harri," she crooned, her hand running through my hair. Her nipples got hard quickly as I played my tongue over them, feeling the little boob around it tug and pull as I moved around. I popped off and raised my lips to hers again, giving her a kiss.

"I didn't get to spend that much time telling you how beautiful and sexy I think you are," I said between kisses.

"Harri, you don't need to lie," she said. "My boobs are tiny. I'm used to; Ah, fuck!"

I cut her off by grabbing the tit I hadn't sucked on, squeezing it hard enough to make her hiss a little bit. I'd seen she liked a little rough pawing and play during the foursome, so I used it now to make a point. "If you ever tell me these aren't perfect, I'll spank you so hard you'll have my handprint on your ass for a week."

"Fuck, Harri; Fuck," she groaned as I let my grip on her tit loosen, and then bent down and took that nipple into my mouth as well. "Fine. You like my tits. I believe you."

"Don't just believe me," I said. "Vanessa, you said you thought Erica and I were cool when we first met. Well, I thought you were fascinating. This gorgeous, tough woman who knew how to take charge and make things happen. Beautiful from head to toe even when you were trying to downplay it for work. Now, you're going to lay back so that I can explore every inch of your gorgeous, perfect body."

She looked like she was somewhere between beaming happily and crying, but she nodded.

I started back up at her lips and kissed around her jaw and down her neck to her collar bone. Then down to her chest, where I teased her nipples some more, rolling one between my fingers while I tongued and lightly nibbled on the other. Once they were both standing proud and weren't about to go down, I helped her pull the hospital gown off until it was hanging from the arm with the IV in it, revealing the rest of her body to me. I kissed down her stomach to her bellybutton and pressed my forehead against her, kissing her fit stomach softly, then moving lower. I got to the point between her belly button and her mound where her scar was, and the Strength tattoo.

I took my time there, kissing it, and tracing my finger along the letters of the tattoo. I turned back to look up at her face and she was pensive, staring at me with this worried look like I was going to change my mind about her. "Perfect," I told her again, "And strong as hell."

My lips went further, down onto her mound where a smattering of hairs were poking out. She'd obviously shaved herself in the past, but not as recently as I bet she would have liked. But I didn't care, and I kissed along the stubble of her pubic hair, letting it play against my lips as my beard played against her skin. She spread her legs for me, and I slipped around on the bed so I was laying between them on my stomach, looking up at her.

"Do you want me to do this here?" I asked her.

"Harri, I want your cock inside me like nothing else," she said.

"We'll get there," I grinned, and began to explore her cunt with my lips and tongue. I took my time, softly kissing and licking, searching every nook and cranny of her outer and inner labia. Then I did it again, sucking a little harder, nibbling just a touch, finding the sweet spots that made her legs quiver or her breath catch in a hiccup or gasp. Then I went deeper, peeling her open with my fingers to see the soft pink of her hole, and tasted and teased her.

She mewled for me, clawing at the bed. I kept needing to move her leg back as it came up and wanted to curl in towards me until I just planted my hand on her thigh and pushed her open, holding her leg wide. Then I did the same to the other leg, pushing them back further, and I slowly licked from her hole up her lips to her clit hood, teasing the tip of my tongue under it before pushing it back with my upper lip and prodding her clit softly.

"Making me... ugh!" Vanessa grunted with a girlish tone, gasping for air.

I did it again and watched as another little orgasm rolled through her, her cunt flexing as her abdominal muscles clenched.

Moving lower I kissed the inner curve of her ass cheek and looked up from between her legs to meet her gaze. She watched me, a little surprised, as I practically buried my nose in her cunt so that I could drive my tongue against her asshole. Her brow furrowed as I did it, and one eye twtiched as I teased the outer ring, then centered on it and nudged the tip of my tongue a little deeper.

"Not here," she gasped suddenly, and I stopped. "I; not here," she said again.

"Okay," I said, moving up from her ass and kissing the crook of her thigh.

"Just like that?" she asked.

"What kind of guys have you been seeing that don't stop when you say no?" I asked back.

She blinked. "The kind who don't eat ass, and rarely eat cunt," she said. "So the wrong kind."

"Then let me ask you; what do you want me to do now?"

She closed her eyes and blew out a long breath through pursed lips, before opening them. "Get your pants off and fuck me while we make out. I want to feel you on top of me."

I grinned and slipped off the bed, undoing my belt and kicking my pants off. I was already hard, and she was wet from my exploratory oral, so I got back up on the bed and got over her in a standard missionary position. "Like this?" I asked her.

She reached down and got my cock in position, and wrapped a leg around my waist and ass to pull me into her. "Like this," she said with a grin as I slowly penetrated deeper into her. Vanessa was hot and clenched my cock in a rippling sensation as I drove in, slowly fucking into her until I was buried to my root. She grabbed my beard in her hand and pulled me into a kiss as we stayed still and connected.

"Ow," I muttered into the kiss.

"Sorry," she laughed, releasing my beard.

"It's fine," I said and kissed her deeply.

We made out, our tongues doing more work than my cock for a long moment, until we started grinding against each other. The rhythm built up slowly, less a pounding than a sensuous back and forth that felt more like dancing. Well, the best kind of dancing where my cock was inside of a beautiful woman.

Our kiss broke as we panted against each other. "More," she gasped.

"More what?"

"More weight," she said. "I want to feel you."

I lowered myself from my elbows, letting my body press down against hers like a too-heavy weighted blanket.

