And that was the last thing Jessica clearly remembered happening.

She popped up, aimed at the bearded man's head and fired. And she barely had time to feel relief when her shot hit its target. She turned and fired at the man nearest Riley. She wanted them dead. All of them dead. With a growl she tossed the spent rifle aside and ran toward the gunmen.

Jim heard the shot and squeezed his eyes shut, but moments later realized that he was still alive. Then he heard Josh gasp "Jessica!"

Jim opened his eyes and couldn't believe what he saw. Jessica running toward them in her bikini, gun belt around her waist. She had a six shooter in each hand and she was firing at the men around them, and they were falling.

"No!" he heard Angus yell and Jim noticed a gunman near him raising his gun at Jessica. Jim threw himself forward, hitting the gunman and forcing his gun to fire wide. But Jim fell to the ground, and struggled to turn over so he could see Jessica. She was still firing. He looked around. Josh was struggling to get to his feet, Scott was trying to roll to his knees. Angus and Riley writhed on the ground trying to roll over and get up too. When he looked back at Jessica, he realized that she no longer had her six shooters and had miraculously pulled a rifle from behind her.

She fired and for a moment it looked like all the gunmen were down but then to Jim's horror a couple popped up. Christ ... she'd been shooting at their torsos, like they'd taught her. But these guys must have been wearing bullet proof vests.

Jessica seemed to realize it too because she slid to a stop, dropped to a knee and fired at one man's head, brain and blood flying out the back of his head when she hit her mark.

She tossed her rifle, pulled a shotgun from nowhere and fired but the man she was firing at fired at the same time and Jim screamed "No!" when Jessica's right shoulder bucked and she flew back.

Jim heard the other men yell "Jessica!"

Angus couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was surreal. He felt terror grip him, he was sure Jessica was dead but then she sat up, pointed the shot gun at the man who'd shot her. She pulled the trigger but there was nothing but a click. She pulled it over and over. Then she seemed to realize that the gunman's gun was empty too. She slid her eyes over to the gun that lay near Daryl. She made a move toward it but the man whose gun was empty moved to block her.

"Well, well, looky here." He said, tossing his empty gun and looking at the other two men that were still left standing with him. "Looks like we'll get our fun afterall." He wiped his hand over his mouth and stepped forward. Jessica looked around at the three men surrounding her. Her left arm hung by her side, blood from her shoulder soaking her shirt, but Scott was relieved to see that she was still able to use her arm. She held her hands up and near her body in the fighting stance the men had taught her.

"Run Jess, run!" Scott yelled. And to his horror she did, she ran right at the man. The man hadn't expected it and looked completely surprised when Jessica drop kicked him. When he got up she spun around and kicked his head, punched him in the nose, and landed a fist to his Adams apple. He clutched his neck and dropped to his knees.

The other two men who were watching laughed, dropped their guns and moved toward Jessica.

"Got beatin' up by a girl Troy?" one of the men demanded.

"For God sakes Jessica, run!" Riley yelled through clenched jaws.

"Jessica!" Josh yelled when she advanced on Troy kicked him in his nuts, and connected a right hook to his nose.

"Behind you!" Angus yelled when the third man came up behind her. Jessica threw her elbow back catching the man in the sternum. Stomping on his toe she threw herself forward just as his arms were about to close around her. She scrambled toward Daryl's gun. Jim turned himself and nudged the gun toward Jessica.

"Thank you!" Jessica whispered, grabbing the gun, turning and firing right in the man's forehead. He dropped and Jessica screamed, but she didn't have long to register what she'd done. Still holding his throat, the first man lunged at her. Jessica grabbed the barrel of the rifle, swung the gun like a baseball bat and smashed it against his head. And he dropped.

"That's it bitch." The third man said and Jessica turned to see him advancing on her, a huge knife in his hands which he tossed back and forth as he moved forward. "I don't give a shit if I fuck you when you're alive or dead. I'm going to slice up that fucking whore face of yours ..." and he swung the knife out at her. Jessica moved back, just a moment too slow and the knife sliced her chest. Jessica cried out with pain.

"God no ..." Scott moaned, "Jessica run ..."

But Jessica opted for a roundhouse kick hitting the man's hand that held the knife. It didn't knock it out of his hand but it was enough impact for him to step back. Riley wiggled and twisted and dragged himself toward the man.

"Again Jess!" he yelled as he maneuvered himself directly behind the man. Jessica kicked him again and he stumbled over Riley. Without a seconds pause Jessica threw herself on him, grabbed the hand that clutched the knife with both her hands and bashed it against the ground. The knife fell away the second time she hit the ground, but he raised his free arm and punched Jessica in the back of the head. Jessica swooned for a moment, reached for the knife, and ducking another punch, raised her arms in the air, knife clenched between her hands and thrust the knife down as hard as she could into his throat. Jessica scrambled off the man and fell on her butt on the ground. The man clutched his throat, blood gargling out, a strange sound escaping him, he lunged toward her, but then fell face down on the ground.

"Crap!" She yelled as the man she'd hit with the rifle started to moan and move on the ground. She pushed to her feet and ran past Riley and the two bodies lying near him to one of the rifles on the ground. She cracked it open, look inside, shut it and moved to stand over the moaning man. Pointing the gun at his head she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

Jessica stood with her eyes clenched for a minute, letting the rifle drop.

Opening her eyes she looked at the shattered skull of the man at her feet, turned and vomited.

"Jess ..." Josh said, stunned.

Jessica straightened, looked around and when none of the gunmen seemed to be moving she dropped to her knees next to Riley. He turned on his stomach and Jessica pulled on the rope binding his hands and feet.

"The knife ..." she panted, "I need the knife." She pushed up.

"Where are you going?" Riley demanded, looking up he saw Jessica kneel over the man she'd stabbed.

"Oh yuck." She said as she pulled the knife out of his throat. Returning to Riley she sawed the rope until it snapped. As he sat up and pulled the rope off his ankles and wrists Jessica went to Jim, Josh, Angus and Scott cutting all of their ropes.

When she moved to stand-up Scott grabbed her arm and pulled her down against him.

Jessica pressed her face into his chest, and then lifted her head to kiss his lips.

"Are you okay?' she asked.

"Am I okay?" he asked with a laugh, "I guess I am now. Are you okay?"

"Fine ... now." Jessica said.

"Oh fuck!" Angus swore when cars pulled into the driveway. He struggled to get up. "Run Jessica!" he growled.

"It's Sean and Corey." Jessica said.

"Sean?" Angus asked.

"Holy shit." Corey said, moving toward them, holding a rifle in his hands. Sean, Leah, a few men Jessica had met at the jam session and Beth emerged from the cars.

"I guess you guys managed okay on your own." Sean said walking around and looking at the dead bodies.

"Not us." Riley said, struggling to his feet. "Jess saved us."

"Jess?" Corey repeated.

"Yup." Josh said moving to where Scott stood with an arm draped around Jessica.

The men limped toward Jessica. Angus moved up and pressed his forehead against hers ... the others closed in forming a group hug.

"I thought we were fucking toast." Angus said. "God I thought we were dead."

"We were dead. As good as ..." Riley said.

"And then you ... you crazy, insane, stupid girl ... I couldn't believe my eyes." Jim muttered.

"In a fucking bikini?" Scott said, using the nook of his elbow to pull her head to his lips. "A fucking bikini ..."

"And we told you to run when there was trouble." Angus grumbled.

"You were supposed to run!" Josh said, awe and disbelief playing across his face.

"But as usual you didn't listen to us." Riley added. "And I've never been more glad that you didn't." he added just as Jessica thought her heart couldn't pound any harder. She felt cold, weak and dizzy and the thought that the men were going to be mad at her was just something she didn't want to deal with right then.

Jessica blinked. It wasn't until Riley's face split into a huge smile and he grasped her head in his hands, pulled her forward and kissed her that she realized that he wasn't really angry.

Jessica looked around at the men and relief flooded over her as she saw them all smiling at her. They were bloodied and bruised, but their expressions were unmistakable ... they were happy.

"I've never been so fucking proud of you." Scott said kissing her cheek.

Angus grabbed her head, and stared into her eyes.

"You kicked their fucking asses. You did it." He growled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jessica said, blinking her eyes a few times, she started feeling dizzy.

"You're one bad ass chick Jess." Josh said clutching her hand. "You can have your privileges back. All of them, and then some. Unfucking believable."

"Really?" Jessica asked.

"Really." Jim said.

"Great, thanks ..." Jessica said and collapsed against Scott.

"Jess!" Angus yelled.

"Her shoulder!" Riley said reaching for her blood covered shoulder. "She was shot in the shoulder."

"Ow ..." Jessica mumbled when Riley felt her shoulder.

"Sorry babe." Riley said. "I can't believe you fought with a bullet in your shoulder. Didn't it hurt like a son of a bitch?"

"Just a little ..." Jessica said quietly. "I feel dizzy ..."

"She got slashed on her chest too." Jim said.

Riley lifted her shirt. "It looks superficial." He said.

"I can't see properly ..." Jessica whispered and fainted.

"Jessica ... Jessica!" Jim elbowed his way past Angus and Riley and tapped her cheek.

"She's lost a lot of blood." Riley said. "Get her inside." He said bending to pick her up.

"I got her." Corey said handing his gun to Sean.

"I got her." Riley said.

"You've been shot too." Corey observed, pointing at the blood pouring out of Riley's right leg.

"We've all been shot." Riley said, "But I'm okay."

"Give her to me." Corey said grabbing her out of Riley's arms when he lost his balance and almost fell over. "None of you should be carrying her." He added when the other men began to protest. "When Jessica called me I called Paul. He's sending his doctor ... I figure he should be here any time now. The doc and I can patch you guys up, and Sean and the others will bury the bodies."

"Shit." Josh said looking around at the dead men that littered the yard. "I can't believe Jessica did this ...."

"Christ ... what happens when it gets out that we killed Daryl and his ... clan? This has to be pretty much what's left of his clan." Scott asked.

"No one can know." Corey said. "That's why we're going to bury the bodies and all anyone will know is that they disappeared into thin air ..."

Riley nodded.

Just then an SUV pulled into the driveway.

A man got out with a black bag in hand. Following him were Abe and Rick ... Paul' bodyguards, guns in hand.

"What the fuck?" Abe asked looking around at the carnage.

The man with the bag surveyed the bodies then zeroed in on Corey with Jessica in his arms. He strode toward her with purpose. Abe and Rick following him. The men shuffled to close ranks around Corey and Jessica halting the men.

"They attacked us." Riley said. Now there was no way to keep it quiet. His heart pounding from the fear of having to fight Abe and Rick in his condition, making him feel light headed. It terrified him to think that after all of this they would fail to protect Jessica from their own allies.

"So I hear." Abe said.

"We're burying the bodies."

Abe looked around at Sean and the others. Swung his gaze back at Riley and nodded.

"We won't stop you." Abe said. "In fact, we'll even help but our primary purpose for being here is her." Abe nodded at Jessica.

"What do you mean?" Angus growled.

"Excuse me gentlemen." The man with the black bag said and his strong Scottish accent surprised them. "I have one purpose to being here and that is to help that lass there. From the look of her, if you don't let me through, you will be burying one more body."

Angus blinked and then stepped aside. "She's been shot in her shoulder. Christ, hurry please!" he said when he saw how pale Jessica looked.

The man strode past him. He placed a hand on her neck.

"I've gotta get some plasma into her." The doctor said. "Take her in the house." He said to Corey. Looking around at the men quickly he said, "when I'm done with her I'll look you lads over ... if you can make it into the house." And then he followed Corey. And Abe and Rick followed him.

"Shovels are in the barn." Scott said to Sean.

Angus glanced around at the bodies again, and froze. He hadn't registered that Beth was there. And she stood now staring after Jessica and she looked worried. He looked away. That was a complication he didn't need. When he'd called Corey that morning as he'd told Jessica he would, he hadn't expected Beth to be so bold as to show up at his house. He didn't know how to feel about her and he didn't have time to think about it now so he limped toward the house with the other men hoping she'd keep her distance.

