Authors note.

As always my thanks to Neurparenthetical, whose untiring vigilance makes my illegible scribble readable. Any residual errors are left there purposely in order to give you guys something to do.

Enjoy. – and please, whatever you feel about the story feedback is always appreciated. I can’t improve if I don’t know where I am going wrong.

Caleb 18 - Proxy

Poor Jules was once again almost a drooling zombie, being swamped in Empathic power, only this time she had requested it. I had already enveloped her in love, trust, and gratitude, and when I had told the twins that she had been deprived of love by my ‘prohibition’ on them using their powers, each of them had pitched in with their own feelings of love.

Jules writhed in my lap in pleasure, looking almost as if she was in the throes of orgasm, but this one lasted far longer than any orgasm I had ever seen.

Eventually, we eased off, allowing the power to slowly ebb away. Sudden withdrawal would have been cruel. Jules finally lay still, panting a little. She turned her eyes up to me.

“Fuck!” she said. I had a feeling of deja-vu.

“You okay?” I inquired gently as she came down.

“Okay?” she repeated. “What did I agree to? Whom do I have to kill?”

I looked at her, puzzled.

“I thought if I was zapped with that much power,” she joked, “you must have wanted something big from me.”

“We did,” I said. “Mary and Amanda wanted to show you how much they loved you, and how sorry they were for what happened. I wanted to show you how much I loved you, and how sorry I was that my paranoia was depriving you of their love.”

Jules sat up and drew me down for a kiss. “I forgive you,” she said before climbing off my lap and repeating the process, first with Amanda, and then with Mary. Her kiss with Mary lingered longer; I guessed she wanted to be sure that Mary got the message.

Jules wandered over to the table where Mary’s folder was and picked it up.

“So,” she said, looking at the three of us, “are we going shopping or what?”

We decided to take both Amanda’s car and my truck since there was so much on our list, and so many people going. The girls rode with Amanda in her car. I said I would meet them at the store, as I had something I needed to do.

There was a ‘specialty’ store not too far from where we lived, and I went there first. I spent more money than I probably should have, but I hoped it would be worth it. I concealed a large box in the bed of my truck, and a smaller bag of goodies under the seat in the cab.

The girls had given me a head start, and so we arrived at the superstore pretty much at the same time. Then we went and spent a shit ton more money.

I never knew groceries were so expensive. We must have bought a full dozen chickens’ worth of meat, plus steak, ground beef, eggs, lamb, and several kinds of fish. I liked pork, but the girls weren’t that keen, so we only got a small amount. We asked Jules what Ness’s favorite meal was. If I was going to cook for her, I would need to practice. Jules didn’t know, but she texted Cheryl, who replied that Ness loved Italian food. She sent us some recipes to choose from. Jules had told Cheryl the plan for Ness’ birthday, she had thought it a sweet idea and promised she wouldn’t give away the secret.

I decided lasagne would be probably the safest bet, and we got several sets of ingredients for that. Between us, we managed to fill two shopping carts. We loaded the groceries into the two vehicles and set out for home. This time, Amanda rode with Jules, and Mary rode with me.

On the way back, I sent a message to the two girls in the other car.

“Would you girls be okay if I asked Mary for a date night tonight?”

I felt an immediate surge of arousal from Amanda, which I knew Mary felt too because her eyes went wide. Jules sent back a positive response, and I felt happiness from her too. It seemed that the thought of our reconciliation pleased them both.

“Okay,” said Mary, “what did I miss?”

I smiled at her. “I just asked the girls if they would mind if I asked you on a date night tonight.”

“A ‘going-out’ date?” she inquired.

“If you want,” I said, “to start.”

Mary flushed. “I think I might prefer to stay in,” she said, squirming a little in her seat.

“We could do that too,” I said in a low voice, happy that my truck was automatic. That meant I could put my hand on her knee, and I did, stroking it softly. She shivered.

When we got back to the house, we carried the first load of groceries in. Since she was the most experienced in the kitchen, Mary started putting it all away. I made two more trips to bring in the rest. I got a strange look from Amanda when I brought in the big box from my truck and sneaked it into one of the unoccupied bedrooms along with the bag. I spent about fifteen minutes setting up and then re-joined the girls in the kitchen, taking some ribbing about me disappearing when there was work to be done. Amanda excused herself, and came back pouting a few minutes later after she found out I had sealed the door into the spare room with TK. I grinned at her.

We shared the work of making dinner, and afterward, Amanda and Jules offered to clear up so that Mary and I could have our ‘date.’

We adjourned to the living room, and I sat on the couch, drawing Mary onto my lap. She cuddled into me.

“Caleb,” she said, lifting her head to look into my eyes. Once again, I was captivated by her golden orbs. “I am sorry. I know that even now you have doubts, and you are trying really hard to…”

I quieted her with a kiss. For a second I actually thought that she was going to pull away to continue what she had to say, but then she melted into me, and we lost ourselves in each other. I ran my hands over her and felt her respond. Her body was heating up and she was starting to grind into my lap, with predictable results.

I stood up, bringing her to her feet, and began to undress her while still holding her in the kiss. I could feel her wondering what was going on. We had never really had sex outside the bedroom before, and the thought that we might be seen both aroused and appalled her in equal measure. The arousal won out, and she stood unresisting as I gently removed her shirt, kissing every inch of flesh as it was exposed - first her shoulders, then her sides. My TK took care of her bra, and I spent some time worshipping her breasts, stroking and nibbling at them, before taking one of her diamond-hard nipples into my mouth and rolling it around with my tongue. She moaned and pushed her chest forward, forcing her breast further into my mouth. I increased my stimulation, using my TK to replicate, on the other breast, every lick, nip, and nibble.

While I was feasting on her breasts, I undid her jeans, and, again with a mix of my hands and TK, I removed them. Rather than getting her to lift her legs, I simply levitated her off the floor. I doubt she even noticed, as by that time I was also tracing small circles around her clit with a fingertip I had moistened by running it between her lower lips.