"Umm," she groaned somewhere at the back of her throat. Her body felt tense under mine, but slowly loosened. I kissed the side of her neck, and she ran the heel of her foot down my leg and then back up to my butt.

The soft whoosh of the glass door opening outside of the privacy curtain made us both stop moving.

"Vanessa, you good in there?" asked a woman.

"Yep," she said. "So good. Perfect."

There was a long moment of silence, and then, "Oh. Sorry for interrupting. If you and Mr. Black can finish up, your Father was hoping to see you. I can stall him for ten minutes?"

"Thanks," Vanessa called back, biting her lips. Two soft footsteps and the door whooshed again, settling closed. "Oh my God," Vanessa groaned.

"I can do a lot in ten minutes," I said with a grin.

"No, we have less than that," she sighed. "I need to get cleaned up and dressed first, and you need to be out of here before he gets here. But first I need you to fuck me hard and fast and give me your cum."

So that's what I did. I raised up higher again to gain the leverage I needed and I started pounding into her with hard, steady strokes. Vanessa gasped, and soon we were back in that rolling rhythm of our hips except it was way more fucking than dancing. Our eyes never left each other, and when I went in for another kiss she bit my lip as she started to come. That pushed me towards my own edge, and I got myself there by reaching down and strumming my thumb against her clit just as she was coming down, pushing her right back into a second wave of orgasm as her body clenched and I released.

"Fuck," I growled, thrusting my hips forward and emptying my balls into her. "Fuck, Vanessa!"

She arched her back, silently screaming before she exhaled hard and released the tension.

We both lay there panting for a long moment.

"I really want to fuck you again," I said. "Right now. I'm still hard as a rock for you."

"I can feel that, you fucking caveman," Vanessa laughed, cock drunk for the moment. "But I need to clean up and you need to go."

"One more thing," I said, and kissed her again.

I got my clothes on first and then helped her find and put on her pants. She hadn't worn underwear when she had come to visit us the morning before when this whole thing kicked off, so now she was going to be leaking my cum into her jeans. Her shirt was there as well, but she was still hooked up to the IV, which meant I had to leave the room and send a nurse to help her.

I stopped at the edge of the privacy curtain, looking back at her.

"Go," she motioned to me. "I'm not leaving. You can see my tits any time you want."

Maybe I was cunt drunk, but I wanted to tell her I loved her. I just grinned and blew her a kiss and a wink before slipping out. Once she couldn't see me, I shook my head. I thought orgasms were supposed to give you post-nut clarity, I thought. I almost blurted that out, and no matter how compatible we were sexually I knew that wasn't the right thing to say at the moment.

I found the nurse, who went to help Vanessa, while another one brought me back to the elevator where I was met by the night sentry again. He brought me back up to the waiting room I'd been in before, and I flopped onto the couch.

"Harri. Harri, we need to stop meeting like this," Miriam said, and I blinked awake again as she was standing over me and smirking.

"Fuck," I grunted. "What time is it?"

"Just past 0600," she said. "We've got a couple of cars ready to drive you back home."

"A couple?" I frowned.

"Brent left earlier in his own vehicle," Miriam said. "But we're sending you back with two more partners for your friend Leo. I already spoke with Vanessa and she said she wanted to ride with them to try and help them stay calm through their vaccination."

I closed my eyes again as I parsed what she was saying. "Okay, hold on. Leo is getting two new partners?"

"From what I red they are a bisexual couple who wanted to stay together," Miriam said.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and sucked in a big breath through my nose. "Well, at least mine isn't the only RV that's going to be packed to the gills."

Miriam brought me down to the underground garage for the building and handed my phone back to me. Two black SUV were idling, the windows all tinted to the point that I couldn't see a single thing inside including the drivers. I turned back to Miriam. "Just another day?" I asked her.

"Hell no," she smirked. "You, Harrison Black, as the biggest pain in my ass since I took this posting." Then she pulled me into a hug. "But I wouldn't change a God damn thing about it. I'll see you once our on-site office is up and running."

"I'm looking forward to it," I said, giving her a squeeze back. "Lieutenant Colonel."

"That's Miriam to you, soldier," she said, pulling back with a smirk and kissing me on the cheek.

The elevator bingled and I was shocked, or really mildly surprised, to see Agent Sourpuss leading two women bundled up in hooded jumpsuits with masks on. Sourpuss took one look at me and sneered, directing the two women to the front SUV and climbing in with them.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Oh, she's pissed off because she keeps getting seconded to us for transportation detail," Miriam said. "I have no idea why, but she isn't happy about it."

"No; Technically I'm pretty sure that was my fault, actually. But I meant the whole bundled up get up."

"First, why am I not surprised you're a pain in the ass for other people as well? And second, it's new protocols coming up from California and the first testing area. I guess there have been some questions around whether vaccinated but unbonded women could contract or become carriers for the virus. It's the latest back and forth between the scientists."

"Speaking of which," I said. "I know why I don't need to be all bundled up, but why don't you? Are you imprinted on someone?"

"Me? No," Miriam said. "Not yet, anyway. I'll do it when they push the order out, for now we're still technically in the testing phase for a bit longer. Everyone who leaves the building and re-enters without being vaccinated is getting blood tested and quarantined; it sucks, but it leaves us able to work functionally instead of talking to each other through hazmat suits."

The elevator bingled again, and this time it was Vanessa who stepped out as a sentry gestured her towards the front SUV. She saw me immediately and veered off course, coming to me. I wrapped her up in a hug and noticed Miriam giving me a hard-to-read look.

"Hey," I said to Vanessa. "I hear you're playing therapy animal for Leo's new partners."