In the house the doctor and Paul's bodyguards were buzzing around Jessica, whom they'd laid onto the coffee table. They moved in what looked like orchestrated perfection. They looked professional, and serious. Their somber expressions froze the men in their places. There was little doubt that the situation was serious. So serious that none of the men took issue when one of the bodyguards, Abe, Jessica had called him, cut Jessica's bikini top with a pair of surgical scissors.

"Pulse is faint." The other bodyguard told the doctor, who had just finished sticking a tube into her arm, taping it, and hanging a bag with clear liquid in it from a portable stand he'd quickly snapped into place.

The men let out a collective gasp of relief when Jessica whispered, "Doc?"

"Lass." The doctor replied. "Can't keep out of trouble can you?"

"Sorry ..." Jessica murmured and closed her eyes.

"I don't feel a pulse." Rick said.

"Lass, lass ..." the doctor repeated, tapping her cheek progressively harder.

"What's happening?" Jim demanded.

"Initiate CPR." The doctor commanded and began compressing her chest. Rick dropped and began breathing into her mouth. "You!" the doctor turned his head to Josh who stood closest to him. "Apply pressure to the bullet wound. Now!" He yelled. Josh moved by Jessica's head and dropped to his knees, ignoring the pain shooting from the bullet wounds in his thighs.

"Come on Jess." He begged, pressing his hand on the hole where blood oozed. Tears ran down his face and he made no attempt to hide them.

"We're losing her." The doctor said, "Plasma's not enough. She needs a transfusion. What's her blood type?" he asked. Josh looked up at him, terror in his eyes. Shaking his head he looked around at the other men.

"I don't know ..." he mumbled.

"Blood type? Anyone?" The doctor demanded, never once missing a compression.

The men shook their heads. "Jim?" Riley asked in desperation.

"I never had reason to ask. Scott? You were researching her ..."

Scott shook his head, unable to take his eyes off Jessica's lifeless form. He couldn't speak.

"Fucking hell." The doctor exclaimed. "Fine, I need a universal donor." He said to Abe. "Anyone with blood type O. Get me some blood now!"

Abe stood and looked at the men. They all shook their heads. None had type O. Abe headed for the door.

"Come on lass, come on." The doctor murmured and continued his compressions.

"One of you come here." He said over his shoulder. Riley moved closer. "Take over for me. Do exactly what I'm doing."

"What?" Riley asked in a strangled voice.

"She's dead right now. You have to keep the blood flowing in her while I get the defibrillator. Hurry up man, or she's going to have brain damage!"

"Oh God!" Riley said, dropping to his knees, almost passing out from the pain.

"Let me." Scott said.

Riley shook his head, both to clear it and indicate no. And he began to imitate the doctor's compressions on Jessica's chest. "Jessica, please ... please." He kept repeating, tears clouded his vision but even so he could see that she was as white as a ghost.

"Move back." The doctor ordered. Scott had to grab Riley by his shoulders and move him back.

"Clear ..." The doctor said and placed the paddles on Jessica's chest, there was a short beep and Jessica's body convulsed.

"No pulse." Rick said.

"No!" Jim said as he sank to his knees. He watched the doctor prep the paddles again. Inching forward he took Jessica's cold, clammy hand in his and kissed it. Squeezed it, patted it. "Please Jess ... come back, fight. Fight like you always do, please!"

The other men were murmuring encouragement also as Jessica's body convulsed and then Rick placed his fingers on her neck.

"Thank God!" Jim exclaimed when Rick said "It's weak, but there's a pulse."

"Where's my Goddamn blood?" The doctor looked around the room. The men did too and for the first time noticed Leah sitting on a kitchen chair, Abe draining blood from her into a bag.

"Only two O type donors." Abe reported, indicating Leah on the chair and Corey standing next to her.

"No time for that." The doctor said, "Bring her here." He said indicating the other side of Jessica, "We'll have to hook her up directly to Jessica. They'll need food." He said turning his gaze to Angus who hadn't moved from his frozen stance since entering the house. "Hey!" he yelled, "snap out of it. You have to keep the donors fed or we'll run out of blood."

Angus nodded slowly, blinking he brought his hands to his eyes, wiped away the tears.

"These two." The doctor pointed at Leah, who was now sitting next to Jessica, watching the blood flow from her arm into Jessica's, and Corey, who was seated next to Leah. Both looked sweaty and dirty. They'd obviously been busy burying the bodies. "Get them anything with carbs, sugar, and liquids."

"I'll help." Scott said and limped behind Angus into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked Angus when he found him leaning on the counter. Angus whipped his head back and forth a few times, like he was trying to shake something off his head.

"I feel light headed." Angus said. "I think I was holding my breath that whole time." He said indicating the living room with his head.

"You're pale." Scott said. "Probably lost too much blood. You and me both, I feel weird too. Let's get back out there and sit down before we fall down."

Angus nodded and handed a loaf of bread to Scott.

"Best we can do. But help yourselves to whatevers in the kitchen." Scott said quietly to the doctor when he looked up from Josh's leg. He was busy tightening gauze around Josh's thigh.

"Sit down." The doctor said, "I'll get to you in a minute."

Scott and Angus limped to the sofa, handing the bread to Rick.

Scott barely registered the gasp that came from the doorway, or Jessica's name cried out but Angus' furious bellow got his attention.
"Get the fuck out!" Angus yelled.

Scott looked up to see Beth staring at Jessica, her face etched in grief. She was moving forward but then Sean caught her from behind, looking past Scott with a shocked expression. Scott turned to see Angus, face bright red, veins bulging, lurching toward Beth. He raised a clenched fist. Beth didn't resist when Sean pulled her back out the front door.

"Bitch!" Angus spat and then dropped face first on the floor.

"Angus!" Riley said, trying to stand.

"Shit." Abe said, pushing Riley back onto the sofa. He'd been working on Riley's leg.

"I think he broke his nose." Jim said. Sitting on the floor next to Angus, Rick tying a tourniquet around his leg he grimaced as he remembered the sickening crack that had accompanied Angus' fall.

"Change of plans." The doctor said standing. "I've got to operate to get the bullets out of all of you lads. I'm going to start with him ..." he said pointing at Angus, "I'm not sure I have enough anesthetic to go around and he's down for the count. The rest of you lie down and don't move. We don't need any more face plants or blood transfusions today."

Scott nodded as he lowered himself onto the sofa. He closed his eyes, the world was spinning. Relief flooded through him. Jessica was alive. He and the men were alive. He felt so tired. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep the image of Jessica's shoulder snapping back with the impact of the bullet popped into his mind. Then the knife grazing her chest ... her body convulsing with the charge of the defibrillator. Scott's eyes flew open and he looked to the coffee table. Leah sat between him and Jessica but he could see Jessica's hair hanging off the table. Another flash. The night before. Jessica on the table in a completely different position. The fuck machines pounding her ...Scott bolted up. He scanned the room. And there they were. At opposite ends of the couch, as plain as day. There was no chance the other men in the room hadn't seen them. He groaned when he saw Leah eyeing the one nearest her, and Corey who sat next to her, doing the same. Scott didn't personally care but he knew Jessica's face would turn bright red and she'd be mortified if she knew that everyone knew that they'd used those kinds of things on her. He had to move them. He swung his legs off the sofa.

"What are you doing?"

Scott looked up and saw Corey leaning back in his chair, looking at him expectantly.

"I've gotta move those ..." Scott inclined his head to one of the machines.

Corey shifted his eyes for a moment to Jessica and then looked back at Scott with a knowing grin. Scott's stomach dropped. She was going to be devastated.

"Look." He said eyeing the front door. He had to get them moved before anyone else came in. It was going to be hard enough to contain with the people already in this room. "I'm really embarrassed." He leaned closer to Corey. "I really don't want the whole world knowing that I like it kinky like that."

It took all Scott's self-control to not laugh at the expression on Corey's face. He looked like he'd swallowed his tongue. Beside Corey, Leah's mouth hung open. Scanning the other men Scott was glad to see that the doctor and the bodyguards weren't paying attention at all, busy working on Angus. Riley, Jim and Josh seemed to just remember the machines and all three struggled to get to their feet.

"What can I say." Scott added, wanting to make sure there was no doubt in anyone's mind about who used the machines, "I like to be fucked by machines, but does everyone need to know about it?" he finished, inclining his head to the door.

Finally Corey seemed to snap out of his shock. The smirk slid off his face. He stood up quickly.

"I'll move them for you. Where do you want them?"

"Thanks man." Scott said, falling back against the sofa. "Downstairs, thanks."

When Corey moved to the first machine Leah's eyes met Scott's. Scott winked and Leah looked away quickly.

"What?" Scott asked when Corey was in the basement with the first machine. Josh and Riley, next to him on the sofa, and Jim, still on the floor, were staring at him in disbelief.

"You're a genius." Jim said.

"I never would've confessed to something like that." Riley said shaking his head.

"You realize it's going to get around." Josh said quietly.

"Better me than her." Scott said with a shrug but his face turned a light pink despite his blood loss.

"Amen." Jim said.

"Right." The doctor said standing, covered in blood and looking at Jim. "I've removed his bullets. Now it's your turn. I only have local anesthetic. You got something to bite down on or something?"

"I'll be fine." Jim said.

The doctor looked around. Scott was relieved that Corey had already disappeared downstairs again, with the second machine.

"Get him on the kitchen table." The doctor said to Abe and Rick.

***********************************************************

"How is she?" Angus asked in a muffled voice.

"The same." The doctor reported.

It had been a day since the surgeries. In addition to bandages on his thighs, Angus had a bandage on his nose. It had been broken. When he spoke, Angus sounded like he had a pillow firmly pressed over his face and his eyes were black, bruised from the beating and his fall.

The men were in pain and weak, but they were conscious. Jessica however had remained weak and unconscious the whole time.

The doctor had drained Leah and Corey into her twice before he felt she had enough blood but despite his calm demeanor, Angus still had the impression that the doctor was unsure of Jessica's recovery.

Jessica had been moved to the sofa, the mattresses had been setup and the men lay on them, next to the sofa. The doctor had told them that it was vital that they talk to her. They spent as much time holding her hand and talking to her as they could. They had Leah, and the other girls do the same. Even Corey, Sean, Abe and Rick. But she hadn't woken up once.

"Come on Jess ..." Angus said, holding her hand to his lips. A chair had been placed between the sofa and the mattress and he sat on it now. He ran his hand across her forehead, pushing sweat stained hair out of her eyes. "What else can we do?" He asked the doctor.

"Just keep doing the same." The doctor said, laying his hand on Angus' shoulder and squeezing. "So," The doc said straightening and looking around at the men, Rick and Abe. "She can't be moved for a while. I've given her a catheter. Abe and Rick will change it as needed." The doctor shifted his attention to Abe and Rick. "And she'll have to be sponge bathed. It's important that she be kept as clean as possible. Once a day should be good."

"We can do that." Riley interrupted. He'd been feeling light headed but the horrifying idea of Abe and Rick running their hands, sponge or no sponge, all over Jessica's body cut through the fog. He looked at the doctor, Abe and Rick, "We've got it."

The doctor looked Riley up and down. He looked white as a sheet and about ready to fall over.

"We got it." Josh confirmed when the doctor scanned his eyes past him.

The doctor shook his head, "Okay, fine. I want to give her a stronger antibiotic and pain killer. Is she allergic to anything?"

The men looked at each other.

"Fuck ..." Scott hissed. "How can we be so fucking clueless about her?"

Jim groaned. He'd been lying on the mattress but had dragged himself to the sofa, next to Angus. He dropped his head against Jessica's leg. "So fucking stupid ..."

Angus looked at Jim. "I asked her a million questions ... none of them the right ones."

"Okay then, here's an easier question." The doctor said, "Is she on any medication?"

"No," Riley said, shaking his head. "Just ... shit!"

"Jesus Christ!" Scott bellowed, having followed Riley's line of thought.

"What the fuck!" Rick demanded.

"Birth control pills ..." Josh whispered and he suddenly felt like vomiting.

"That's not a problem." The doctor said confused by the tortured expressions on the men's faces. "They don't interfere with one another ... birth control and the meds I want to give her."

"That's not it." Riley said shaking his head.

Scott had been leaning on the back of the sofa, trying to keep from falling down. Now he pushed himself to his feet. "Where'd she keep them?"