Mary was panting, gently thrusting her hips forward, pressing herself onto my fingers as I worked her body. As well as my mouth on her breasts and my fingers massaging her pussy and clit, I had let my TK run over her body, giving her the sensations of several mouths kissing and licking her all over. The ones on the back of her neck seemed to be having great effect, causing her to quiver with need, and I could sense her starting to build to her first, albeit small, orgasm.

Leaving my TK to take care of both her breasts, I kissed down her body across her belly and, kneeling in front of her, lapped at her pussy, slipping my tongue between her lips and drawing it up over her clit.

As I had done with Amanda, I used TK to gently pull her legs up and apart, supporting her entire weight. Since her eyes were closed, she didn’t seem to notice that she was literally floating in the middle of the living room while I feasted on her. She held my head as she ground herself into me, climbing toward her release, oblivious to everything going on around her. Amanda and Jules stood by the door watching quietly, although I could hear that what was happening was having quite an effect on Amanda.

I ignored them, as I could feel that Mary was getting close. She was thrusting hard into my mouth, wordlessly begging for me to suck her harder - to do something, anything to push her over the edge.

I stopped.

Mary mewled for a moment, still thrusting her hips forward against the air. I lowered her to the floor, and as she opened her eyes, she shifted from her butt to her knees. I could see her plan as she moved forward with a purpose, her hands reaching for my belt.

I allowed her to start to undo my belt. I held my hand out, and something small and black shot into it from where I had secreted it earlier. She had just gotten my pants open when she felt, rather than heard, the small ‘snick’ of the collar as I fastened it around her neck.

She froze, confusion running through her for a second, her hands moving to her neck to identify what was there. Then she felt the collar, and came.

It wasn’t the biggest orgasm she had ever had, but it released a lot of the pent-up frustration that she had had from my edging her a moment before. Amanda and Jules both watched with wide eyes, Amanda shivering from her echoed orgasm, as I clipped the lead I had just taken from my pocket to the collar and began to walk toward the hall. Mary looked up at me, still flushed from her orgasm, her pussy drooling and spasming, and began to follow, her breasts swinging gently from side to side as she crawled on hands and knees to wherever I was leading her.

I wished someone else was leading her just then because the thought of what her ass must have looked like as she was sensuously following me had me almost creaming myself.

Silently, Amanda and Jules followed. It was as if they were mesmerized by what was going on. Slowly I walked her down the hall, to the room I had prepared. Allowing the TK holding the door to dissipate, I pushed the door open. When Mary saw what was inside, she let out a long, low, groan, and came again.

Standing in the middle of the floor, where the bed should have been, was a pillory. It consisted of a bench onto which the ‘victim’ could be strapped, plus leg supports that would push her butt up into the air slightly, and then a portion just behind the actual pillory that would allow the ‘victim’s’ breasts to hang freely on either side. There was a large hole for her head, and smaller ones for her hands.

I heard a small squeak from behind me and turned around to see Amanda, eyes wide, staring at the device.

I led Mary around to the back of the device and encouraged her to mount up. Once I had locked her head and hands into position, I fastened the waist strap and the straps that held her legs on the leg supports. She was now effectively immobilized in the perfect ‘doggy’ position, giving me full access to everything she had to offer.

My final touch was the blindfold.

“You can watch if you want, but you must be quiet,” I sent to the other two, and she moved across and sat on the small two-seater in the corner. What surprised me more was that Jules went and sat next to her.

I walked around Mary, touching her, and stroking her head. When I put my hand to her cheek, she pressed into me, moaning slightly. I ran my hand down her back and then cupped her ass, gently massaging first one cheek, then the other.

I knelt behind her and breathed in her scent. She was musky and spicy. Her lips were coated with her juices from her previous orgasm, and I ran my tongue in a broad swipe, from her clit all the way to her asshole. She jumped and moaned.

I slowly and methodically began to eat her, lapping and sucking at the engorged labia before parting her lips and sliding my tongue into her as deep as I could go. She moaned as I slurped and licked at her, trying her best to push back on me, but unable to move because of the restraints. I would lap and nip at her clit before running my tongue up the length of her silt, taking time to swirl around her opening and push inside. Then I’d withdraw and drag it all the way up her asshole, which once again I would spend some time circling with the tip of my tongue.

I could feel her heating up; her thighs were beginning to shake as once more her climax began to build. I started pulling and tweaking at her nipples with my TK as I was lavishing attention on her pussy and ass. She growled low in her throat. I sped up, spending more time on her clit before moving up to thrust my tongue inside her. I cheated there, too, using TK to make it feel like I was pushing my tongue far deeper into her than was actually possible. I remembered what I had done to Josh, and started licking directly at her G-spot with a TK ‘tongue,’ even as my actual tongue was either lapping at her clit, or working its way into her twitching butthole.

Mary started a low but constant moan as her climax approached. I increased the severity of the TK working her nipples. They were being pulled and stretched, fully engorged with blood. I held out my hands theatrically and pulled two more devices from my purchases that afternoon into them with my power. I held them in readiness; I needed the timing to be just right.

I increased the pressure on her G-spot and began to concentrate on her clit, knowing she was close. I felt her orgasm bubble up; just as she was on the very edge of exploding, I fastened my mouth over her pussy, and snapped the nipple clamps closed.

My ears hurt from her shriek, and my cheeks bulged as she shot a huge load of girlcum into my mouth. I sat back, holding it in my mouth, working her clit with my fingers as she rode out her orgasm. Her pussy spasmed, alternately gaping and clenching, with shots of her juices being forced out each time. I left my TK to continue the ministration to her clit as I moved on my knees until I was in front of her once more. I lifted her head and kissed her, forcing her own cum into her mouth. She greedily sucked it down, her tongue invading my mouth searching for more as she shuddered and spasmed.

It took her a few minutes for her to come down, and for that time I knelt in front of her, stroking her hair and peppering her face and lips with gentle kisses. The nipple clamps were still in place, but I guessed that that sensation had dulled somewhat during her orgasm.

I glanced across at Amanda and Jules. Amanda was wide-eyed and naked. Jules was holding her, and I was surprised to see that she had her hand between Amanda’s legs, alternately rubbing her clit and dipping two fingers inside of her. I guessed what she said about being happy to lend a hand from time to time had been true.