"They asked me to," Vanessa said. "From what I understand, the nurses don't think the woman who is supposed to be doing it does a very good job at calming nerves."

Miriam snorted a little but covered it with a cough, looking at me.

"Well, I feel like I'm missing out on some more alone time with you, but I understand why," I said. "Do me a favor and try and feel them out a bit, see what they're like."

"I will," she smirked and went on her tiptoes to give me a peck on the lips. "They're going to be our neighbors, after all."

"Yes they are," I grinned and patted her butt. "See you at home?"

"Fuck. Home," Vanessa said, backing away from me. "I haven't had one of those in a while. It's gonna be weird."

She turned and strode to the SUV and got in the back.

"That one might be trouble," Miriam said.

"They're all trouble," I laughed. "See you sooner than later?"

"Sooner than later," she grinned and winked.

I went to the back SUV, which was apparently my personal chauffeur for the sole reason that Agent Sourpuss couldn't find an ounce of empathy in her. Hopefully there's a partition between the front and the back, I thought. I can check those pictures Erica and Ivy were sending me.

When I opened the back door of the SUV to get in I had to stop. "Ah," I said. "That explains a lot." I slid in and shut the door. "Agent Grierson."

The craggy-faced Agent smirked and nodded. "Harrison. When I heard there was an anomalous vaccination issue, I decided to check it out and lo and behold, it's my favorite redneck."

"Did you just come to check-in, or are you looking to offload some more government cash on me?" I asked.

The SUVs started moving, pulling out of the garage and into downtown Portland.

"Kid, you know I don't need to come to see you to check in," he said. "And I don't have the time to just come shoot the shit, no matter how much I'd enjoy a good fuckin' day off once in a while. I'm here to ask a favor."

"Well now you're just being coy," I said. "You know that I know you didn't have to let that lease thing through instead of a flat purchase, so you've got me cornered."

"Well, the good news is that I'm not asking you to do anything underhanded," Grierson said. "I noticed you've recently taken on a security consulting contract and your clearance has been restored. I'm going to open it up a little bit more here, if that's alright with you."

"Playful, then coy, then asking my permission? Jesus fuck, what are you about to ask me to do?"

"Alright, kid. Here's the deal," Grierson sighed. "Sometime in the next few days you're going to get a new partner delivered to you. What I need you to do is keep an eye on her. She's the daughter of the Ambassador from the Philippines, and officially we've run her through the Oracle matching system as a diplomatic courtesy. What no one else knows, including people in that building we just left, is that her Oracle results didn't matter. I'm placing her with you, and scattering a few other Filipino nationals in safe little corners of the country, as a deal with the NICA."

"Wait, that's the..." I had to wrack my brain going back to my Military Police training. "Isn't that the CIA of the Philippines?"

"A much lesser version, yes," Grierson said. "On the official unofficial paperwork, it's a spy deal. We're going to take care of some of their valuable people who are here, and they're going to take care of some of our valuable people who are over there. The unofficial unofficial deal is that we don't have anyone over there, and the government of the Philippines is going to let us stage our latest espionage attempts into China from their shores. There's a fucking information blackout coming out of China right now, and other than satellite images we've got nothing on what's going on in there."

"Okay, hold on," I said. "So am I taking in this Ambassador's daughter as payment for the US Government?"

"No, you're taking her in because Kyla Bautista is also secretly a spy who just graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in dance, and while she was there we suspect she turned at least four different Professors and research assistants into assets for NICA for Intellectual Property espionage. I'm scooping her up and putting her with you because you're so far off the radar that no one would think you're keeping an eye on her, and so that the Chinese can't find her if they figure out what's going on and want some revenge. But most of all, I'm putting her with you because, despite your record and stupid career choices after you left the military, you have the mindset to keep an eye on her without her or anyone else knowing that's what's going on."

"This is all well and good, Grierson," I said. "But I've got three women imprinted on me already, one of them by mistake. How the hell am I supposed to add a fourth woman into the mix?"

Grierson snorted. "Kid, I got news for you. By this time next year, I'd bet all that money I just put into your bank account that you'll look back and think what a naive question that was."

I sighed and shook my head slowly. "What does her father think of her getting matched off like that? Does he even know?"

"Oh, he was pissed until he got cut in on an early vaccination as well for his wife, along with his long-time second in command who he's been having an affair with, and his additional American mistress who is very black and very formidable, neither of whom the wife knows about. He seems to think it'll be fine."

"Jesus," I sighed, shaking my head. "So what, is the OGA offering to pay me for spy sitting?"

"No," Grierson said. "But there is an upside."

"What's that?"

"Like I said, Kyla Bautista graduated with a degree in dance. If I wasn't too fucking busy being ethical, I'd have just put her in my house. The woman is something else."

"That's gross," I said, my face twisting in mild disgust.

"It's reality, kid. Game it out; people need to fuck to save their lives. Even before this shit show people put a value on beauty over pretty much anything else. What do you think it's going to be like when the entire country is getting matched up?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "That's; I don't even want to think about it."

"And that's why they pay me and my people the big bucks," Grierson said. He tapped on the glass partition that separated us from the front seat, and the SUV began to pull over. "I'm not asking you to do anything you wouldn't have anyways. Just keep an eye on her for me, alright?"

"Fine," I said. "But if she takes one look at me and asks for someone else, I can't do anything about that. I'm not forcing some woman into this."

"Won't be a problem," Grierson said. The SUV came to a stop, and he stepped out.