"In her purse." Jim said struggling to get to his feet.

"I'll get the pills." Scott said and lurched toward the bedrooms.

"We think she's missed some pills." Riley said when the doctor looked dumbfounded.

"And that's a problem?" The doctor asked. "I thought you were married."

Riley nodded. "But we don't want kids."

"She ... she doesn't want kids." Angus corrected. "She's going to be so ... she'll think we betrayed her."

"Well?" Josh asked from his prone position on the mattress as Scott shuffled back into the living room, pill container in his hand.

"She's missed yesterday and today for sure." Scott said looking at the container, "and she has at least a weeks worth here before the placebos."

"Shit, shit, shit!" Jim said. "Doc, can we give her the rest, while she's resting?"

The doctor shook his head. "She won't swallow it."

"Can you give it to her some other way?" Angus asked.

"I could give her something but I don't have it with me. And quite frankly, in her condition, I don't recommend it."

"Come on Doc, please ..." Riley begged.

"Given the trauma she's had, and the meds she's taking now, I highly doubt she'd be pregnant. I suggest waiting to see if she menstruates. If she doesn't, there's still plenty of time to take other measures."

"Other measures ..." Angus mumbled, lowering his head.

"You don't understand Doc." Scott said, "She doesn't want this. She doesn't want to be pregnant, period."

"It can be taken care of. Don't worry." The doctor said.

"She'll think we did it on purpose." Riley said.

"I don't see how she can." The doctor said, looking over his shoulder at Abe and Rick both of whom shrugged their shoulders, not understanding why the men were so upset either. "Did you plan on getting shot? Plan on her getting shot? So how can she blame you. Trust me. Wait a week, she should start to menstruate not long after that. In fact she may start sooner given what she's been through. If she doesn't, we'll deal with it. Okay?"

The men didn't answer, staring at Jessica in silence.

"Okay then. I'll give her the meds and I'll be back later today to change your dressings. If there are any problems Abe will page me."

"Thanks Doc." Josh said. He'd slowly and painfully moved himself from the mattress to stand next to Angus' chair. He lowered himself slowly to his knees by Jessica's head.

When the doctor left, Angus looked around the room. Abe and Rick had moved to the kitchen.

"I can't believe what we did to her, with the hook and everything." Angus muttered. "And God, what if she's pregnant? She'll never forgive us!"

"I know. It's all our fault." Riley said.

"I kind of thought she'd enjoyed what we did to her." Scott said.

Angus nodded. "Some of it she did. But we went too far. Trying once again to prove that we were right and she was wrong."

"But, it was the other way around." Josh said and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"It's always been the other way around." Jim said.

"She sure knows when she's right." Riley said, "And never backs down."

"Thank God. Or we'd be dead." Angus said and gripping Jessica's hand tighter he leaned toward her. "What are we going to do? If she's pregnant?"

Angus looked up when no one responded.

"The doc said there were options." Jim said slowly each word weighted down with dread. "We'll have to let her decide which one she wants to take. Will you be able to live with that Angus?"

Angus slid his eyes back to Jessica. "I'll have to. Nothing matters but her happiness. And ... and I don't want her to hate us. She will if she thinks we made her get pregnant on purpose."

"She did make it pretty clear that she expected that of us." Riley added.

"Like Doc said, this couldn't be helped." Scott said. He'd pulled a kitchen chair over and now sagged in it. "She's a reasonable person. If we explain everything to her when she wakes up she'll understand that we didn't do it intentionally."

Angus nodded. "Come on Jess. Wake up, please? I want to thank you, explain about the pills ... make amends ... come on."

"You know there is a way for you to start making amends before she even wakes up." Jim said.

"Well?" Angus prompted when Jim didn't say anything else.

"There's one person who Jessica really likes but hasn't yet come to talk to her." Jim said.

For a moment Angus had no idea what Jim meant but then it dawned on him and anger began to course through him.

"Before you say no." Jim said as Angus' face began to turn crimson. "Think about what you just said to her. You want to make amends. Doing only what you feel like doing isn't making amends. If you really want to make it up to her, you'll let Beth come be with her. Jessica really likes her. Do what's right for Jessica, even if it's not right for you."

Angus opened his mouth to say something but then closed it.

"If Scott can tell the entire clan that he gets fucked up the ass and in the mouth by machines to avoid embarrassing Jessica then you can let your ex in." Riley said. "It's for Jessica, not you, and you don't have to be here."

Angus nodded. He didn't like it, not one bit, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Okay. For a few minutes. But that bitch can't look at me, talk to me, talk about me. Nothing. Got it?"

"Got it." Josh said, groaning as he pushed himself to his feet. "I'll go get her."

"Just make sure she understands..." Angus said.

Twenty minutes later Beth stepped through the front door. She paused, saw Angus glowering by the kitchen table and immediately dropped her eyes. She moved to the now empty chair next to Jessica. Sitting down, she took Jessica's hand and began murmuring to her.

"How can Jessica like her?" Angus asked when Jim moved next to him.

"I don't know. But you don't have to stay to watch this. Why don't you go lie down in your room?"

Angus shook his head. "No way am I leaving that bitch alone with Jessica."

"She's not alone ..." Jim began but clamped his mouth shut when Angus glared at him.

"Suit yourself." Jim said and limped to stand next to Beth.

"Do you think it will work?" Riley asked replacing Jim at Angus' side.

"It better."

For half an hour Beth talked gibberish to Jessica at which point Angus couldn't take it anymore.

"It's not making a difference." Angus growled to Riley. "Get her out of here."

Taking far too long by Angus' standards, Beth finally left.

Angus returned to the sofa and hesitated before sitting on the chair that was still warm from Beth. Angus shuddered and forced his attention to Jessica.

"Wake up Jess." He muttered and caught his breath when Jessica's eyes snapped open.

"Angus?" She whispered, and then she looked around.

"Jess, thank God!" Angus said, dropping to his knees, barely registering the pain shooting through his legs, and pressing his forehead to her stomach.

"She's awake!" Riley exclaimed from behind Angus. Stumbling around the chair Riley dropped to his knees next to Angus, right by her head. .

"I thought ... " she said looking around again, glad to see the other men moving toward her. "Are you okay?" she added noticing how slowly they moved.

"We're fine because of you." Jim said.

"It worked." Josh exclaimed a smile splitting his face as he nudged closer to Jessica. "Beth worked!"

"Beth?" Jessica asked, her eyes snapping from Josh to Angus. "Oh!" she exclaimed really noticing Angus' face for the first time. "What did they do to you?" She tried to raise her hand but she could only lift it a little. Angus saw it hovering, took it and brought it to his lips.

"The floor and I had a disagreement," he said but when Jessica looked at him in confusion he added, "I did a face plant. It's nothing serious."

"Your nose ..."

"Broken. But it'll be okay. But never mind me, how are you feeling?"

Jessica paused to take stock.

"Tired." She finally said and sudden fatigue overwhelmed her. Her eyes started to close.

"Get Abe or Rick." Riley said to Scott who was closest to the door.

"Stay with us." Josh muttered from behind the sofa, caressing her head.

"Abe?" Jessica muttered though her eyes were closed.

"Yup. He and Rick helped Doc fix us up. The three of them plus Leah and Corey's blood saved your life." Jim said.

"If they hadn't I don't know what I'd do. What we'd do." Riley added.

"I'm sorry ..." Jessica said the pain in Riley's voice cutting through her grogginess.

"No, don't. Don't apologize ..." Riley began but was interrupted by Abe trying to get close to Jessica.

"How long has she been awake?" Abe asked taking Riley's spot.

"A few minutes." Jim said. "Her eyes were open ... she just ran out of energy."

"I think Beth's visit helped." Scott added.

"Beth ..." Jessica murmured fighting to open her eyes but she couldn't. She rolled her head in Angus' direction, "I thought I was dreaming about Beth. I'm sorry Angus."

"Don't be." Angus said, kissing her hand again. "Don't worry about anything Jessica. Don't worry and don't apologize. You never have to apologize for anything again ..."

"She looks good." Abe said despite the fact that Jessica had obviously passed out again. "I'll give her more fluids." He said looking at the IV that hung at the head of the sofa, "And change her dressings. She should be just fine now."

Relief made the men giddy as they watched Abe work.

"How long do you figure it will take her to completely recover?" Josh asked.

"The doc can tell you better than me." Abe said, "but I'm guessing a few weeks in terms of her energy. But it may take a few months before she's back to normal."

"Do you think it'd be okay for her to have a dog in here?" Jim asked. "Baby." He said when the men looked at him like he was crazy, "Beth helped and I think if Baby could lie up on the sofa with her, she'd feel a lot better."

"That's a good idea." Abe said standing when he finished his work. "I think it'd be fine."

"I'll go get her." Riley said wishing he could think like that but somehow these kind of great ideas never came to him.

"Hold on there cowboy." Abe said, "you, all of you, need as much rest as she does. I'll get Corey or Sean to get the dog."

"But they won't know which one she is." Riley said.

"I'm sure she'll come to her name Riley. Sit down will you? The best thing you can do for Jessica right now is to get better yourself. If you don't heal to one hundred percent, everything she's gone through will be pointless."

Riley nodded, suddenly feeling pretty tired himself.

"She has brown on her snout. She's in the third cage from the right, assuming the dogs are still in their cages."

Abe nodded and headed for the door.

Riley returned to his spot next to Angus, near Jessica's head, and sank down with a groan. "I can't wait to hold her again." He muttered, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the sofa.

"Amen." Scott said as he made his way to the armchair.

Josh and Jim shuffled to the mattresses that had become permanent fixtures in the living room and with a great deal of pain lowered themselves onto them.

"I'm never going to let go." Angus said.

Jim nodded and Josh muttered, "Ditto."

With the brief interruption when Corey brought Baby and the few minutes it took her to lick Jessica's face, and then settle on the sofa, on Jessica's legs, the men joined Jessica in slumber. With Sean, Corey, a couple of Sean and Corey's clan, and Abe, Rick guarding them, the men felt safe enough to take the rest necessary to heal.

******************************************************
Jessica giggled. The wet tongue lapping between her toes pulled her from the deep and peaceful sleep she was having, but her eyes didn't want to open. The licking moved from one foot to the other. Jessica concentrated on it, confused by the fact that it didn't feel like either Scott or Angus. It didn't feel like Riley, Jim or Josh either, though none of them were likely to be licking her feet.

Finally curiosity got the best of her and she forced her eyes open.

"Baby ..." she whispered. The dog whined and crawled up Jessica's body. Jessica laughed when Baby's pink tongue lapped over Jessica's lips. "I missed you too ..." she sputtered, trying to avoid the dog's bad breath.

"Jess!" Jim exclaimed, "Down Baby, down." He said, pulling the dog away from her face. Baby lay down on Jessica's stomach and whined again. "You're awake!" Jim said with a huge grin, seating himself on the edge of the sofa.

"Hey." Jessica said.

"Right back at you. How are you feeling?" he asked, cupping her cheek.

"I'm good." She said, and smiled up at Riley who appeared behind the sofa and leaned over the back to look at her.

Scott appeared at the foot of the sofa, Josh and Angus next to Jim. They looked good. Really good. Jessica sagged into the sofa with relief. Everyone was okay.

"Hey there lady ... " Leah appeared next to Riley, "You look awake for real this time."

"Let me through, let me through ..." Abe said wedging his way between Angus and Jim, "How's the patient?" he asked replacing Jim on the sofa.

"Great. I heard it's all thanks to you. And you," Jessica said looking at Rick who'd appeared next to Scott, "and you," she said to Leah, "and you." She added when Corey appeared next to her. "Thanks."

"Hey, it's all in a day's work ..." Abe said taking her hand and placing his finger on the inside of her wrist. "But it helps to have a patient who's a real fighter. You keep it up and you'll be up and about in no time."

"How much longer till she's stable? Till she doesn't need as much care?" Angus asked.

Abe looked at him and laughed. "Ready for us to get out of your life are you?" He asked. And then turned his attention to unwrapping Jessica's bandages. "I don't blame you actually. It shouldn't be too long. Probably a week or two more of rest. But there'll be several weeks of physiotherapy required after that ... for all of you."