It was time for the main event. With a last kiss to her lips, I stood, bringing my straining cock up in front of her face. Mary felt it, and probably smelled it, and opened her mouth obediently – hungrily, even. She struggled in the pillory, trying to thrust her mouth forward. I smiled wickedly, denying her for just one moment. Then I put my hands on her head to hold her in position, penetrated her mouth, and began slowly to fuck her face. I pulled my cock almost all the way out, and then slowly fed it back until her lips were crushed against me. She gagged a little but made no effort to try and pull away – not that it would have done her any good. A mix of her spit and my precum started to drool from the corners of her mouth as I repeated the move. Mary rubbed her tongue over the underside of my meat as I pulled back, obviously trying to increase my pleasure and make me give her what she wanted: my cum. That wasn’t happening, though. After a dozen long, slow, deep thrusts, I pulled my cock out of her mouth, moved to her rear, and shoved it brutally up her cunt.

She gasped at the sudden penetration and then jumped as a blob of cold lube landed on her asshole. I started a languorous movement of long strokes in and out of her pussy as I worked my first finger inside her ass, pushing lube inside and beginning to stretch her out. Although she was still technically an anal virgin, Amanda had been playing with her back there for quite some time, so her asshole blossomed reasonably easily. I was quickly able to add a second and then a third finger, stretching her out, all the time continuing with the long, slow strokes in her pussy.

I started to feel my balls rising, so I pulled out of her, but she never noticed. My TK took over where my cock had left off. Her first anal with a real cock was also going to be her first DP. I still wasn’t sure how to classify my TK. It seemed like it was simultaneously more and less than a physical sex toy. ‘Virtual DP’ didn’t sound perfect, but it was close enough.

I continued to fuck her with my TK cock while working my fingers as deep as they would go, getting her butthole ready for my full length and hardness. She once again began to build towards climax. I was going to make sure that the next one was as good as I could make it. If she was still conscious at the end, I would consider that I had failed her.

She gasped as she felt the head of my cock pressing against her rosebud. I felt a moment of confusion from her; she could still feel what she thought was my cock pumping in and out of her pussy. She was a clever girl, though, even when she was cum-drunk and ready to cum again. Even more than that, she trusted me. As much as she could, bound as she still was, she slumped her shoulders and arched her back. She submitted to the sensation of having one cock inside of her while another prepared to invade.

I pressed harder, and her asshole slipped over my head like a hot, velvet glove. She shivered as I slowly but steadily, in a single thrust, pushed all the way inside her ass, spreading her cheeks wider to get maximum penetration.

I pulled back until just my head was inside her, then applied more lube to my shaft and pushed forward once again.

She started that low moan again as I picked up the pace, timing my thrusts to counterpoint the virtual ones I was giving her pussy. As my TK cock went in, I pulled my real one out. When my TK cock withdrew, I slid all the way back in, reveling in the heat and the feeling of the tight band of muscle wrapped around me.

I sped up even more, increasing the pace and intensity of both intruders to match each other. The harder I plowed her rump with my rock-hard flesh and blood, the harder my TK reamed her slick channel.

I had one more purchase in my bag of tricks, and I heard Amanda’s gasp as it floated across to me: a paddle.

Mary was trying her best to push back against me, to meet my thrusts into her ass. She was still unbalanced by the counterpoint fucking she was getting in her pussy, and her natural submissiveness was bumping up hard against her mounting need to cum. The pillory’s restraints held easily, but I could tell she was testing them. I wasn’t concerned. I was much more focused on the loud and incredibly-sexy ‘oh oh oh’ noises she was making each time I rammed into her.

I could feel both our orgasms approaching; once again, I needed to time everything perfectly. I was a little bit ahead of her, so I decided to give her an assist. The crack of the paddle hitting her ass cheek was followed immediately by a shriek from Mary. She jumped ahead of me in the race to climax, and I was concerned I had gone too far and that she would come too soon. I used my powers to push it down a little, and then brought the paddle down again on her other cheek. She squealed again, and once more I had to hold off her orgasm. I was close, but not ready yet.

By the time I had delivered five good swats to each cheek, her ass was crimson and giving off an amazing amount of heat. She was practically insane with the need to come. I had held her literally on the brink for the last four or five minutes, and she was now keeping up a high-pitched, keening wail. I felt my balls tightening and knew that my own time had come.

With a final, brutal thrust, I rammed my cock as deep into her ass as I could reach, while simultaneously using the one in her pussy to push deep and massage her G-Spot. I yanked the nipple clamps off and released her orgasm just in time for me to start pumping a huge load of my cum deep inside her.

My cock pulsed and throbbed, delivering its payload deep into her bowels as she twitched and thrashed through her orgasm, her asshole spasming around my throbbing meat. She looked for all the world like I had wired her to the electricity supply. I looked across at Amanda and saw her, back arched, sharing her sister’s orgasm while Jules appeared to have her whole hand inside her, fisting her. The look on Jules’ face was priceless. It was like she was a race car driver, and Amanda was her car. Her need to push it to the very limit was a point of pride.

Finally, my orgasm abated, and I eased out of Mary’s asshole. My cock came free with a pop, and gouts of my spunk gushed from her now gaping hole to run across her equally-gaping pussy before drooling to the floor.

I stroked her back and moved to kneel by her head, which was hanging down. I lifted the blindfold. Her eyes were closed. I smiled a little; mission accomplished.

She didn’t stay out for very long. As she started to rouse herself, I pressed gentle kisses to her lips and cheeks whilst stroking her hair.

She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times, still a little confused from the massive orgasm, and then finally focused those gorgeous golden orbs on me. Then she spoke.

“Fuck!”

I ran the bath in the main bathroom, which was big enough for four, and gently lifted first Mary, and then Amanda, into the warm, scented water. Between us, Jules and I got them both cleaned - although Mary took a little more cleaning than Amanda - and then tucked them up into bed, where they curled up in each other’s arms and fell immediately to sleep.

I cleaned up the playroom, and then Jules and I showered together.