"Grierson," I said, and he turned back. "Miriam said someone pulled some strings to get her assigned where she is. Was that you?"

"What?" Grierson raised an eyebrow. "You think I like you that much, kid?"

"That wasn't an answer," I said.

"Well, if it was me, I think maybe you owe me another one still," he said, then shut the door. Another car had pulled up behind us, which he got into, and it pulled a big U-turn in the middle of the empty street and drove back the way we'd come.

The driver of my ride pulled back onto the street and sped up to catch the other SUV in our mini convoy, and I was left to my thoughts.

I sighed and opened my phone. I didn't want to think about this Grierson thing. If it happened, then it happened and we'd deal with it. I went to my messages and opened the ones from Erica and Ivy.

"Fucking hell," I sighed, looking at the lewd pictures and knowing that Miriam had seen them. "What am I going to do with three women?"

Or four? Or more?

I was going to need a bigger bed, and quickly.

I stretched, feeling several somethings in my back and shoulders pop, as I got out of the back of the nondescript black SUV and felt the gravel of the construction site crunch under my boots. The place was bustling since we'd arrived mid-morning, and I saw more than a few of the workers taking looks over at me and starting to talk to each other. The rumor mill must have been burning hard since Vanessa had gotten carted off in a military helicopter and flown away.

First things first, however, was to not unload two vaccinated-but-unbonded women into the middle of a construction site. I flashed a quick thumbs up through the passenger side window at whoever my driver had been; I'd never seen a face or heard a voice; and jogged up to the other vehicle and knocked on the passenger window.

Agent Sourpuss rolled it down a moment later, scowling at me from the driver's seat. "What?"

"I know you haven't been here for a bit," I said. "But if you drive around to the right over there you'll see our RVs and our little compound. Dropping the ladies off there would probably cause less of a, uh, scene."

I could tell she wanted to argue with me but knew I was right. Instead of answering she just stabbed her finger down on the window button beside her and closed it in my face, then pulled the SUV around and headed in the direction I'd pointed. I walked along behind, and we rounded the second big bunkhouse building that was looking just about finished now and headed towards our compound.

By the time Agent Sourpuss put the vehicle in park Erica and Ivy were already ducking out from behind the sheets hung between the corner of the RV and the storage container that we'd deemed the 'front door.' Leo and Danielle were right behind them.

I wanted to go to my women, but I held myself back and instead opened the rear door of the SUV. Inside I saw that Vanessa was sitting in the middle row bucket seat, and I leaned in and kissed her quickly before offering her a hand down.

"Don't go getting all chivalrous on me now, Harri," Vanessa grinned as she accepted my hand and swung out onto her feet. She looked back into the vehicle. "Come on, ladies. Leo's out here waiting for you."

The two women, practically swimming in their baggy, hooded coveralls and masked up to boot, unbuckled and started climbing between the seats. I, however, was suddenly a little busy as I was hugged from behind by a small form that could only be Ivy. Beside me, Erica was pulling Vanessa into a hug as well.

"I'm so sorry, hon," Erica said, squeezing the shorter woman tightly. "If I'd had any reasonable idea that this would happen,”

"It's fine, Erica," Vanessa said, squeezing her back and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Seriously. We'll talk about it, but I'm Okay with it if you are."

"Hey you," I said in the meanwhile, turning at the waist to wrap my arm around Ivy's shoulder and hug her to me.

"Hello, mon amour," Ivy sighed. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, I’ve," I said, and leaned down and gave the short blonde a quick kiss. The first of the women had reached the door of the car, and Ivy let me go so that I could offer her a hand down. All I could see of her were her eyes and the skin around them; she was white but tanned heavily, and had soft grey eyes that were flicking around.

"Let me help, miss," I said. She accepted, her gloved hand taking mine for a moment to step down, and I ushered her directly towards Leo and Dani. "This is Leo, and his better half Danielle."

"Hey," Leo scolded me playfully, giving me a little punch on the arm as he grinned.

"Hey, hon," Dani said, pulling the woman into a hug that seemed to surprise her.

I turned back and Erica was helping the next woman down; she was white and paler than the first, and had dark green eyes. Soon she was getting the same hugging welcome as the first from Dani, as Leo looked both a little bashful and a little excited.

"How about we head in and talk?" Erica suggested to everyone. "Ladies, Leo is my brother so I might be biased, but you're in good hands. And if he ends up sucking, then Dani's got you."

"Hell yeah I do," Dani chuckled, nudging Leo with an elbow.

"I wouldn't mind getting handled by either of you," the tan woman said through her mask. "God damn, girl. Your tits don't quit."

"Thanks for noticing," Dani grinned and winked. She took both women by the hand and started leading them into the compound. "Come on, let's get you two fucked and settled."

"Now that's one hell of a welcome offer," the other woman laughed.

I laughed a little too, hearing the two as Leo quickly jogged ahead to hold the fabric door open for them.

"Seriously, those two are gonna be something else," Vanessa said, shaking her head.

"You got to talk with them?" Erica asked.

"The whole ride here," Vanessa said. "Their names are Aria and India. Aria seems a little sweeter and the more rational one, while India is a hippy kid from hippy parents. They said they've been girlfriends for three years, and up until last year they 'worked' as sugar babies while Aria was finishing up her master's of communications."

"Jesus," Erica sighed with a rueful smirk. "They're going to eat Leo alive."

"Can one of you shut the goddamn door, please?" Agent Sourpuss called from inside the vehicle.

"Nice seeing you again too, Agent," I said, and slammed the door. As she pulled away I turned to my girls. My three girls. "Vanessa, I'm not sure what you need to do now?"