"Physiotherapy." Riley stated a blank look on his face.

"Yeah, to get your strength and flexibility back. It won't be easy, but it's necessary if you ever want to be the same again. And quite frankly I can't see how you'll protect yourselves again without it."

"Physiotherapy ..." Riley said again. Abe looked at Riley like he was a simpleton.

"I think what Riley is trying to say in his tongue tied, over simplified way," Jim said, earning a narrow eyed glare from Riley, "is, where the hell are we supposed to get physiotherapy from?"

Jessica looked from Riley's glare to Jim's strangely goofy expression. For a moment Riley really looked mad, but then a smile cracked across his face and he shook his head.

"A physiotherapist would be my guess." Abe replied and laughed when he found Riley glaring at him in obvious impatience. "Paul is sending a couple of his guys out next week. You'll be in good hands. What?" he asked when he was the recipient of surprised stares.

Jessica was glad he asked, she was wondering about the astounded looks on their faces too. Not only did the men looked completely floored by the news but Leah and Corey did too. Obviously sending out physiotherapists was not common practice for Paul.

"That's, ah, unexpected." Riley said and he seemed completely baffled.

"And why exactly is Paul doing this?" Scott asked, looking between Rick who stood next to him and Abe.

"Out of the goodness of his heart of course." Rick said with a snicker. To Jessica he seemed to be playing around but from the way the men and even Leah and Corey looked at him, it wasn't a shared joke. "Why do I get the feeling that you find that hard to believe?"

"Paul isn't known for doing things out of the goodness of his heart." Corey said.

"Nor is he known for sending out his personal doctor, or his body guards to take care of and protect men in his own clan much less someone else's." Riley added.

"That's where you're wrong." Abe said, his face suddenly serious. "On two counts. One, it has happened before, and two, we are in the same clan. You seem to keep forgetting that."

Silence hung in the air. Jessica scanned the faces around her and was disturbed to find that the tension she thought she felt around her was evident on the faces of the people around her. When the tension dragged, Leah opened her mouth to say something but Corey grabbed her arm and shook his head. And the expression on his face was undeniable. Beneath the tension was something Jessica recognized from when the men looked at her. Proprietorship, dominance, lust. Jessica blinked. Since when were Leah and Corey dating? Maybe they had been all along and she just hadn't known. Jessica felt thrown off by it. When Leah pressed her lips firmly together, not looking pleased about being muzzled, and the silence continued, Jessica squeezed her eyes shut. She felt confused. The men's concern about the help from Paul, the need for protection when Jessica was pretty sure she'd killed everyone who'd come after them, and for some reason Leah and Corey's relationship added to the blur that was twisting through her head.

"Why ... " Jessica began but had to clear her throat. It felt so dry.

"Jess?" Jim asked. "What's wrong?"

Jessica opened her eyes. "Can I have some water please?"

"Got it." Scott said heading for the kitchen. "Here you go." He said returning and with one hand behind Jessica's head for support, he put the glass to her lips.

The silence continued but when Jessica looked around again the tension seemed to have faded.

Abe cleared his throat. "At any rate, Paul is indebted to you Jessica. This is how he's paying the debt back. And besides ..." he added when it looked like no one in the room bought that as an explanation. "His sister likes you. That doesn't happen every day. Trust me."

"I didn't do all that much for him." Jessica said, thinking his words over. "Not any more than the people in the clan do for him pretty regularly I'm sure. I mean I just rode a bike, you ..." She said glancing around at the men, Leah, Corey, Abe and Rick, "risk your lives every time you ..." she paused looking for a polite way to say 'murder people'. She finally settled on, "go to work. But I am grateful. For the help. We should all be." She added giving the men a pointed look.

"I'll pass that on to Paul." Abe said with a nod of his head. "So like I said, physiotherapy won't start for a while and when it does it's hard to tell how long it'll be needed."

"Translation ..." Rick said with a smug smile on his face, "we'll be here for a while."

Scott nodded. "You're right Jess we should be thankful. We appreciate your help." He added, glancing at Abe and Rick. "And to you and the others." He added looking at Leah and Corey, "Thanks for taking care of everything while we can't."

Leah and Corey nodded their acknowledgment but they shifted their eyes back to Abe and Rick. Jessica read mistrust in their expressions. That seemed odd.

"What others?" Jessica asked.

"Sean, Mark, Amanda, Justine, Don, Stan, Chris, and Sara." Scott said, "They're all here. Doing chores, cooking, cleaning, guarding. They've really helped a lot."

"We're family," Corey said looking pointedly at Abe, "and that's what family does for one another. We've got your back."

"Why do we need to be guarded?" Jessica asked.

"Some of Daryl's friends have been asking questions." Josh said.

"And they've been pretty persistent." Jim added.

"So, what did you tell them?" Jessica asked.

Riley shrugged, "That we haven't seen them."

Jessica started to laugh but had to control it when a searing pain shot through her shoulder.

"Jess?" Riley asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hurts to laugh ..." Jessica muttered.

"What's so funny?" Angus asked bewildered as she continued to vibrate in silent controlled laughter.

"You guys." Jessica muttered and then managed to calm herself, "Haven't seen them ... funny. What did you really tell them?" The men looked at one another with lost expressions on their faces. "For real?" she demanded, "That's the best you could come up with, that you haven't seen them?"

"What would you suggest?" Jim asked.

"I don't know ... something that would have Daryl's friends looking somewhere else. Maybe Daryl and his goons just decided to quit."

"People don't quit the clan Jessica." Riley said, "It just isn't done."

Jessica looked around at everyone with complete disbelief.

"That doesn't matter. Maybe it's never happened before, but there is always the possibility that it could. And you need to convince these guys that for Daryl and his family, it did."

"That won't work." Abe said when no one else looked like they were going to say anything.

"Of course it will. Better than saying you didn't see them. Think about it, if you were Daryl's friends would you fall for that?"

"More than I would believe that they left the clan." Corey said.

"Okay. Well, then you have to find some way to convince them. Some proof." Jessica said. "You guys are letting yourselves be limited by your own beliefs. Come on ... if it's so unbelievable that they left, couldn't they have gone on vacation?" Jessica asked. "So no one goes on vacation?" she groaned when no one looked excited by the possible excuse.

Angus shook his head when her eyes finally settled on him.

"So what would you believe, if you were Daryl's friend?"

"That we killed them. We may end up having to take Daryl's friends out in order to get any peace." Angus answered.

"Oh great." Jessica whispered and closed her eyes. "I wonder how many friends will come looking for them?"

"I know it seems hopeless." Riley said, taking Jessica's hand, "But you don't need to worry about it. Nothing's going to happen for now and maybe they'll just give up."

"Would you give up?"

"I guess not."

Jessica opened her mouth to further her point but hesitated when she saw the expressions on the men's faces. They looked confused, and kind of clueless. They looked at one another and the longer the silence continued, the more distressed they looked. And then she noticed how Corey and Leah were still looking at Abe and Rick with distrust. Obviously this wasn't a discussion to be had in front of Paul's men.

Jessica relaxed back against the sofa and eyed the bag hanging on a stand next to the sofa and the tube that ran down to her arm.

"It looks worse than it is." Abe said taking her hand and squeezing. "Doc will be back tomorrow and if you get even stronger by then I bet he'll take the bag off. So you need to rest, got it?"

Jessica nodded. Abe brushed her bangs off her forehead and smiled.

Angus cleared his throat.

Leah stood up, "You get some rest girlie. We have some work to do outside but I'll call the rest of the girls to come over later and we'll hang out tonight. Watch some movies maybe? I'm really getting tired of those ridiculous video games the guys keep playing ..."

"Hey, hey, don't hate the games Leah, don't hate the games ..." Corey said moving toward the door.

"Abe ..." Leah said when he hadn't moved.

"Right." Abe said and winked at Jessica, "There's so so much to do outside." He said standing. The glares the men were throwing at him made it obvious that there had been a pre-arranged agreement that the men would have time alone with Jessica when she woke up.

"I hate that guy ..." Angus grumbled when Abe finally walked out the door.

Jessica tried to sit up but when she tried to move her legs she couldn't. It wasn't just that her legs were numb but she simply couldn't feel them. In a panic Jessica bolted upright, the blanket falling from her chest. She looked down to see a bandage wrapped around her torso and her injured shoulder.

"Jess, what's wrong?" Jim asked, the look of horror on her face scaring him.

"I ..." Jessica began while she threw the blanket off her legs, "can't feel my ..." and she paused when she saw that she was completely naked, "legs." She finished quietly.

"It's the medication," Scott said, "The doctor gave you pain killers. I guess they numb you."

"So ... so ... I'm not paralyzed?"

"No sweetheart, you're not." Riley said reaching down and wiggling her big toe. "You're perfectly fine."

"Why am I naked?" Jessica asked.

"It was easier to clean you." Josh said, "don't worry, don't worry ..." he said raising his palms to Jessica when Jessica looked up at him in complete mortification ... her face flaming red, "we were the only ones to touch you. The only ones to see you, the only ones to clean you ... only us."

'Thank God,' Angus thought as Jessica exhaled and fell back against the sofa. Not only couldn't he have stood the thought of anyone else being that ... intimate with Jessica but even now, days later, evidence of the sexual consequences meted out to Jessica were obvious on her body. Hickies on her inner thighs glared up at him, bruises, rope burns, welts ... even bruises in distinct patterns of fingers grasping her hips and her legs were evident. Scott's instinct to protect her with the fuck machines had been bang on and had anyone other than them seen her used body, Angus was certain she would have been beyond humiliated. Thank God the ones on her torso had been camouflaged by blood. At least, neither the doctor or the 'nurses' mentioned anything if they'd noticed them.

The men shifted around the sofa. Jim moved to the end, next her head. Scott, Angus, and Josh next. Riley leaned across the back of the sofa. Jessica pulled the blanket back onto her legs, Scott, Angus and Scott helping and then slowly, painfully, they lowered themselves to their knees.

"Get chairs!" Jessica ordered in horror as the men's faces contorted in grimaces and turned white as sheets.

Jim shook his head, "Can't get close enough with chairs."

"You're sweating ..." Jessica said as beads of perspiration beaded on Jim's forehead. She lifted her hand to brush his forehead, and then ran her fingers gently over the bruises on his cheeks that were now turning an ugly yellow/green.

"I'm fine." Jim said and turned his head so he could kiss her palm.

"Thanks for saving our lives Jess." Scott said resting his forehead on her abdomen.

"Thanks ... and I'm so sorry about that night ... the consequences." Angus said.

"That damn hook ..." Jim groaned and lowered his forehead to Jessica's cheek.

"Goddamn hook, I'm so sorry Jess." Scott said, his voice breaking.

"No, no ..." Jessica said when Riley seemed to deflate onto the back of the sofa next to her and Josh dropped his head to her feet. She looked between Riley and Jim, Scott, Angus and Josh who all hung their heads and pressed them into her. "I enjoyed it. Really, I did ..." she insisted when they looked up at her with 'give me a break' expressions. "Okay so maybe it went on a bit too long, but other than that I did enjoy it. And ..." she added when the men looked even less convinced, "I guess I could have lived without losing my privileges."

"You have them back," Josh said, "all of them. And more. Anything, you can do anything you want, any time ... honest." He added when Jessica looked like she was humoring him.

"And when you're better you can give me the same consequences." Angus said. "Yes Jessica ..." he added when she began to protest, "Fuck machines, ropes, hooks and all, you do it back to me."

"Me too." Riley said. The others were nodding.

"I don't want to." Jessica said, "Um, unless you'd enjoy it." Jessica said when the men looked at her like she was disappointing them. "Would you?" she asked in surprise because with the exception of the time she'd used the anal vibrator on Scott none of the men had indicated they'd enjoy being entered anally. But the expressions on their faces made it clear that they would not enjoy it. Not at all. Not even Scott who had cum with an anal vibrator.

"Jessica, what we did to you, we didn't do it to pleasure you." Angus said, "We did it to ... to control you. As a consequence. We wanted to make sure that you'd never, ever, do anything like deal with, ride for, or even look at Paul again. And, to prove that you were wrong. Wrong about dealing with Paul, wrong about trying to protect us."