“Thank you for looking after Amanda,” I said to her. “I have to say, I was surprised to see you getting so ‘hands-on.’”

“Don’t you mean ‘hand in?’” she said, smiling at me. “I told you. I like making you guys feel good. Just because the chef doesn’t eat meat doesn’t mean she won’t cook you a steak from time to time.”

I pulled her into a hug. We were both naked, but despite the fact that my cock was pressed almost right against her pussy, it didn’t stir.

“I don’t know how we got so lucky to find you,” I said.

She gazed up at me, and I once again got lost in those deep brown pools. I was waiting for some quip, but it never came. She just reached up and pulled me down for one of her loving kisses, and then we finished washing each other and got out of the shower.

After all that TK use, I needed a snack, so I went into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. Jules declined my offer to make her one. I made us both some hot chocolate, and we sat out in the cool night air on the deck, sipping our drinks.

“You know Ness isn’t going to change her mind,” she said after a while.

“I know,” I said, “but I can’t steal the last of her childhood from her. I just can’t think about her in that way while she is still a child. I know people will think it’s strange - that a date on a calendar makes that much difference, and she will be no different aged seventeen years and three-hundred-sixty-four days than she will be the day after - but it matters. Something inside me just says it would be wrong.

“Maybe it’s the same something that stopped me from going rogue with my powers, who knows? I’m sorry, Jules. I love Ness, I really do, and when the time is right, if she still wants it, we will be ready for her. I just can’t be ready until then.”

“I think she is a bit scared that if you spend the next year thinking of her as your sister,” she explained, “you will see her like that forever. She is scared you won’t want to make love to her.”

I thought about that for a second and then smiled.

“When we were in the shower just now,” I said, “and we hugged, what happened?”

She looked at me, puzzled.

“You thanked me for looking after Amanda and I kissed you,” she answered.

“And where was my cock?” I pressed.

“It was pressing up against my pussy,” she said, still not sure where I was going.

“And did it get hard?”

“No, as I told you: your body doesn’t waste resources, your cock knows it’s getting nothing from me, so it doesn’t even bother anymore.”

I nodded.

“Think back to your parent’s house,” I said, “on the second night you needed to ‘scratch your itch.’ When you decided you wanted to feel me and Mary. You grabbed my cock then.”

She blushed. “I was horny,” she said. “You know I get like that at that time.”

“I know, but was it hard then?”

She grinned at me, finally seeing my point.

“When the time is right,” I said, “if Ness still wants to be with me, I will have no difficulties seeing her as exactly what she will be then: a beautiful, sexy, horny young woman. But until that time, she is still a beautiful, innocent, child.”

Jules snorted at that, but didn’t comment further.

Both of us having finished our drinks, I picked Jules up and carried her into the bedroom. Amanda and Mary were still curled up together, and I set Jules down on the bed before curling up behind her. She pressed herself back into me with a sigh, and I flexed my power, bathing all four of us with love.

+++++++

I opened my eyes to find myself gazing into a mesmerizing set of golden eyes. Mary was laid, Amanda curled up behind her, her eyes fixed on me.

“Good morning,” I said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got well and truly fucked,” she said, smiling a little. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“Your reaction to my plan for Dianna kind of gave me the original idea,” I replied. “Then I went to the store to get some stuff and saw that pillory, and I just knew.”

“Amanda shared her memory of it,” she said. “It was almost as amazing to watch as to experience.”

“Share it with me?” I asked. “I wanted to see your ass while I was leading you down the corridor.”

“Maybe I will,” she said, “when it’s your turn.”

“My turn?” I asked uncertainly.

“You took our anal virginities,” she said, “and blew our minds. We are going to have to return the favor at some time. Maybe one night I’ll ask Josh to help out…”

My cock stiffened at that thought.

“But for right now,” she purred, “I have a different payback in mind.”

“Paybaaaahhh…” I started to say nervously as she moved down the bed, and in one movement swallowed my cock.

Mary wasn’t messing around. She took me to the very back of her throat and swallowed, causing some amazing sensations in the head of my cock. She pulled back and swirled her tongue around the head, dipping the tip into the slit before caressing the underside for a few moments. Then, she deepthroated me once again.

She brought her hands into play also, using one to gently caress and tease at my balls whilst using two fingers from the other to start massaging my asshole. The next time she pulled back, she stuck her fingers into her mouth, wetting them thoroughly before once again deepthroating me, this time working her now-lubricated fingers inside me.

It didn’t take long for her attention to bear fruit. I could feel my belly tightening and my balls rising. She hooked her fingers inside my ass and was massaging my prostate gently, causing me to shoot spurts of precum into her mouth, which she swallowed noisily. Then she pulled her mouth right off me, and, while still pumping her fingers up my ass, began to wank my cock, pointing it directly into her open mouth, keeping her tawny eyes fixed on mine. That visual, along with the sensational feelings she was creating, was too much for me. I moaned as my cock flexed. Mary closed her lips over the end of it, using the tip of her tongue to massage the underside as I shot rope after rope of thick creamy spunk into her mouth. She didn’t miss a drop, and by the time I was sated and her stimulation started to feel a little too intense, her cheeks bulged.

I rested my head back and sighed in contentment. She eased her fingers out of me and milked the last drops of my cum into her mouth. Then I found out what payback meant.

Mary climbed up my body and kissed me, forcing her tongue into my mouth. My eyes widened as she snowballed my entire load into me and I reflexively swallowed, drinking my own cum from her kiss. She continued until she had fed me my entire load, and I had swallowed every drop.

When it was all gone, she kissed me again, and then relaxed on top of me, sighing in pleasure.

I didn’t quite know what to make of what had happened. I had never been averse to the taste of my own cum. It was a quick and easy clean-up sometimes, but I wondered at her motivation for what she had just done. She had said it had been payback. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if she was just being sexy, or if I’d actually done something wrong. Then I wondered if maybe she thought that I might like being dominated.

I looked at her aura, and all I saw was light blue – contentment - but that didn’t answer my question. After all, she’d already gotten her ‘payback.’