She sighed. "Well, I'm going to need to get my stuff from the motel, and catch up with my Dad. Last I talked to him he was still pissed but is happy I'm alright. Getting back to work will probably make him accept it all faster."

"You're going to live with us for sure?" Ivy asked, reaching over and taking Vanessa's hand in hers as she flashed one of her patented naughty grins.

"I am," Vanessa laughed and pulled the blonde into a quick hug, Ivy nuzzling her cheek against Vanessa's chest with a happy smile. "But, maybe let's take this conversation inside? There are about a hundred eyes staring at us right now."

I glanced over my shoulder and saw easily two dozen construction workers all lurch into motion at once, trying not to get caught staring. Another two dozen didn't even bother and kept watching. "Good idea," I said. "Ladies?" I gestured towards the RVs.

Inside our compound I quickly rearranged the chairs so that the three good ones, and one of the lesser lawn chairs, were arranged in a square for us to sit while Erica and Ivy went into the RV to grab the breakfast they'd prepared for us. Vanessa and I had both texted ahead to let them know we were on our way, and soon the four of us were sitting under the midmorning sun while my latest partner and I shoveled our faces with eggs, bacon and toast.

Vanessa and I had just started filling Erica and Ivy in on how things had gone at the Testing facility when we were interrupted by a very loud, very long moan from inside Leo's RV.

"Think that was a primer or an imprinting?" Erica smirked.

A second moan, higher pitch and shorter but just as loud, followed the first.

"Definitely la première," Ivy giggled.

So Vanessa and I told our parts of the story, trying our best not to get interrupted by the occasional shriek, laugh or moan coming from the nearby RV.

"You know, I think Miriam has a crush on you," Erica interrupted me as I mentioned our quick goodbye.

"I said the same thing!" Vanessa said.

"Me too," Ivy said.

"You three don't get it," I said, shaking my head. "Miriam and I are friends. Distant ones, since we've barely seen each other in years."

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder," Erica said.

"And the fantasies stronger," Vanessa nodded. "I know late at night on a long stretch of shifts on site, I liked my high school boyfriend a hell of a lot better than I ever did when we were together."

That got Erica and Ivy laughing, and I just shook my head until the sound of the RV door opening had us all turning. Dani stepped out dressed in just a bikini top and daisy duke jean shorts and was wiping her mouth in a way that said there was definitely something that had just been on her lips.

"Those two are hot as hell," she said, coming over and leaning her hip against Erica's chair. "I mean seriously, the tits on both of them." She held her hands out larger than her own impressive cleavage. "Leo passed out right in between them."

"I think we're going to need to get Leo to make us some more good deck chairs," Erica said. "Soon we're going to have a whole pool worth of hot babes tanning out here."

"Speaking of which," Vanessa said, leaning forward and taking my hand in hers. "Mind if we talk for a minute?"

"Sure," I said. "Dani, I'm sure Erica and Ivy can fill you in."

"Sounds good," she grinned and winked, slipping into the chair Vanessa had vacated and leaning back.

Vanessa and I headed into my RV, or rather our RV, and she hesitated looking at the bench where just yesterday we'd had our fateful foursome that had tied her to us. Instead of sitting, she grabbed my hand and pulled me deeper into the RV, back into the bedroom.

She turned, practically in my arms, and pulled both of her shirts over her head so that she was topless and then grabbed my collar and pulled me into a kiss. I responded happily, wrapping my arms around her and inhaling through my nose, smelling everything about her, as our tongues dueled.

"Fuck me?" she asked as our kiss broke apart.

"How do you want it?" I asked her.

"Quick," she said, then hesitated and smirked a little. "And hard. Please."

I picked her up and tossed her on the bed much like I did Ivy, then pulled her jeans off of her just rough enough for her to know I was insistent. Once she was naked, I tore off my own clothes and pulled her to the edge of the bed by her legs and felt between them with my fingers.

"You're already wet," I noted casually.

"I did say quick and hard," she pointed out.

I spread her legs and entered her. We both gasped, and soon I was pounding her as I leaned down over her, my arms wrapped around her body as she clung to my shoulders. We panted together, her rolling her hips to meet my thrusts, driving each other towards our mutual orgasm.

It was fast and efficient. Neither of us got particularly dirty with our words. I didn't get creative. She wanted a quick fuck and a hard pounding, and that's what we did. I'd perfected that practice with Erica and Ivy over the last few weeks when we were stealing a quickie out in the woods.

Once I was spent, my cum plastering the insides of her cunt, I collapsed on the bed next to her and rolled her onto her side so that I could spoon her from behind.

"Fuck," she sighed, a little more agitated than I'd expected.

"What's up?" I asked.

"This feels as good as I was worried it would," she said.

"Okay, that needs an explanation," I said. My one arm was curled under both our heads since we hadn't even made it up the bed far enough to reach pillows, our feet dangling off the end, while I placed my other hand spread wide on her stomach and felt her breathing through the movement of her diaphragm.

We were quiet for a long moment as I let her think about how she wanted to say whatever she was thinking. Finally she sighed again and placed her hand over mine on her stomach. "I need you to know something, Harri. And I don't want you to think it's a commentary about you. Don't... take it personally, Okay?"

"I hear you," I said. "But I can't exactly promise that without knowing what it is."