"But we were wrong." Riley said.

"Really wrong." Angus agreed.

"We would have fought with Paul's men and people would have died. Maybe even some of us." Josh said. "You were right."

"At the very least our kill counts would have gone up ... so, you need to give us consequences back." Scott said.

"It's the only way to make it right." Jim added.

"Kill what?" Angus demanded.

"Did ... did you say kill counts?" Riley asked in a hushed tone.

"Shit, I knew there was something we forgot to tell you." Jim said.

"How in God's name did that come up?" Angus asked and rather than sound angry there was despair in his voice.

"It's not important." Jessica said worried by how broken Riley and Angus looked.

"Yes it is." Riley said, "How did it come up?"

"Jessica told me that she loved me." Jim said, "And to prove a point I told her my kill count ... the other guys did too."

"And what did you tell her our kill counts were?" Angus asked staring at the blankets covering her legs, unable to look at Jessica.

"We didn't." Scott said.

"But ours are higher, way higher than any of yours." Riley said.

"But you've stopped." Jessica interrupted, "You've stopped and that's all that matters. I love you all, equally, and I don't care about your past kill counts only your future ones. And I don't want to give you consequences. Can we please just be happy to be alive? Alive and together? Please?"

"You saved our lives Jessica, we'll do whatever you want." Angus said, "But I want you to know, to be totally honest. My kill count is ..."

"Don't ..." Jessica interrupted.

"But Jess ..." Riley said.

"No, I don't want to know."

"Why?" Angus said, "Why did you want to know their kill counts and not ours? You need to know or you don't know everything."

"Or do you think you'll stop loving us if you know?" Riley asked.

Jessica closed her eyes.

"I'm not afraid I won't love you anymore. I know I will love you now no matter what." She opened her eyes and found Angus and Riley hadn't lifted their bowed heads. Worse than that they seemed to be slumping. "But I think telling me will hurt you. You're obviously not happy about it. Angus, Riley, will you look at me please?" They lifted their eyes simultaneously and Jessica felt her heart squeeze in her chest. Shame was written all over their faces.

"I don't need to know, really." She added.

"I need to tell you Jessica. I need you to know so I can say you know everything and I need to be the same as these guys." Angus tilted his head to Jim and then the other way to Scott and Josh.

Riley nodded.

"You're not doing this to punish yourselves?" Jessica asked.

"Maybe a little." Riley said, "But I think it's justified, especially if you won't give us sexual consequences for what we did to you."

"Guys, maybe we should do this another time. Jessica is tired." Jim said. Jessica smiled at Jim. She was starting to get a headache.

"What other time?" Riley asked. "We're surrounded by people all the time and we'll continue to be for at least another couple of weeks. We asked them to leave us alone when Jessica woke up ... I'm not sure how easy it'll be for them to find things to do on a regular basis ..."

"No, it's okay." Jessica said. "Tell me your kill counts, and you'll see that it makes no difference. And then you can go easier on yourselves ... okay? 'Cause honestly, the sex ... it was good. I enjoyed it."
"Ninety-five ..." Angus said and this time he didn't lower his gaze when Jessica brought hers to his.

"Ninety." Riley added and didn't get much comfort from having a lower number than Angus. Especially when Angus groaned.

Jessica looked from one to the other, and then to Jim, Scott and Josh.

"Hard to love us now, isn't it?" Angus asked.

"Those are large numbers." Jessica said quietly, "But you don't intend to kill anyone anymore, right?"

Riley and Angus shook their heads.

"Good, then that's all that matters." Jessica said and smiled.

Silence hung in the air while Riley and Angus searched her face.

"You're serious." Angus said with disbelief.

"Yes."

Riley exhaled. "So, if you won't return the consequences, what can we do to make things up to you?"

"That's easy, you can believe me that we need to convince Daryl's friends that Daryl and his family left. Telling them that you haven't seen them is not good enough."

"We do believe you." Josh said.

"But Jess, I just can't think of a way to do it. Honest to God." Scott said.

"Okay. Well, if it were me, and I were to go to a friend's house and find their clothes and toiletries missing, I'd see that as a clue that maybe they'd gone somewhere." Jessica said.

"That ..." Jim said after a few minutes of silence, "is good. But I'm sure that by now they've checked their houses."

"True ..." Jessica said, "but ..." she said excited by an idea that came to her, "if I were trying to quit something that had never been quit before I'd try to do it without making it obvious."

"Yes ..." Scott prompted when Jessica became lost in thought.

"So, I'd leave my things alone, but I'd still need supplies to survive. I'd have to get those supplies somewhere else."

"So you'd buy some." Jim said.

"I could ..." Jessica said. "Money. That's it ... if they'd drained their bank accounts then it would be obvious that they left."

"We don't have bank accounts though." Angus said, "We deal in cash."

"Really?" Jessica asked, disappointed. "But how does that work when you're far away from each other? That's not very convenient."

"Emergency fund ..." Riley said bolting upright. "We have an emergency bank account. We don't use it much, at least I haven't. But it's there."

"Emergency ..." Jessica said. "Exactly. In all the movies the spies have safe houses. You know, where they go if things go wrong. Doesn't the clan have something like that? Did I say something wrong?" She asked when the men stared at her.

"No. You're just a fucking genius Jessica." Riley said and a huge grin split his face. "We do have safe houses. But I don't know where any of Daryl's safe houses are."

"And the money?" Jessica asked. All the men were smiling at her now, and she grinned back at them.

"We could take the money." Riley said, "But how would we make it look like Daryl took it?"

"There has to be a way." Jessica said.

"There is." Josh said, "Don is a computer whiz. He'll know how to do it, I'm sure of it. He hacks into the government computer systems all the time."

"Okay but will the money be enough? I'm not sure how we'd figure out where Daryl's safe houses are." Jim asked.

"No, we need the safe house too. If we take the clothes and toiletries from there it will make it look like they ran away. And if Don is a computer whiz he can help there too. We still have Daryl's car, somewhere, right?" Jessica asked.

"Corey and Sean took care of their cars but I guess they're around somewhere." Riley said.

"And it's likely they have GPS systems in them?" Jessica asked.

"They did have an emergency ..." Jim said, "They may have gone to a safe house, we could probably find it with their GPS. Jess, that's just ... amazing."

"You're amazing ..." Scott said.

Jessica smiled and despite the pride she felt swell up in her she also felt her cheeks burn red.

"Why are you embarrassed?" Jim asked, gently running his thumb over her red cheeks.

Jessica shrugged and searched her mind for a diversion. It was embarrassing to get flattery for some reason.

"Are we going to keep this a secret from Abe and Rick?" She asked willing the red on her face to disappear.

"As much as I'd like to," Riley said, caressing her other cheek, "I don't think it'd be a good idea. They're here all the time, if we try to keep it from them they'll know something is up. And as much as I distrust Paul, he has been good to you ... to us. He may even be able to help."

Jessica nodded. "I don't know about Paul, but I like Abe and Rick. I think they'll help."

"You look tired Jess. You should rest for a bit." Jim said.

"You guys look pretty tired too." Jessica said.

"We've been resting on the mattresses here in the living room. We can pull them closer to the sofa and watch a movie." Josh said hitching his thumb over his shoulder. Jessica looked between Jim and Scott and saw their bed on the floor.

"Good idea." Jessica said beginning to feel fatigue flood over her.

"Before that though, there's something else we have to tell you." Angus said and his tone cut through Jessica's drowsiness. He sounded and looked despondent.

"Shit yeah," Scott said. Angus' demeanor made it clear to Scott that Angus was talking about the birth control pills.

"What is it?"

"You've missed almost a week of your pills. The doc said there was no way to give them to you while you were unconscious. He doesn't think it's likely you'd get pregnant but he said to wait and see if you get your period." Angus said.

"Oh." Jessica said, stunned.

"But he has no idea how much sex we've had ... I don't think he realizes how likely it is that you were inseminated. " Riley added.

"But he really didn't think you could get pregnant with the trauma you've had, and the meds he's given you." Jim added when Jessica grew paler than she had been.

"And if you are pregnant there are options ..." Angus said quietly and Jessica groaned and closed her eyes.

"We're sorry Jess. Doc said there was nothing we could do." Jim said.

"Jessica," Angus said and when she looked at him he continued, "If you're pregnant we'll support whatever you want to do. Whatever choice you make, I'll stand behind you."

Jessica stretched her hand down to try and take Angus' hand. She couldn't quite reach, but Scott leaned back and Angus leaned forward, laying his head on her stomach. Jessica rubbed his head, running her fingers through his short gold hair.

"I won't lie." She said, "I'm ... terrified."

"Six armed psychopaths, no problem, one potential baby and you're scared ..." Josh said shaking his head.

"Ha, ha ..." Jessica said. "The six armed psychopaths are dead and gone, a baby would be completely dependent on us and be with us forever."

"Forever?" Angus asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Forever." Jessica said brushing his hair back off his forehead.

"Do you mean ...?"

"Yes. I do."

"Jess ..." Angus murmured, a smile splitting his face.

"You still look terrified." Riley observed.

"I am." Jessica said, "I'm not ready to be a mother."

"You probably don't have to be." Jim said, "Let's just wait and see."

"To be honest, I'm pretty terrified too." Scott said.

"Yeah, me too." Angus said.

"Christ ... I don't think I've ever looked forward to your period before." Riley said with a forced laugh.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

"Time must be up." Jim said when Jessica looked at the door in surprise, "They've run out of things to do out there."

"You guys set up the bed and the movie ... I'll go find Don and ask him about the money and safe house." Scott said.

"I'd sure be curious to see how he does it ..." Jessica said, watching Scott struggle to his feet.

"You and me both." He said, moving to kiss Jessica on the lips. "Come in!" He called out when a knock sounded on the door again ... "I swear we can't get a moments peace these days." He muttered, pecked Jessica's lips again and with a wink and a huge smile he shuffled his way toward the door that was now open, admitting Corey, Sean, Abe and Leah.

Several hours later Jessica blinked as the living room light went on. The men had arranged their mattresses near the sofa, the others had sat on chairs from the kitchen and the armchair, and Leah had folded herself onto the sofa at Jessica's feet. The men had been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and watch Twilight again but Jessica had talked them out of it. She'd been certain that Sean, Corey, Abe, Rick, Mark, Stan and Chris would have no desire to watch Twilight and she was certain that she'd doze in and out anyway so there was no reason to play it on her account. And she'd been right, she'd slept on and off even though the men had picked the Die Hard movie and explosions and gunfire erupted constantly.

Neither Scott or Don had come to watch the movie and now as the light went on she saw Don come in, grab the coffee table that had been moved off to the side put it just under the front window. Scott limped through the front door, white as a ghost, carrying a couple of small boxes and a bag. Don, took the boxes and bag from Scott and when Scott noticed Jessica watching him he nodded and then limped over to the sofa. Despite how pale and clammy he looked, Scott was grinning from ear to ear.

"Scott, you have to sit down ... you're going to pass out." Jessica said, trying to sit up.

"I am going to sit, over there with Don." Scott said tilting his head toward the table that Don had put under the window. "Don can do the money and the safe house. I told him that we wanted to see how he did it so I bought us a lap top and router. He's going to set us up and do everything right from here so we can see."

"Not only is this a brilliant idea but I finally get to bring you guys into the twenty first century." Don said standing next to Scott.

"What idea?" Mark asked.

"Jessica had a kick-ass idea for getting Daryl's people off our backs." Don replied and Jessica felt her cheeks turning red again.

"And it is?" Corey asked.

"You didn't tell them?" Don asked Riley, "Okay, this is great," Don said when Riley shook his head, "so we're going to take supplies from one of Daryl's safe houses and money from the emergency reserve. It'll make it look like they took off."

"You can do that?" Rick asked.

"I've gotta do some snooping but once I have a few pieces of info I can transfer the funds online. Once I find one of their safe houses we can clear that out too. Shouldn't be too hard."

"Well," Abe said getting up from the chair he had next to the mattresses and moving next to Don to stand by Jessica's feet. Jessica had looked down at her hands so he paused until she looked up, "that is a brilliant idea. I knew you were a clever one. Now, if you'll all excuse me for a minute I should check over my patient."