“Mary?” I asked tentatively – I had to know.

“Hmmm?” she said sleepily.

“Did I hurt you last night?” I asked. “I mean, more than you wanted, or do something you didn’t like?”

She raised her head and looked at me. I saw a fringe of yellow starting to creep into her aura.

“No,” she said. “Last night was wonderful. When you fed me my own cum, it was the most erotic thing I had ever experienced. I thought…”

“Then thank you for doing it for me,” I said, smiling at her.”

“Did you not like it?” she asked.

“I did,” I said truthfully. “I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t gone too far last night is all. That is really the first time I have done anything like that. I was kind of playing it by ear. I’m not really into pain myself, so I don’t really know how far to go.”

“It was perfect,” she said, settling her head on my chest. “Not something to do all the time, but for special occasions…”

I looked at the clock. It was past six in the morning. I had overslept, but I didn’t care. I decided to take the morning off from my training and snuggled into Mary to snooze for a couple more hours.

When I woke again, I found I was alone. I got up and attended to business, had a shower, then went to find the others.

I found them all in the kitchen, preparing a packed lunch. Since it was apparently a nice day – I hadn’t looked outside yet – we were going for a picnic. It had been decided and acted upon without me, and I didn’t mind at all. It was a nice idea.

Josh and Louise joined us for our day out, and we spent a great day chilling and just being students for once. I had forgotten what that was like.

When we got back to the house, I made my first attempt at making lasagne. Mary had to rescue me, though, because I couldn’t figure out half of the instructions. It ended up being a joint effort, and the result was quite nice, despite my forgetting to put the garlic bread in the oven until the lasagne was almost ready – meaning we ate it more as a dessert. After cleanup duty, our evening was spent much like our day. It was remarkably normal, and I liked that. Of course I was never very far from one of my girls, but all of us read, watched TV, or just chatted.

It was after eleven, and I was just considering going to bed, when I felt something weird from Ness. I couldn’t define it.

“Ness?” I sent.

“Caleb?” she returned, “Caleb, I don’t feel well.”

“Where are you?”

“I came to the dance with Bobby. Now I can’t find him. This boy was helping me, but now I feel weird, and he and his friends say they are going to take me home.”

Alarm bells rang immediately.

“Do you have your phone with you?” I sent, being almost certain that Dean would have location sharing enabled.

I got a positive response.

“Jules,” I snapped, “Ness is in trouble. Call Pops and see if he can track her phone. If so, tell him to get to her ASAP.”

She picked up her phone and made the call.

“Ness, where are you?” I asked.

“They are taking me to their car,” she said, “I feel funny.”

“Dad’s on his way,” Jules said. “He says she’s twenty minutes from him.”

“Ness, can you show me what you can see?” I sent.

I got an image of four guys, probably around my age or older, one was walking in front, while three others were crowding around her. They were laughing, as they ‘helped’ her toward a car. I saw the guy in the front press a keyfob and the car beeped.

I decided I had enough cause to see what they were planning. I tried to read his mind. It was like trying to force my mind through thick treacle. I pushed as hard as I could and eventually managed to get a look. It was exactly as I had feared. It appeared that they had paid Bobby to spike her drink and then disappear. It was something he had done before, and because he was always elsewhere with a rock-solid alibi, he was never suspected when girls he had gone to parties with had been raped. They didn’t use him all the time; they rotated between half a dozen guys, paying them a couple of hundred dollars. The money meant nothing to them; they were all working good jobs and had plenty. What they didn’t have was teen pussy, and that’s what they were going to get tonight.

That had been their plan, anyway. They didn’t realize it, but their crime spree was about to end.

I imagined the guy I was reading turning around to protect Ness. I figured if I could get one or two of them on her side, they could hold out until Dean got there.

My Compulsion didn’t work. It must have been too far. Even with the proxy, they were over five hundred miles from me. I tried again with the same result.

I tried my TK. I lifted the keys from his hand and lobbed them as far as I could throw them. They disappeared into the night.

“What the fuck?” he said.

“What happened?” asked the guy on Ness’s left.

“My keys,” the first guy said. “They just launched themselves over there somewhere.”

“Is the car open?” asked the second.

“Yeah.”

“Okay then,” the second said, “you go look for your keys. We’ll keep Little Miss Pretty here company until you get back.”

“Fine,” the first one said, “but save her ass for me. It’s my turn.”

He stomped off to try and find his keys. I wasn’t worried he would find them. I estimated I had thrown them nearly a thousand yards.

“Ness, look at the guy to your left,” I said. She turned her head.

I tried my Compulsion once again, imagining with all my might that he would protect Ness - keep the other boys from hurting her until Dean got there. I saw his eyes glaze for a second and I thought I had succeeded, but then he shook his head and I knew I hadn’t.

They had reached the car, and I was running out of ideas.

I sealed the doors with TK – that, I could do. They cursed as they tried to open them.

“I thought that dumb fuck opened the car?” said one.

“He said he did,” said another.

“Never mind – bring her here,” said the first, and Ness was taken around the front of the car, before being pressed up against it. I could see all three boys now, leering at her. I knew exactly what they had in mind, and I was almost powerless to prevent it. The only power that seemed to work at this distance was TK. I knew that subtlety wasn’t going to get me much farther. I decided to damn the consequences and work with what I had.

I picked up the first of the boys and threw him twenty feet backwards.

He yelped as he went airborne, and cried out as he landed, twisting his ankle and falling to the ground.

The two other boys looked around, surprised by the sudden departure of their buddy. Moments later, rapist two went airborne. I deliberately threw him at his downed buddy, intending to cause maximum confusion and hopefully some minor injuries. I would have actually been quite happy to decapitate all four of them, but I suspected Maggie would have something to say about it if I did.

The final boy, still trying to figure out what was going on, also went airborne, also landing on his two buddies.

“Ness, get in the car,” I sent.

She stumbled around to the driver’s door, which I unsealed and she got in. Once she was in, I re-sealed the doors.

Two of the boys were up quickly; the third was still down, clutching his ankle. The one who had gone to find the keys came running back.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“That bitch,” one said. “She must know kung-fu or some shit.”