"My view of relationships and; well, and marriage, is kind of skewed," Vanessa said. "I don't really believe in them, per se. I think they can be nice for a while, sure. But they can be bad, too. They can be really fucking hurtful, especially if you think they're good first. It happened to my Dad and Mom. It happened to my older brother Derrick and his first wife. So, the thing is... Harri, Alike you, right? Like, obviously that's true. But I don't know if I'm ever going to love you like Erica and Ivy do."

"Ivy and I aren't in love," I said, and then realized I'd focused on entirely the wrong part of what she'd just said.

"Are you kidding me?" Vanessa chuckled. "That girl is smitten with you. You're everything she could ever want, you don't judge her for her past but also aren't an obsessed and pervy strip club customer. You provide, you care. You're tough."

"That's not love, Vanessa," I said. "That's infatuation and lust. Love takes time."

"She literally calls you 'mon amour.' That means 'my love,'" Vanessa pointed out.

"It's also just an affectation for someone you're with," I pointed out. "I could call you 'my love' casually and it would be the same thing."

"Yeah, it would be the same thing, but that's because you'd say it in the same earnest way she does and not because you think it would be casual," Vanessa said. "And I need you to know, I don't think we'll ever be like that. I'll never be the Girlfriend. I'll never be the Wife. Okay?"

"Okay," I said lightly.

"Really?" she asked, half-turning to look over her shoulder so she could see my expression. "Just like that?"

"Vee, did I ask you to be those things?" I asked. "I mean, seriously. You are who you are. And now you're tied to us by sex, but that doesn't mean you need to invest your heart in us if you don't want to. You're your own person."

She softened a little in my arms as she let the tension leak out of her. "Okay," she nodded. "Then let's do this. I'll be the horny, sex-hungry bi-curious roommate to your threesome."

"Um, first, bi-curious? Really? After all that?" I gestured to the front of the RV, and she flushed a little and smiled. "Second, we never got to the end of the story out there. Turns out it's not just going to be the four of us..."

Vanessa ended up taking a nap in bed after we snuggled a bit longer. Well, also after she scoffed at the ridiculousness that I was getting a fourth woman assigned to me.

I didn't tell her about the deal with Agent Grierson, and I had to tell myself it wasn't because I was a little hurt by her. Sure, I'd fronted that I was fine with her not knowing if she could, or would, love me, but it still fucking hurt. Especially knowing that not even twelve hours earlier I'd almost blurted it out to her myself. God, that would have ended badly, I thought.

Leaving her in the RV, I went back outside and joined the women at the chairs. They all gave me little teasing smiles, knowing just what had been going on. Leo eventually joined us, and I took the opportunity to let them all know that we were going to have another vaccine partner joining us. Ivy, being her bubbly and horny self, of course was excited by the potential of another person to play with. Leo just laughed, shaking his head at the idea that I had to stay one partner ahead of him. Dani asked if I knew who it was, and I told her I didn't.

Erica knew I was lying. I don't know how she knew, but I saw the look on her face for a brief moment. I had two options; fess up right there with everyone, or tell her later. Keeping the full secret from her didn't even cross my mind. Not when she saw it was sitting there.

Technically I barely had the clearance to know what I knew. Erica definitely didn't. But still, I couldn't keep it from her.

Eventually, as the morning wore on and Leo decided to fire up the grill to make some lunch, Erica mentioned that I hadn't done a tour of the property in the last few days and that she'd go on an ATV ride with me.

"You just want some Harrison alone time," Ivy laughed, poking Erica in the side. "And Vanessa is hogging the bed."

"Can you blame her?" Dani asked. "Cause I'm sure I'll be hearing you moaning like the butt-slut you are sooner than later today."

"I am not a butt-slut," Ivy said. "I am Harrison's pute anale."

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"Anal whore," Ivy giggled. "But the important part is Harrison."

Sometimes I ended up blushing just hanging around the compound and not even participating in the conversation.

I agreed with Erica that I should do a quick tour, and soon we were both appropriately dressed and I was kick starting the ATV. Sometimes on rides like these Erica would ride the other one, but this time she hopped up behind me and hugged herself close.

The tour, if we didn't stop, would have taken about forty-five minutes last month to drive around all the major accessible trails. With the tree-clearing crews working overtime that was already cutting the time way down to reach the far corners of the property and we ended up deep into the west side after about fifteen minutes. Erica squeezed my side slightly as we were passing by one of the smaller trails, and I nodded and turned down it heading towards a grove of trees that we'd used for some privacy in the last couple of weeks.

"Alright, hon," she said as I parked the ATV and keyed it off. "What's the deal?"

I carefully dismounted from the ATV without kicking her, then stood beside it and put one foot up so I could look her in the eye. "I'm not supposed to tell you this," I said.

"Not supposed to, or not allowed to?" Erica asked.

"Both," I shrugged. "But I'm not keeping secrets from you."

She leaned forward and kissed me. We were surrounded by trees, and out here where the crews hadn't reached yet it felt like we were back a month ago surrounded by the calm of the forest. Except we were also together now.

I really hoped I could get that feeling back in the future.

"The new woman coming in tomorrow wasn't just lined up with us through the system," I told Erica. "Agent Grierson set it up and asked me to keep an eye on her. She's... well, she's technically a spy."

"Like 'James Bond, license to kill' sort of stuff?" Erica asked.

"I don't... think so?" I hedged. "She's Filipina, and the daughter of their Ambassador here in the States. Apparently she was working for their version of the CIA setting up professors while she was in University. Stealing academic research stuff, I assume. So probably not 'license to kill.'"

Erica pursed her lips, frowning. "And you agreed to this?"

"I couldn't really say no," I sighed. "Grierson's done us a couple of favors already. The land lease is just the first."