The men shifted the mattresses back a little, and Jim, Josh and Riley followed Scott and Don back to the table under the window. Leah stayed near Jessica's feet and Angus lay back on the mattress, leaning on his elbows and watching every move Abe was making. Corey, Sean, and Mark moved to the kitchen and rummaged in the fridge emitting the sounds of glass clinking on glass.

"Anyone want a beer?" Mark called out. Jessica watched her fingers play with the blanket edge as she felt Abe settle next to her on the sofa and listened to the chorus of beer confirmations sounding around her.

It was embarrassing enough to be praised like that, in front the men, additionally embarrassing to be praised in front of a roomful of acquaintances but it was especially embarrassing to turn bright red in front of them. Jessica closed her eyes and wished her face to pale.

Suddenly a finger slid under her chin and lifted. Jessica found herself looking at Abe.

"Beautiful, brave, brainy and bashful ... quite the package Jessica. Don't be embarrassed about having it all." Abe said with a wink.

"Can you please stick to nursing ..." Angus grumbled.

"How are you feeling?" Abe asked, ignoring Angus.

"Fine, but I don't like not feeling my legs." Jessica replied.

"Doc will be back tomorrow, I'm sure he'll wean you off the anesthetic, don't worry."

Jessica nodded.

"Everything looks good." Abe said after examining the bandages and feeling Jessica's forehead. "Just keep relaxing. I'm going to whip up some Shepherd's Pie for dinner, so make sure you eat to keep your strength up. 'K?"

Jessica nodded, "I love Shepherd's Pie. Thanks."

Angus watched Abe move to the kitchen. When he looked back Jessica was looking at him.

"I was rude, I know, sorry. He's just way too friendly for my liking." Angus said.

"I love you Angus," Jessica said laying back against the arm rest, "no amount of friendliness from anyone else is going to change that you know."

Angus laughed. "I still don't like him ... but he is right about the package thing. You shouldn't be embarrassed about that."

"It just kind of happens." Jessica said.

"Angus, you up for some annihilation with Call of Duty?" Mark asked.

"Jess, did you want to watch or play anything?" Angus asked.

"No, you go ahead."

"That's truly unbelievable ..." Leah said stretching out next to Jessica. Leah was watching Angus move closer to the TV with Mark. "He really has changed. Are you okay if I squeeze in here?"

Jessica nodded and tried to shift closer to the edge as Leah arranged herself around Jessica's tubes.

"The girls are gonna come over after dinner." Leah said, and then lowered her voice, "I have to tell you that I love being here. The men actually cook! Back at home us girls get stuck with it ... how'd you pull it off?"

"I guess that's one of the perks of not being trusted in the kitchen." Jessica said and laughed when Leah looked at her funny. "Not because I can't cook ... early on they thought I'd stab them with a kitchen knife. But it looks like Abe must cook a lot too and I had absolutely no influence on him."

"You know what Beth told me?" Leah said in an even more hushed voice.

"No, what?" Jessica whispered back.

"That she had the distinct feeling that Abe and Rick were bumping boots with Paul's sister."

"Stasia?" Jessica asked and thought back to the night at the bar. "I guess they did seem pretty close. I wonder what Stasia's husband would think of that if he knew ..."

"I wonder what it means to us if he ever finds out." Leah said her voice going cold, "I doubt things would be settled on a race track."

Jessica shivered.

"Never mind, hopefully they have the good sense to not be so obvious around her husband." Leah said patting her arm. "Though they are good looking men ..." Leah tossed in, popping her head up to watch Abe in the kitchen.

"Leah, you are so bad ..." Jessica said laughing.

"Just a healthy hot blooded female ..." Leah said. "That reminds me ..." Leah said settling back on the sofa and lowering her voice. "Does Scott really ... does he enjoy ..."

"Enjoy ...?" Jessica asked when Leah was clearly struggling with how to word her question.

"Machines ... you know, sex with machines?"

"What?" Jessica gasped, "How, why, where ..." she sputtered, "Did you get an idea like that?"

"Scott told us, Corey and me, when we came in to give you blood."

"He what?!" Jessica demanded, "Why would he do that?"

"He was hurt and couldn't move those ... machines. He had to ask Corey for help."

"So he said they were for him?"

Leah nodded.

Jessica couldn't believe it. Scott had humiliated himself to protect her.

"You're the only ones that know right?" Jessica asked, embarrassed for him.

"No," Leah said and hung her head, "we kind of told Sean and them."

"No ..." Jessica groaned.

"I know, I know, it's bad. I'm sorry, but we just couldn't seem to keep it to ourselves. So, it's true then?"

Jessica looked over at the men by the window and while the others were huddled around Don and the laptop, Scott was standing slightly apart from them. To Jessica he looked left out, alone. Jessica felt an ache in her chest. She couldn't believe he'd done that. Embarrassed himself for her. She couldn't leave it like that.

"Actually Leah, it's not true." She said and she felt her face burn red, "Scott was protecting me. I'm the one who uses the machines."

"Really?" Leah asked in a hushed voice. Jessica nodded. "I won't tell anyone." She added.

"No, you have to. Tell everyone who thinks it's Scott. Please, it's not fair to him."

"But you're turning bright red Jess which is quite the feat given how low your blood pressure probably is."

"I always turn red ... I'll get over it. Please just tell them the truth."

Leah looked over at Scott. "He must really love you ..." she said in a dreamy voice and sighed, "to do something like that for you."

Jessica looked at Leah in surprise. She looked sad.

"I'm sure Corey would do that for you." Jessica said.

"What?" Leah gasped swiveling her head back to Jessica so quickly Jessica was certain she'd given herself whiplash. "Why would you say that?"

"You and Corey are together, aren't you?" Jessica asked confused by the panic that was rolling off Leah in waves. Jessica was certain that she'd picked up on something between them. Maybe it had been the medication. She certainly had been kind of out of it but she was sure of what she'd seen. "I thought ... I was pretty sure that you two seemed ... together. Sorry if I misinterpreted things." Jessica said.

Leah's eyes strayed to Corey and Sean sitting at the dining room table, drinking beer and laughing. She seemed to turn green.

"Are you okay?" Jessica asked.

"No." Leah said and dropped her head against the back of the sofa. "How did you know?" she whispered.

"It was kind of obvious." Jessica said, "maybe I'm wrong ..." she added when Leah groaned and collapsed on top of her, holding her head. "Why is it a bad thing?"

"Sean doesn't know." Leah said. "And he can't know ..." she said suddenly sitting up and grabbing Jessica's hand.

"Why?"

"I don't know what he'd do but I can guess and it wouldn't be pretty." Leah said.

"Sean and Corey are best friends aren't they?"

Leah nodded her head, "But I think that may change when Sean finds out about us."

"Why wouldn't he want his sister and his best friend to get together?"

Leah shrugged. "I don't think Corey himself would be the problem. Sean doesn't want me to date anyone in the clan. I don't know why, but he's made that pretty clear."

"So he'd let you date someone outside the clan?"

Leah snorted, "Not likely."

"So he expects you to never date anyone? Ever?"

"Seems that way."

"Well, that sucks." Jessica said.

"Tell me about it." Leah said.

"So you're going to keep it secret forever?"

"I guess so. But if you could tell then maybe we won't be able to."

"How long have you been together?"

"A month. Tonight is our first monthevsary." Leah sat up, "To celebrate Corey's rented us a room in a hotel. We're sneaking out later. It'll be our first time ..." Leah said looking nervous again. She looked up at Jessica, "Actually, it'll be my first time. And I know it's lame," Leah added when Jessica looked at her in stunned silence, "since you had five to deal with and I only have one ... and you were way younger than I am your first time, but do you have any advice?"

"Uh, yeah, use protection." Jessica said her mind spinning. "No seriously," she added when Leah looked at her like she'd lost it, "especially if you don't think Sean will approve. The last thing you want is to get pregnant."

"I'm sure Corey will have protection." Leah said. "I didn't mean that kind of advice. Corey has experience so I think it will be ... great for me." Leah said, pink coming to her cheeks, "But what should I ... do ... to make it great for Corey?"

"Oh," Jessica said. In her mind she ran through the multiple first times that she'd had with the men and decided to discount the rapes and even the later consensual sex and only count the sex they'd had after the oath. "Well. You need to use your hands and your mouth a lot ... on their, you know, cocks." Now Jessica's face was burning. She felt a little uncomfortable too ... what she and the men did was private to her. Discussing it with anyone else seemed wrong.
Leah nodded, turned pinker too, and then winced. "I've heard of that, using your mouth. Do you really have to ... swallow? Because, I don't think I can ..."

"I guess you don't have to. But men sure seem to like it."

"I really don't think I can ..." Leah said with a look of terror.

"It's not supposed to be scary ..." Jessica said. "If it's scary then it's not being done right. Two minutes ago you were excited about the whole thing. Look, when you see Corey, or think about him, do you get all tingly ... everywhere? I mean everywhere?" Jessica said when Leah was nodding her head. After a pause and some thought, Leah nodded again. "Then just go with that feeling. Believe me, it'll make you do things you never, ever, imagined you'd do. And don't worry, Corey will do the same. Are you okay?"

Leah nodded while observing Corey. "I definitely do get the tingles when I see him."

Settling back onto the sofa Leah looked over at Jessica's men crowded around Don and the laptop.

"I guess you know all about tingles." Leah said and then looked back at Jessica. "All the girls in the clan have the hots for Scott, Jim and Josh. And now that Riley and Angus aren't assholes, them too. They're terrifying, but hot. I get so tongue tied I act like an idiot around them. No I 'm serious." Leah added when Jessica laughed like she didn't believe her. "My brain goes to mush."

"Your brain sure wasn't mush when you told Jim and Josh off at the jam session." Jessica said.

"Yeah. I don't know what happened there. That was unusual, really threw me for a loop." She laughed, "And that's probably why they looked at me like I'd grown a second head ... I really never talk to them."

Jessica giggled remembering the expressions on Jim and Josh's faces.

"Dinner's ready!" Abe called and appeared next to the sofa holding a plate, and placing a chair behind him he sat down.

"I got it." Jim said limping toward them, hand out to Abe. "I'll feed her."

"You should go eat first." Jessica said when he switched places with Abe, "I'm really not that hungry ..."

"You have to eat Jess ... I'll get my food after." Jim said.

Sean and Corey had brought extra folding chairs over to accommodate everyone and Angus, Riley, Scott and Josh were setting some up around the sofa and settling onto them.

"All of you?" Jessica asked, "there won't be any food left."

"There's plenty." Abe said, "I made a huge batch."

There was a knock at the door and Mark opened it to let Sara, Amanda and Justine in. They made a beeline for the sofa.

"Hey Jess, how you doing?" Amanda asked.

"Better thanks."

"I guess we made it in time for dinner, huh?" Justine asked eyeing the plate that Jim held in his hand.

"Help yourselves." Abe said, nodding to the kitchen.

"You'd better get some food." Jessica said to the men when Sara, Amanda and Justine left for the kitchen.

"Nah, there'll be enough." Abe said, "I made enough for an army." And he followed the girls.

"Well I guess I'll get my dinner," Leah said struggling to get off the sofa, "Thanks ..." she said to Josh in a hushed voice when he took her hand to assist her.

Leah really hadn't been kidding. Once off the sofa Leah lowered her eyes and almost ran to the kitchen.

Jessica looked at the men, and they were looking at her. And although she was numb from her waist down she felt an odd phantom tingle. To say they were hot was a major understatement. Even weak and tired from their wounds their bodies were perfectly sculpted muscle. Coiled muscle. Seeming to strain at her. Jessica's phantom tingle roared and the men seemed to notice because a look of surprise crossed each of their faces as they looked from one another to Jessica, and then leaned forward in unison. Silence hung between them as the men's eyes moved over Jessica. Her face, her body, down to her blanket covered toes. Jessica took her time looking them over too ... faces, chests, arms, legs. Finally Josh looked over at the group of noisy eaters in the kitchen.

"Figures that for years we barely saw them ..." and he nodded at the group, "and now we never don't see them."

Jim cleared his throat, "We can tell them we need time alone."

"They could patrol the grounds ... they need to patrol the grounds." Angus added.