“That girl kicked all three of your asses?” the driver asked. Even from inside the car I could see the smirk.

“She surprised us,” said the downed guy. “Help me up, then we’ll go and take care of the little cunt.”

They hauled him to his feet, and then converged on the car. They tried the doors, but obviously, they wouldn’t open.

“She’s locked herself in.”

“Open the door, bitch,” said the guy who was the apparent leader. “If we have to break a window, after we fuck you, I’ll shove every piece of broken glass up your cunt.”

Ness cowered in the car, crying.

“Ness, I have you,” I sent, “I’ll keep you safe. Your Daddy is on the way. Just stay calm and watch them.”

They rattled the car doors again, and one picked up a rock.

“Hey man – that’s my car,” said the driver.

“I’ll pay for the window,” said the leader.

He swung his arm back, bringing the rock toward the window. It flew out of his hand, hitting the driver full in the face. He went down like he’d been poleaxed. I hoped I hadn’t killed him. I hadn’t used much power – just enough to change the projectile’s direction.

“What the fuck man?” said guy number two. “What did you do?”

“It slipped,” the leader said. “Is he okay?”

“What do you think?” said guy number three. “You just smashed him in the face with a rock.” He bent over the guy on the floor, who groaned. “You didn’t kill him, at least. We’d better call nine-one-one.”

“Don’t be stupid,” snapped the leader. “If they turn up and find her in our car, we’ll be sunk. Drag him over there and get him sat up. Let’s deal with this cunt first, and then we’ll take him to the hospital.”

“Let’s just go,” said guy number two. “It’s not as if we can even get to her without the keys.”

“We have to get to her,” said the leader. “If we don’t get the pictures to use against her, she’ll go to the cops.”

He bent down and picked up the rock he had just brained his buddy with.

“Last chance, bitch,” he shouted. “Open the fucking door.”

Ness – less scared now - looked at him, and then flipped him the bird. I was touched by her confidence in me.

He was going to make sure this time. He leaned on the car, his left hand on the door pillar, and drew back with the rock in his right, ready to smash the window. He swung with all his might, and, wouldn’t you know it, his aim was off. He drove the rock into the back of his other hand. He screamed, dropping the rock, his smashed hand dripping blood.

The leader turned away from the car and leaned over, vomiting due to the pain, cradling his injury under his opposite arm.

“What the fuck did you do now?” asked guy number two incredulously. “How the fuck did you manage to miss the window and hit your own fucking hand?”

The leader was on his knees, sobbing in pain. The other two guys looked on, uncertain of what to do.

“Call nine-one-one,” said guy two. “Then we split.”

I saw car headlights bathe the scene, and heard a truck pull up. A big man – easily six feet tall - stepped out.

It was Dean.

He took in the scene in one glance, seeing Ness in the car, the two injured boys, and the two others. He grabbed the pair of uninjured boys and cracked their heads together. They both slumped to the ground, unconscious.

I released my hold on the car doors as he approached, and he opened the door, gathering his daughter in his arms. Gently, he lifted her and carried her to his truck.

Suddenly the area was lit with red and blue lights as a police cruiser and an ambulance arrived.

I lost the connection with Ness. I wasn’t sure if she had finally succumbed to whatever it was they had given her, or if something else had happened.

I looked around, three anxious faces stared at me. For some reason, Amanda had a towel in her hand, and it was soaked in blood. I looked down at myself. My nose had been bleeding. I hadn’t noticed.

I heard Jules’ phone ring, and she picked up. I decided to go clean myself up. I stood up, and that was the last I remembered.

*******

I was woken by an insistent beeping. I figured it was my alarm, although I didn’t remember setting one, nor why it would be that particular tone. My usual alarm sounded different. I tried to lift my arm to silence it and found that it was immobile. Someone was holding onto it.

I cracked my eyes, only to find myself in a totally unfamiliar room. Well, at least it wasn’t my bedroom. I’d seen enough television programs to recognize almost instantly that I was in the hospital.

I looked down at myself and found Jules, asleep, her head on my arm. Amanda, predictably was asleep on my other side. I couldn’t see Mary.

I looked around a little. The beeping was the EKG monitor. The noise began to grate on me almost immediately. I also noticed that I had an IV in the arm that Jules wasn’t currently drooling on as she slept.

I looked at the door as it opened and Mary came in, carrying three cups of coffee. She smiled when she saw I was awake.

“Welcome back,” she said.

Amanda jerked awake, looking to where the noise had come from, before noting Mary smiling at me. She turned her eyes to me.

“Caleb!” she yipped. That woke Jules. She looked at me.

“Hey you,” she said softly. “How’s it going?”

“Seems to be going okay,” I croaked, “except I have no clue why I’m here or how long I’ve been here. How’s Ness?”

“Ness is fine,” said Jules, “thanks to you. They checked her over at the hospital and let her go home.” She looked at her watch. “If I don’t miss my guess, they should be here anytime.”

“Here?” I said puzzled, “Why?”

“Because they heard that you damn near killed yourself to save her,” she said, “and they want to come and kick your ass.”

“I didn’t nearly kill myself,” I scoffed. “I had a little nosebleed is all.”

“That little nosebleed was nearly a pint of blood,” said Mary, “but that wasn’t the problem. You used up all your energy. When they got you in here your blood glucose was zero point two. I’m sure you remember from anatomy one-oh-one that your brain needs glucose to function. If you had carried on for much longer you would have quite literally starved yourself to death.”

“How long have I been out?” I asked.

“Fourteen hours,” she said. “It’s just after lunch, Sunday.”

The word lunch triggered my hunger, and my stomach growled. I was suddenly ravenous.

The door opened again and a doctor came in, followed by a nurse. He chased the girls out while they did their checks, and, finding that I could remember who I was, and could move all my requisite parts, told me to get some rest and that I would be able to leave the following day. He cautioned me about eating regularly, and mentioned something about wrestling. I put the pieces together fairly quickly. It was a good fib: starvation diet to cut weight. I suspected Mary had come up with it.

I let him ramble on for a while, and then my stomach rumbled again.