"What was the second?"

"Miriam getting assigned to the project," I said. "She was supposed to be doing something else, but mentioned she got reassigned and I put it together that it was him. He didn't admit it, but he definitely inferred he had that kind of pull."

"So what are we going to do?" Erica asked. "We don't know anything about her. What if she doesn't mesh with the rest of us?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I don't get how we've been so lucky so far, honestly. You and me and Leo, sure. Makes sense. Adding Dani to the mix? Okay, she fit in well. But Ivy working out like she has, and now Vanessa? What are the chances?"

"And now we've got Leo's new partners to figure out, plus this chick," Erica sighed. "Do you know anything else about her?"

"Um, her name is Kyla B-something," I said. "And she recently graduated from a dance program at one of the colleges down south. I missed some of the smaller details considering the topic of conversation and how tired I was."

"She graduated from a University dance program?" Erica raised an eyebrow. "And was doing CIA spy shit to steal from professors? You realize she's probably going to be ridiculously hot, right?"

"I don't think that matters," I chuckled. "Though Grierson did mention I'd be thanking him."

"Pervy old man," Erica smirked. "Think she's bi?"

"Oh, so now you want to sleep with the potentially dangerous, sexy spy lady?"

Erica scoffed. "Of course I do."

I kissed her again, and soon she was stepping off the ATV. We fucked standing, with her back to a tree, and she had me finish inside of her. The first one of the day with Erica always went there, then it was any guess where she'd ask for the next one to go.

"So we just be a little careful," Erica said as she pulled up her panties.

"Hmm?" I asked, buckling my belt.

"With the spy," she clarified. "We treat her like we would anyone else. Like we did Ivy. We sit her down and talk to her to make sure she knows what the vaccine is all about, and what she should expect and what she likes. She's not some political prisoner or something, right? So she's choosing this to some degree just like anyone else."

"Anyone but Vanessa," I sighed.

Erica came over to rub my back. "Did you two get to talk, or did you just fuck?"

"Talk," I said, then smirked. "After fucking. She's fine with everything. Happy about it, kind of. She just doesn't want to consider us in a 'relationship' or anything. More like a fuck buddy roommate."

Erica snorted softly. "Yeah, Okay. Whatever label she wants to put on it. She'll still be sleeping in our bed."

We finished the tour and returned to the compound. Vanessa was up and around, and as we all ate lunch together we came up with a plan for the afternoon. She needed to head to the motel to get her things, as well as check in with her father to let him know she could start work again tomorrow. We were also running low on food, especially with three more mouths to feed and another scheduled to arrive (though technically, I pointed out, we'd been feeding Vanessa half her meals anyways between breakfasts and some lunches so it was more like three and a half more mouths). I shot a text over to Mrs. Branston that we'd be coming by for our egg pickup, then down to Mason Fuller who ran the local butcher shop to ask what he had in stock. He'd set up a system that he'd text us what he had available and as long as we gave him twenty minutes he could have our order wrapped in paper and ready to set outside on a picnic table when we pulled up, and we'd Venmo him our payment.

Fruits and veggies and other staples were harder to manage. There weren't any bakeries in the area, at least not that I'd ever made a relationship with, and I didn't know any actual farmers. That meant we'd be doing the Bundle Up routine to brave the supermarket.

After lunch we went about getting ourselves ready. We were going to take my truck so that we could haul Vanessa's luggage and the meat and groceries in the bed. Dani decided she wanted to get off the property as she hadn't had the chance to since arriving, so Erica gave up her usual spot, which meant Vanessa was going to be riding bitch in the small back seat of my truck cab since she was shorter than the Australian.

We bundled up. I was back in a thick hooded sweater with work gloves and snow goggles. I used the medical mask that the Air Force guys had given me and put a bandana over it for good measure. Dani and Vanessa had to borrow from Erica since neither of them had much to work with; Vanessa since we were going to get her stuff, and Dani because she had one piece of luggage worth of belongings since she'd been planning to just travel down the west coast stripping before the pandemic. She still had a condo full of her belongings back home, but there was no way of knowing when she could ever get access to it. Or go back, if she even wanted to.

So Erica's heavy winter clothing got divided between Dani and Vanessa, and we loaded into my truck. First stop, the motel.

Vanessa gave me directions based solely on her memory of the daily drive. The place was about thirty minutes down the highway, and as we pulled in we were waved down by a couple of soldiers in national guard uniforms. They were masked, and they stood about six feet back from the truck as I lowered the window.

"This location is restricted access," one shouted. "You need to go somewhere else."

"We're here to see Brent Peters," I said, muffled by my own mask.

"We don't have anyone on the schedule," the guardsman said. "You'll need to make an appointment."

"Can you get him on that radio?" Vanessa asked, leaning over from the back seat to look out the window and pointing at a two-way on the guard's belt. "Just tell him his daughter is here."

The two guards glanced at each other, and then one visibly sighed and walked a few steps away to use the radio. He very quickly turned back and waved us into the parking lot. Vanessa directed us to park near the front end; she had a room on the second floor directly above the one being used by her father as an office. The door to that one burst open as I put the truck in park, and the big form of Brent Peters loomed in the doorway.

"You should probably wait here and let me talk to him again," Vanessa said.

I sighed. "Alright. I do need to talk to him eventually though."

"Sure," Vanessa said as Dani slipped out of the truck and moved her seat to let Vanessa out. "I'm sure he'll calm down sometime in the next decade."