Jessica looked from Jim, who didn't seem to notice that he was holding a plate out in one hand and a fork mid-air in the other to Angus who looked as aroused as he'd sounded. But weak. Jessica looked Scott, Riley and Josh over too. Forcing herself to ignore her desires it was obvious that none of the men were physically fit enough to walk much less ravish her despite how much she or they may have wanted it.

She sighed and shook her head, "I can't do anything anyway. I'm completely numb, can't even feel or move my legs."

"You sure look like you feel something." Riley said, "You look really ... horny."

"I am ... kind of. It's weird, I want you and I remember what it feels like to want you ... but I can't actually feel anything. I don't think I can even move my legs."

"And, you're on an IV and a catheter." Scott said quietly, "Is it wrong that I want you anyway?"

"What the hell is wrong with us?" Jim demanded, "Christ." He shook his head and then suddenly realized that he was holding Jessica's food and fork. He scooped the food onto the fork, "Here, Jess have some before it gets cold."

"Nothing is wrong with you ..." Jessica said, "I want you too, remember? I mean, I guess we could ask for some time alone ..." she paused eyeing the IV hanging next to the sofa, "and work around the IV ..." and then she looked at the tube next to it where yellow liquid streamed by, "and the catheter ..."

"You wouldn't feel anything Jess ... what would be the point?" Angus asked looking at the tube filled with yellow too.

"But you would."

"Yeah, a whole lot of guilt." Riley said. "Thanks Jess, but no way would I let you do that, no way would any of us let you do that."

"Guilt?" Jessica demanded, "Why would you feel guilt?"

"Because. Despite what some of our history may suggest, we don't like to ... use you. We don't just need your body for sex. We want to pleasure you. And you can't be pleasured like this." Angus said waving his hand at the tubes attached to her.

"It wouldn't be using me if I wanted you to, but I know what you're saying. And, thank you."

Angus picked her hand up and kissed it.

"Besides," Jessica said when Jim started moving the fork toward her mouth again, "we won't have visitors forever, right? Once Don moves the money, and we find the safe house we won't need protection anymore. And it won't be long before we're better ... right? What's wrong?" Jessica asked when the men looked less than confident about things.

"Don ran into a small problem with the money transfer." Josh said.

"What problem?"

"Jess, eat this please, come on ...' Jim said. No sooner had Jessica accepted the food than Jim was back with another forkful.

"He's going to have to go to Daryl's place. His computer's not on so he can't find the info he needs." Scott said.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Jessica asked, "I can't eat anymore Jim. Have the rest, please ..."

"You barely ate." Jim said, "But don't worry about Don, he'll be in and out. And he won't be alone. Have some more, please ..."

Jessica accepted another forkful but then pressed her mouth shut and shook her head when Jim tried another. Jim sighed and ate it himself.

"I'll be fine." Don said. Don stood behind Riley, laptop in hand.

"You guys go eat, I'll show Jessica how to find Daryl's safe house." He said, lifting the laptop higher. Jessica looked around and noticed that everyone from the kitchen was now behind the sofa. Leah, Justine, Amanda and Sara were leaning on the back of it.

"Have a seat." Jim said getting off the chair, but rather than go get some food he, like the other men, tried to see what Don was doing on the computer.

"So, I have software that will go on the site of the company that supports Daryl's car's navigation system and allow us to see all of his previous destinations." Don said.

"Did you write the software yourself?" Jessica asked while Don typed and the laptop screen flickered.

"You betcha." Don said. "There, we're in." he said turning the laptop more toward Jessica. "Now I'll put in his license plate ... like I thought it was fake. Okay, that's fine..." he muttered to himself, "There's more than one way to skin a cat ..." he his fingers flew over the keyboard. Soon a list of addresses, dates and times scrolled over the screen. "And now we find the date of the attack. There." He said pointing at an address. "That's rural. That has to be it."

"But how do you know that it's not a friend's place?" Jessica asked.

"Two ways to be sure." Don said with a smile. "One, I'll search through this listing to see if he's been there before. CTRL F, put the address, ENTER ... nothing. Second," he said opening a new browser window, "I'll Google the site and see what it's listed as ... there it's a condemned farm house. You don't always get so lucky with that kind of search, but this time we did."

"That's ... amazing. Someday would you mind teaching me how you wrote that software? That was really cool." Jessica asked.

"Sure." Don said surprised and clearly pleased.

"You want to learn to code?" Scott asked.

Jessica nodded. "It looks really interesting ... and powerful."

"It looks really complicated." Angus said.

"I'm sure Jessica is smart enough." Don said, "It's not rocket science."

Riley'd been leaning over Jessica's head to see the laptop. He brought his hand to her good shoulder and squeezed. Jessica looked up, and smiled.

"That safe house is pretty far away." Riley said bringing his attention back to the laptop and squinting at the screen.

"Yeah." Don said typing something into the computer again, "It'll take us a couple of days to get there." He turned to Mark, "I think we should transfer the money while we're at Daryl's place. It won't take long." Then turning to Riley he said, "And we should head to the safe house right from there. It'll be faster."

Riley nodded.

"So we leave tomorrow." Angus said.

"What?" Jessica demanded.

"It'll just be a few days." Angus said.

"Where exactly are you going?" Jessica asked and her tone made everyone freeze. Angus looked from Jessica to Riley and then around the room. Everyone looked as surprised as he felt.

"To the safe house ..." Angus finally said, "with Don and Mark."

"No you're not." Jessica said and neither her tone or her expression left any room for argument.

"Jess ..." Riley began.

"No." she said snapping her eyes to Riley's and then back at Angus. "Neither of you are going anywhere."

"But Jess, Don and Mark need help." Scott said.

Jessica pinned Scott with her eyes and then swung them to Angus.

"You can barely walk. You would be more of a hindrance than a help. If Don and Mark need help someone else can go."

"We can still shoot a gun Jess," Riley said .

"But you can't run away. You go on at me about self-preservation. Now take your own advice. You are not going anywhere." Jessica said. Silence hung in the air. Jim looked around the room. Riley and Angus looked shocked, everyone else looked like they wanted to crawl under a rock, and Jessica looked as if she had every intention of getting up and making them stay.

The silence dragged. Jessica and Angus stared at one another. Jessica couldn't read Angus' expression. Her mind raced. What would she do if they didn't listen to her? Beg, plead, blackmail. She wasn't beyond making them stay in lieu of the sexual consequences that they said they'd let her have.

"Jess ..." Jim said finding his voice but completely unsure what to say.

"You're right." Angus said and nodded his head. He looked at Don "You'll have to go without us. Maybe Sean or Corey could go too." Turning his eyes back to Jessica he said, "Sorry Jess. Are you okay?"

Any color that Jessica had begun to get back in her cheeks had gone and she looked like she'd pass out.

"Jess?" Riley asked, shaking her shoulder.

Eventually she nodded but in truth she wasn't sure. Her heart thudded against her chest and the feeling of terror subsided. She had no idea what she would have done if Angus and Riley had insisted on going.

"Well. We have to go check on the animals ... check the parameter ..." Sean said. It was like he'd shot a starter pistol. Don shot off the sofa, everyone other than Riley, Angus, Scott, Josh and Jim disappeared.

Angus winced as he dropped to his knees next to the sofa. He cupped Jessica's cheek in his hand.

"I'm really sorry Jess. It was a stupid idea." Angus said.

"A really stupid idea." Jessica agreed.

"You guys sure know how to clear a room." Josh said with a laugh.

"Yeah Jessica you were pretty scary ..." Scott said.

"Me?" Jessica demanded, "I was scary ... I'm pretty sure that Angus cleared the room, not me."

"I don't think so." Angus said, "Even I was scared ... seriously!" he added when Jessica gave him a 'give me a break' look. "Honest Jess, I thought I was going to have my ass handed to me."

"By me ..." Jessica said, doubt evident in her voice.

"By you. I was half expecting your head to spin around ..." Riley said.

"Ha, ha." Jessica said.

"So, are we okay?" Angus asked.

"That depends. Do you have any other stupid ideas?"

"Ouch ..." Riley said, "We're not going to live this down are we?"

"I'm sure you will ... eventually." Jessica said and smiled. "Do you really think it will be that dangerous for Don, Stan and Mark?"

"So long as they don't run into any of Daryl's friends it should be a piece of cake." Josh said lowering himself onto a chair.

"Someone else should go with them then." Jessica said.

Scott nodded, "We'll make sure someone does. Don't worry."

"Um, Jess." Riley said looking toward the door when voices could be heard just outside it. "They must be done. The girls brought some movies and some magazines ... " he shook his head, "some of those fashion and gossip magazines that I'm not at all sure Sean would approve them having. Do you have enough energy for all that?"

Jessica nodded vigorously.

"I honestly never thought there'd be a day when we had the whole clan here." Angus said.

"The whole clan?" Jessica asked, her heart dropping. Beth wasn't here. She hoped she wasn't home all alone.

"Caleb isn't here." Jim said when Jessica's smile disappeared. It was obvious to everyone who Jessica was thinking about and Angus' face contorted in anguish.

"He's out of town." Josh said, "sorry ..." he added when Jim glared at him.

"Will he be back soon?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know." Scott said adding his own glare at Josh.

"Where exactly is he?" Jim asked curiosity getting the better of him.

Josh shrugged. "Paul called him out to take care of part of the clan out west ... some kind of flu has knocked them out."

"He is a doctor right?" Jessica asked, looking around at the stunned looks on the other men's faces.

"Not officially." Riley said.

"And he's not Paul's doctor." Scott added, "Paul's doctor is here."

"Is that weird?" Jessica asked.

"He had them both at the race ..." Jim said making a fake scowl at Jessica when he said race.

"But he called Caleb out after ... Kept doc here. I guess maybe he figured a flu epidemic wasn't doctor worthy." Angus said.

Jessica and the men sat in silence mulling that over.

Scott was already looking at Jessica when her eyes met his. His face melted into a smile and his eyes softened in a way that made her heart ache. Once again she couldn't believe what he'd done for her ... taking the embarrassment of those machines onto himself. She opened her mouth to say thank you when the front door opened and Sean stuck his head in.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked.

"Yeah. Come on in." Riley said and suddenly they were surrounded by pandemonium as the men's places were taken over by Leah, Amanda, Sara and Justine.

Jessica looked around her in disappointment. She wanted to thank Scott but not with a ton of people around. It was embarrassing enough knowing that they probably all knew by now. When Jessica looked back at Scott he was cocking an eyebrow at her. Jessica inhaled. Well, he'd humiliated himself for her ... she could do the same.

"You okay?" he asked. Jessica nodded. "You sure?"

"Yes. But, Scott I know about ..." Jessica paused, looking around at the people around her and turned bright red.

"Jess, Jess, stop." Scott said, obviously confused by the red tinge to Jessica's cheeks but unwilling to let her embarrass herself.

"But I have to say thank ..."

"Wait, I'll get us a few minutes alone."

"Come on man," Corey said planting a hand on Scott's shoulder. The other men had already gravitated to the kitchen, "We're playing some poker."

"It's okay." Jessica said forcing a smile, "We can talk later. Honest, go play."

"But ..."

"I love you Scott. And, thank you."

"Huh?" but it only took a few seconds for Jessica to be surrounded by giggling women.

Jessica smiled and blew Scott a kiss. He blew one back, shook his head and headed for the kitchen. To Scott, winning money off these suckers wasn't quite as enjoyable as spending time with Jessica, but at least he could keep an eye on her while he did it. And when she had a moments peace he could go find out what she'd wanted to tell him.

"What the hell kind of noise is that?" Riley asked half an hour later. The men were in the kitchen. Corey and Sean had also brought a folding table which supplemented the kitchen table and all the men sat around it, cards in hand. The other men followed Riley's gaze to the sofa where the girls had arranged themselves into a shrieking, giggling, mass. Justine was combing Jessica's hair, Sara was holding some magazine and seemed to be reading something from it that caused ongoing shrieks and laughter from the others ... most notably, Jessica.

"They seem to be having fun." Abe said, looking up from his cards.

"Do they do this at home?" Scott asked Corey.

"No, not really. Every once in a while they get in a mood." Corey said.

"They just seem happy." Sean added. "Jessica seems happy."