“Can I get some food then?” I asked, and he seemed pleased.

“I’ll get the nurses to make you something,” he said, and left the room, allowing the girls back in.

Shortly after that, a nurse came in carrying a tray, on which was a sandwich and a glass of milk.

“Do you think you will be able to manage all that?” she asked, smiling. “If the sandwich is too much, at least drink the milk.”

Jules sniggered, but it clicked with me. The lie had been good, but it hadn’t really convinced anyone. They all thought I had an eating disorder.

“I think I’ll manage,” I said, and both the sandwich and milk were gone before she got to the door.

She turned to say something and looked at my plate. I swear she actually looked under the bed.

“I was hungry,” I said. “Is there any more?”

At that point, the door burst open, and Dean, Cheryl, and Ness came in. Dean was carrying two big bags of food cartons.

“Grub up!” he said, and would have dropped them into my lap, had a certain teen not been occupying that space just then. Ness had hurled herself onto the bed and was hugging me.

“I’m sorry,” she cried, soaking the front of my hospital gown. “You told me to watch out for that, and I never even noticed. I didn’t see any of those guys go near my drink. I only drank what Bobby gave me, just like you said. I’m sorry you got hurt because of me.”

“Ness,” I said gently, “it wasn’t because of you. It was Bobby that drugged you. Those boys paid him.”

Cheryl gasped and Dean growled.

“But if you want to make it up to me...” I continued, and she looked up at me, willing to do anything I asked.

“Let me eat?” I finished. “I’m starving.”

She scrambled off the bed and then insisted on feeding me while Dean told me his part of the tale.

“I was just on my way to pick Ness up,” Dean said. “Bobby said the dance finished at twelve, but I didn’t want to be late. That’s when Jules called. I looked on the location map, and saw Ness was in the back carpark of the hall, so I hauled ass. On the way, I called the sheriff, and told him that Ness had rung me and told me she had been spiked, but that I had heard some guys telling her to hang up and the phone had gone dead. He said he would meet me there with the EMTs.

“When I got there, I saw Ness in a strange car, one guy spark out on the floor, another nursing an injury, and two others arguing about what to do. I put those two down and then went to see Ness.

“The sheriff arrived about thirty seconds later, and the EMTs just behind. The EMTs got tied up looking after the four boys, so I put Ness in my truck and took her to the hospital. They checked her over and let her go.

“The two I put down woke up pretty quickly and told the sheriff what had happened. He now thinks that they are the most inept group of idiots he ever met. One guy can’t hold onto his car keys, another busts his own friend in the face with a rock before smashing his own hand. He’ll be dining out on that story for years. Needless to say, all four are going to Jail. From what the Sheriff says they found evidence on their phones of a number of other rapes.”

I was finally feeling sated, having eaten pretty much everything that Dean had brought.

I laid back and sighed.

“Your turn,” he said.

“Didn’t Ness tell you?” I asked.

“I didn’t really see what happened,” Ness said, “I just remember feeling dizzy and those guys leading me out of the room. After that, it’s all kind of a blur.”

I sent them all my memory of the incident.

Everyone converged on Ness, hugging her, having seen how close she had come to being gang-raped.

Cheryl then came over and hugged me. “Thank you for saving my little girl,” she said.

“Well,” I said, “if we’re being pedantic, it was you who saved her.”

Cheryl looked puzzled.

“If you guys hadn’t convinced us to add Ness to the bond, I wouldn’t have even known she was in trouble.”

“That aside,” said Dean, “once again you put yourself on the line for someone else, and that someone was my little girl. The most annoying thing is that we can’t tell anyone about it.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t do it for the plaudits,” I said, “I had a date, and I didn’t want her crying off.”

“You’re coming up in for Christmas?” asked Ness.

“If that’s okay?” I said.

“Caleb,” said Dean, “as far as we are concerned, our home is your home, anytime. Let me know when and I’ll send Gerry with the jet to pick you up. Save you the long drive.”

I had opened my mouth to thank him when the door opened and a new nurse walked in. She looked at all the people in the room and frowned.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Visiting time is over.”

“But we’re his girlfriends,” said Jules, Mary, Amanda, and surprisingly Ness in complete unison.

The nurse looked from girl to girl, and then at me. I shrugged.

She then looked at Dean and Cheryl, “And you are?”

“In-laws,” Dean said, “but we’ll get out of your hair, as will this tyke.” He put his hand on Ness’s shoulder. “Someone has school tomorrow.”

Ness made a face, but didn’t argue.

Dean came over to the bed and clasped my hand. “That’s one more I owe you,” he said.

“Leave Bobby to me,” I sent to him. “I’ll make that little shit wish he was never born. You don’t need to go to jail for it.”

I had seen his thoughts when he had found out Bobby had been the one to drug Ness. I hadn’t been far wrong when I’d spoken about unmarked graves somewhere on his land.

He looked at me for a long minute and then nodded. “I’ll see you when you come up,” he said.

Cheryl came over and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek.

“I so want to slap you again for putting yourself in danger,” she said. “But it was for my little girl…”

I hugged her back. “Maybe a light spanking sometime?” I joked, and she blushed.

Then it was Ness’s turn. She hugged me yet again, and whispered, “One year, six months, and fourteen days,” before pecking me on the cheek and stepping back.

The three gave each of the girls a hug and then left. The door had barely closed when Dianna walked in. The nurse objected, but Dianna merely flashed her badge and told her to wait outside. She walked over to the side of my bed and looked down at me, her face unreadable.

“Show me,” she demanded. I was half of mind to tell her to fuck off, but in the spirit of our new relationship, I sent her the memory. I did make the mistake of sending her all the memories from when I first felt Ness was in danger to the present moment.

It took her half a second to assimilate the information, then she nodded.

“Justified,” she said.

I blinked.

“What now?” I asked.

“As Maggie said in her office,” she explained, “you are under observation. Every time we hear about you using your powers on Norms, it has to be investigated, especially if those norms suffer injuries as a result.”

“And just how, exactly, did you hear?” I asked, deliberately holding her gaze so my eyes wouldn’t stray to Mary, although my aura must have given me away.