I watched Vanessa approach her father, and I guessed she explained she hadn't been anywhere other than the site yet so she wasn't compromised because Brent pulled her into a hug and then ushered her inside his office.

Dani climbed back into the truck and shut the door, leaning back on it as she lowered the gaiter she was using as a mask and looked at me. "So, " she said. "You've had a long couple days. How are you doing, Harri?"

"Honestly?" I asked her rhetorically. "I'm feeling stretched a little thin."

"I can't blame you," Dani said. "I mean, Erica is a rock and Ivy is more concerned with your cock than anything else at the moment, but two girlfriends are still a lot to worry about. Now you're adding Vanessa, plus this new girl? You need to start guarding your heart a bit, big fella. I don't want to see you burning out."

"Heh, maybe," I sighed. "What about you, though? You had Leo all to yourself, now there are two more women in his bed."

"A couple," Dani pointed out. "They'll be with each other more than him. And Leo is my guy, obviously. And I know he's good for me. He's just not my usual type. I love him to death but I don't know if I'm in love with him yet, or if I ever will be."

I blinked in surprise. "That's kind of close to something Vanessa said to me," I admitted. "Not the type thing, but about love."

"Really?" Dani asked. "Well, I guess you two were more friendly than flirty before now, so that kind of makes sense."

"I can live with friends," I said.

"With benefits," Dani smirked.

"That too," I laughed.

Vanessa spent about fifteen minutes in the room, and Dani and I swapped to listening to the radio and talking about music as we waited. At one point there was some shouting from the motel room, and I had my seatbelt off and was half out the door before Dani caught my arm and reminded me Brent was her father, not just her boss.

When Vanessa eventually emerged, she waved us to follow her as she moved towards the stairs. We followed her up to the second story and she was a fast whirlwind of stuffing her things into her bags. Soon I was carrying her two big pieces of luggage with all her clothes and toiletries, while Dani was carrying her backpack with electronics and a dog-eared copy of the Fellowship of the Ring that I had noticed on the bedside table. Vanessa handled her big toolbox, which rattled as she deftly hauled it down the stairs and into the back of my truck. I slammed the gate of the truck closed, hopped into the cab with them, and we were out of there less than twenty minutes after we'd arrived at the motel.

"How'd the talk go?" I asked as I pulled back out onto the highway, giving the guards a nod on our way by.

"He thought for sure I would still be living at the motel," Vanessa said. "He's also pissed because I reminded him I'll be living with you for the foreseeable future, which means if he fucks with your house he's fucking me over as much as you. He got himself worked up again in the middle of talking about work, and I had to remind him that I'd gone to you for sex, not the other way around. That shut him up."

" Hmm hmm," Dani hummed her laugh. "Pops doesn't like thinking of his little girl as a sexual being."

"Something like that," Vanessa said, and I could hear the eye roll in her tone of voice.

Based on the direction we were coming from, it was going to be easiest for us to stop at Fuller's for our meat order, then the grocery store, and we'd end our little tour of the area by visiting Mrs. Branston for our egg hook up. I passed my phone back to Vanessa, unlocking it with my thumb. "Tell me what Mason Fuller sent me," I said.

"You're trusting me with your phone?" Vanessa asked.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. Usually guys are protective of this kind of stuff," Vanessa said.

"You're forgetting that Harri is Harri," Dani said.

"Oh," Vanessa said. "Right."

I waited for one of them to explain, but apparently they both knew what that meant. "Someone want to clarify that for me?" I asked.

"I just mean that you're you," Dani said. "You're... well, you're not straight-laced, but you might as well be. Most guys would be worried about someone he was with seeing his dating apps or private messages. Leo doesn't like me using his phone because he's embarrassed by the porn he follows on his Reddit account. But you don't exactly strike me as a porn kind of guy, or a dating app or Instagram guy."

"And even if you were, you'd probably be smart enough to delete your history," Vanessa filled in. "And you would have deleted all your apps when you finally hooked up with Erica anyways. Fuller says he's got his usual pork offerings, as much ground beef as we want, a half dozen full chickens, and a handful of something he's calling a London Broil."

"Text him back that we'll take four pounds of the ground beef; actually, make it five. Four of the chickens and all the London broils, plus two dozen sausages, ten pork chops and a couple of big tenderloins." I decided to ignore all the talk about why my phone was accessible. Especially the part about Leo's interests hidden on his own phone.

"Jesus," Vanessa muttered. "That's going to be a big grocery bill."

"Well, if the new girl shows up tomorrow there's going to be nine of us to feed," I said. "It's a good fuckin' thing my bank account sprouted a few extra zeros on the end recently or else you'd all be eating me out of house and home."

Mason Fuller had the order ready when we pulled up and he stood in the door to his little shop as I hopped out of the truck and went to gather the two big paper bags that held the paper-wrapped meat. "Don't tell me you're hosting a cookout in times like these, Harri," he called to me.

"Nope," I said. "Honestly, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," he said.

I thumbed back towards the truck. "I'm picking up strays."

Mason chuckled when he saw Dani and Vanessa waving from inside my truck. "Where'd you find them?"

"Would you believe the government sent me them?" I asked.

"You're right, I don't believe you," Mason said. "Wanna try again?"

I shrugged. "Maybe next week, buddy. Let me know if you get anything interesting in. I've got mouths to feed and variety is the spice of life."

Mason waved me off, and when I got back in the truck I Venmo'd him the hefty price on the receipt he'd stapled to one bag. I don't think I'd ever paid that much on a grocery bill in my life, and that was just the meat for the next week.

To be continued, Based on a post by Break The Bar for Literotica