“Everyone you are intimately involved with is on a watch list,” she said. “When any reports come in involving any of them, they are checked. The report the sheriff filed in this case was dead obvious to somebody who actually knows about powers. Given the particulars, that’s not a criticism. It’s just a fact.

“Two of the boys got hurt. One has a fractured cheek and concussion, and the other may actually lose the use of his hand. Those are not insignificant injuries. We had to be certain they were not gratuitous.”

I looked past her and held my hand out to Mary, who came over and took it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

She smiled a little sadly. “It will take time, but one day I hope you will trust me again.”

“I saw that you tried to Compel some of the gang to protect Ness,” Dianna said, “and that, given the distance, you were unsuccessful. The fact that your TK works over such a distance even through a proxy shows how much you have been training it. You need to bring your other powers up to par.

“I also saw what you said to Dean about Bobby. What are your plans there?”

“Honestly, I don’t have any,” I said. “I just knew that he would go after him, possibly or even probably kill him, and end up in a shitload of trouble. I was hoping I could come up with something bad enough to satisfy Pops without him getting into trouble for it.”

Dianna nodded. “Then leave Bobby to me,” she said. “He’s going to get arrested in any case. The boys gave him up, along with the other boys they had gotten to do their dirty work for them. Underage white boys in middle America don’t usually face consequences, but, being who we are, there are perks. I’m happy to call in a favor or two to make sure this little shit gets fucked.

“Caleb,” she continued, “I’m going to say this because it is my job. It doesn’t reflect my own personal feelings, nor Maggie’s. You shouldn’t have put yourself at risk like that. Ness was at risk, yes, but in all likelihood, she would have survived. I know you didn’t know the perps’ m.o., but they would rape their victims and take photographs, making it look like the victims had agreed to the sex. Then they would threaten blackmail if the police were called.”

She looked at Jules apologetically before finishing. “Ness would have come out alive, and even if she didn’t, she wasn’t worth risking yourself over. You are too valuable an asset to waste.”

Jules jumped to her feet, but I put my hand on her arm.

“I’m glad that isn’t yours or Maggie’s position,” I returned quietly, “so that my response isn’t to either you or her. But just for the record, that response is ‘FUCK YOU.’ Even if I wasn’t already in love with Ness, she was an innocent being preyed upon. Isn’t the FBI all about sacrificing one’s self to protect the innocent? I will continue to protect those I can, with every power at my disposal, against such predators, powered or unpowered. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of my own risk, so my getting hurt was stupidity rather than bravery. But, even if I had been aware, I would have done nothing differently.”

She nodded. “I figured that,” she said, and then turned to Jules fully. “And you can believe me or not, but had I been in the same position as Caleb, I personally would have acted in exactly the same way.”

Jules looked at her steadily for a second, and then looked at me.

“Is she using her powers?” she asked, and I shook my head. She bit her cheek and then sat down, not looking at Dianna. I suspected that relationship had suffered a setback, but hopefully not a fatal one.

Dianna looked at her sadly for a second.

“Last thing, and I’ll leave you alone,” she said to me. “Training tomorrow is at the office. Since you don’t start back at university until next week, Maggie thought it would be a great opportunity to get some students in to train your mind reading. I think she even might have lined up a healer to at least talk to you about what is involved in their training.”

“What time?” I asked. “I don’t know what time I’m going to be released from here.”

“If you can, be at the office for two,” she said. “Send me a text if you are delayed here, but otherwise they will be expecting you.”

She turned and hugged her girls, once again giving a sad glance toward Jules, who was on the opposite side of my bed to her. Then she left the room. I saw Jules was still very upset, so I flexed my own power slightly and once again wrapped her in love. I saw her eyes widen and guessed she thought it was Dianna. I put my hand on her arm.

“That’s mine,” I said. “Just a quick reminder.”

She relaxed and took my hand, pressing it to her cheek. “I never said ‘thank you’ for saving my sister.”

“You know I wouldn’t let anyone harm any of our family,” I said. “And besides, her ass is mine!” I shot her a lascivious grin, and she grinned in response.

“I wonder what Ness will think when I send her that memory,” she said, and I paled.

“Don’t you dare,” I said.

She smiled at me sweetly and then said, “Oops – too late.”

I felt a huge surge of arousal from Ness, and I glowered at Jules. The twins were watching us.

“I’ll keep it warm for you,” came from Ness, and I blushed.

“She knows you love her,” Jules said, “and now she is reassured that you will love her, as she loves you, when the time is right.”

“Did you forget what I said?” I asked, getting annoyed. “It’s like we’re grooming her.”

“Bullshit,” said Jules heatedly. “Ness is old enough to get married with her parents’ consent, and they would give that in an instant. This is all about you and your particular hangups. She loves you, Caleb, and is prepared to wait until either you get your head out of your ass or she is eighteen. I suspect it will be the latter, but she will wait. But you can’t keep pushing her away. Let her love you, knowing that nothing physical will happen between you until then. This brother/sister bullshit is messing with both of your heads.

“Besides, if you remember how teens behave, since you are denying her, she is never going to break the fixation. Nothing is as attractive as that which is forbidden. Let her be your ‘girlfriend,’ and you never know. When she gets what she wants, she might decide it’s not as shiny as it looked from the outside. You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Once she figures that out, she may find someone local her own age, go get herself laid, and decide that that is where she wants to be.”

A surprising spike of pain hit me at the thought of losing Ness to someone else. It wasn’t the thought of her having sex with others; I was over that, although we would have to make sure she was one hundred percent happy before we shared with her. She wasn’t an Empath, after all.

I looked at the twins, who were sitting, mute, watching the exchange. They had all, through the bond, felt the stab of pain I had felt.

“She loves you,” said Amanda. I smiled at her. I would have predicted those very words from her. She always led with her heart. I waited for Mary to pitch in, but she said nothing, just waiting for me to come to my own decision.

I looked back to Jules. “Okay,” I said, “I’ll talk to her. Christmas might be the ideal opportunity.”

Jules smiled. “You old romantic,” she said.