"And that surprises you?" Jim asked, Sean's tone leaving no doubt that it did.

"Not anymore." Sean said. "When I first heard that you got married I was pretty sure it was against her will. I mean, how do you go from being someone's prisoner to marrying your captors ... not just one but five? But she saved your asses, and it's obvious you love each other ... with this whole safe house thing ..."

"And the machines ... don't forget the fucking machines." Corey added with a shake of his head.

"The what?" Scott asked. "What about the machines?"

"Leah told us." Corey said and shook his head again, "The fact that you'd let us all think ... and then that Jessica would want everyone to know that it was her not you that used them ... that's gotta be love."

"What?" Scott demanded.

"She didn't tell you?" Sean asked. "Leah asked her about you and those machines. Jessica set the record straight."

"Jesus Christ." Jim whispered.

"Leah should have kept that to herself." Scott said.

Sean shook his head, "Jessica told Leah to tell everyone. Even though she turned as red as a tomato, she wanted us to know the truth. That my friend is love. Even I can see that."

Jessica and the girls squealed again.

"Why does happiness have to sound like pigs being butchered?" Riley asked in mock seriousness.

"One day I hope I have that kind of love ..." Corey said and purposely ignored the questioning look from Sean.

"So are you in or out?" Rick asked Riley, looking back at his cards.

"In." Riley said forcing his mind back to the game. Scott folded and spent the rest of the night staring at the back of Jessica's head.
"Jessica's completely out." Leah said a couple of hours later. She stood next to Don at the kitchen table. "The girls are heading home and I think I'll go with them."

"'K ..." Sean said trying to figure out why Leah seemed nervous and as if she were waiting for something. Leah nodded and headed out with the other girls.

"Well." Corey said two minutes later throwing his cards down on the table, "I'm calling it a night. It's late ... we should all call it a night."

"Late? Eleven o'clock?" Rick asked looking at his watch.

"We do have an early morning." Sean said.

Half an hour later the cards had been cleaned up and everyone had gone to bed. The men were lying on the mattresses staring into the dark.

"I can't believe Jessica told them the truth about the machines." Scott said.

"I can." Jim said.

"Okay ... so can I." Scott agreed, "But she must have been so embarrassed."

"Not nearly as embarrassed as I should be." Angus said. "She's got a million tubes in her, can't feel a thing below her waist and has a shoulder wound, but I still want to fuck her. How sick is that?"

"For the record she seems to want to fuck you too." Josh said. "All of us ... tubes, paralysis and all."

"Whatever." Riley said, "She can do whatever she wants. I'm so done with controlling her."

"Ditto." Josh said.

"She's going to overdo it. You know that right? She'll over-work herself."

"Jim, she seems to know her limits." Scott said, "She's been right about everything so far. I think we have to trust her to stop when she needs to."

"Maybe when she's one hundred percent. Not when she's still ... hurt." Jim said.

"Okay. Okay." Angus said, "But there's no way she'll ever call me master again."

"She doesn't have to." Jim said when the others nodded, "We don't have to be explicit about things. Just elude to rules. She'll assume she's our slave and behave ... until she's better."

"But what if that's what gets her off?" Scott asked. "Being a slave? She sure as hell seems to enjoy it."

"Well ..." Riley said, "I guess if she likes it ..."

There was a pause. Finally Angus exhaled. "I wish she was awake."

"Ahuh." Riley said shifting on the mattress. "I'm freaking exhausted but I just don't feel like sleeping."

"We should be glad she's getting some rest." Jim said.

"Good night." Josh said trying to get comfortable. The others grunted but fell silent. They shifted around for what seemed like forever. Finally Josh could hear the men snoring.

Jessica awoke with a start. Her heart was pounding, and she felt cold and alone. Very alone. She heard a noise next to her. Looking into the darkness she could make out the outlines of the men's bodies. She wanted to be with them. Warm, safe, comforted. An outline moved but then stilled. Jessica exhaled and looked at the ceiling. She hoped Don, Mark, Stan, Sean and Rick, would be safe over the next few days. During the evening they'd gradually packed what they needed and intended to leave first thing in the morning. 'Shoot', she mumbled to herself. She wondered how long it would take Daryl's friends to realize that the money and items were missing and it occurred to her that both the money and the safe house were long shots. It could take months before anyone noticed. If at all. And it wasn't the kind of thing you could call them up and tell them to look for.

"Not that brilliant an idea after all ..." Jessica mumbled.

"Jessica?" a voice whispered from beside her and she jumped, a squeaky "Oh" escaping her. A hand grasped her arm. "It's Josh ... sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"Josh?"

"Yeah. Are you okay? Why are you up?"

"I'm okay. I can't sleep."

"Welcome to the club ... but you were sound asleep earlier."

"Yeah, well ... apparently I don't do well sleeping alone. And now I've been thinking and can't fall back to sleep."

"Yeah, when's the last time you slept alone?" Josh asked with a chuckle, "but, uh, I don't think you're going to be getting down there on the floor with us tonight ..." he said eyeing the tubes hanging by the sofa.

"I know." Jessica said looking at the floor next to her with yearning.

"What if I sleep on the sofa with you?" Josh said.

"Will you fit?" Jessica asked when Josh moved to her feet and pulled the blanket back.

"Sure ..." Josh said lifting her legs. "Does this hurt?"

"No ... I still don't feel anything."

Josh put his legs around Jessica and lay her legs on his stomach and chest. "How's that?" he asked tucking the blanket under his chin.

Jessica sighed, "Heavenly ..." she closed her eyes. "Are you comfy?"

"As long as I'm with you I'm comfy. Jess?" Josh asked after a few minutes of quiet.

"Hmmm?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh, um, our plan." Jessica said with a yawn. Now that she had Josh's warmth and physical presence she was having trouble staying awake. "It's kind of a long shot isn't it?" she murmured.

"I guess." Josh said, "But it's better than nothing."

"We need to come up with something better ..." Jessica mumbled followed by light snores.

Josh kissed her feet and closed his eyes, suddenly he had a hard time staying awake too.

Jessica heard Abe say, "Ah, isn't that sweet?"

"Just darling." The doctor's accented response caught her attention. "It's a miracle he didn't pull her tubes out with his feet."

Jessica brought her hands to her eyes and rubbed until she was awake enough to force them open. Lowering a hand she noticed Josh at the other end of the sofa cracking an eye open too. Following his gaze Jessica found the men arrayed around the sofa on kitchen chairs, drinking coffee. Abe and the doctor stood behind the sofa, the doctor inspecting the IV bag next to him.

"Morning sunshines." Jim said with a laugh.

"Morning ..." Josh and Jessica mumbled.

"And just how did you find yourselves in this ... interesting ... position?" Riley asked.

"Jess couldn't sleep." Josh said with a yawn.

"And somehow this helped?" Angus asked, "'Cause it sure doesn't look comfortable."

"She's used to company at night." Josh said flicking his eyes at the mattress. "Doc, when can Jessica start moving around?"

"Well, if my evaluation today is good then I can take her off everything. But we'll have to be careful."

"And when can we start training again? The soonest we can start training again?" Josh asked earning surprised looks from the men and Jessica.

"Let's face it," he said, "our plan isn't exactly fool proof. Daryl's people may never notice anything missing. We have to be able to defend ourselves. Jessica has to be able to defend herself."

"And us." Scott said quietly. His tone caught Jessica's attention but nothing in his demeanor made it clear how he was feeling. He seemed to have adopted Jim's ability to smile with his mouth and look uneasy with his eyes. But then he winked at Jessica and his eyes eased into what looked like melancholy acceptance.

"That'll be a while. You'll all need physiotherapy to get back your strength and flexibility. Now if you'll get out of my way young man ..." he said to Josh who unceremoniously rolled off the sofa.

"I'll get you a coffee Josh." Jim said, "And you too Jess, Doc, Abe when you're done."

"How are you feeling?" Doc asked Jessica.

"Fine." Jessica said, "I really want to get up and start moving around but I can't feel my legs and that's really disturbing."

"One step at a time ... no pun intended ..." the doctor said with a laugh as he began unwrapping Jessica's bandages. "Well, you have a healthy dose of humor that's for sure ..." he added when Jessica laughed hard and couldn't seem to stop.

"All punny jokes aside." Riley said when Jessica finally got her laughter under control, "We need to get back into shape again. It's too dangerous otherwise."

"Is there an immediate threat that we're not aware of?" Abe asked.

"I don't think we can say we're aware of very much." Riley said, "There's a threat that is unknown. It could happen any time."

"The only thing we can be sure of is that it will." Angus added. "I don't think Daryl's people will forgive and forget. I wouldn't." he added when Jessica gave him a questioning look.

"So doc?" Josh asked settling into the chair he'd added into the existing semi-circle the other men had made in front of the sofa, and nodding a thank you to Jim when he handed him a cup of coffee.

"Things look good." Doc said putting Jessica's blanket back in place. "I'll take you off the intravenous and catheter but you have to take it easy. For at least another week or so. And just a word of warning ..." the doctor said pulling the intravenous needle out of her arm, "as the meds wear off you may feel some sudden and ... strange ... sensations as things thaw out."

"You mean my legs?" Jessica asked.

"Mostly." He said, "Just trust me." He added quietly when Jessica opened her mouth for a follow-up question, "It's not something you want me to be explicit about with such a large audience around." He said, inclining his head toward the semi-circle of men staring at them. "It's all normal. Now, which one of you gentlemen is next?" he asked getting up.

"You okay?" Jim asked when Jessica sat up. The doctor had checked Jim and Scott over and with clean bills of health, Jim had squeezed himself onto the sofa so that she was leaning against him, and Scott sat next to him, Jessica's legs over his lap. The doctor was working on Angus and in the twenty minutes or so that it had taken for him to check Jim and Scott over Jessica began to feel her legs.

"I can feel my legs ... finally." Jessica said relief evident in her tone. Scott, who had been running his hands up and down her legs, reached down to squeeze the big toe that Jessica wiggled. She fell back against Jim and he wrapped his arms around her again and held tight. "I want to try and walk." She said and looked over at the doctor.

"You can give it a try lass, but just make sure you don't overdo it. Make sure you rest."

Jessica patted Jim's arms in an excited message to let her go so she could get up but when he did she dropped back against him.

"Jess?" Jim asked.

"I, um, need some pants."

"I'll get them." Riley said but as he limped in the direction of the bedrooms his phone vibrated. He opened it, scowled and shut it.

"Daryl's man again?" Josh asked.

Riley nodded, "Tom is a pain in the ass." Riley muttered as he went, "I guess he figures that if he asks about Daryl enough times our answer will suddenly change. What an ass ... a-hole."

Riley shook his head. It had occurred to him that one of the reasons that Jessica may not want children with him and the men was the amount of profanity that they used. Jessica never swore. Even at the worst of times, she'd never sworn. Obviously it wasn't something she was used to.

He'd mentioned his thought to the other men and they'd agreed that it was not likely that Jessica had grown up in an environment where swearing was common place or permitted. They decided to tone it down. Even if Jessica wasn't pregnant now, they were surprised to conclude that at some point they would want to have kids with her. And not only that, but, as Jim pointed out, in the world Jessica had grown up in, it wasn't likely that husbands swore at their wives. It wasn't going to be easy but they were determined to clean up their language. One small step toward making their world closer to the world Jessica was used to.

Jessica contemplated Tom's persistence. Apparently someone didn't consider Daryl to be a complete jerk. Someone loved him. Great. It was easier to not mind having killed him and his men when thinking of him as a monster who was determined to kill her men rather than someone who loved and was loved and was likely responding from a place of pain rather than evil.

"Just brought you some sweats ... figured they'd be better than jeans." Riley said returning.

"Baggy is good." Angus muttered.

"Thanks." Jessica said forcing a smile.

"Everything okay?" Riley asked, "I mean if you really want jeans I'll go get them."

"Those are great Riley, thanks." Jessica said taking them from him.

"Why do you look so sad then?" Scott asked.

"I'm not. It was just easier to be okay with killing Daryl and his men when I thought of them as jerks."

"And you don't think they were jerks anymore?" Josh asked in obvious surprise.

"Oh I do ... for what they were doing and going to do to you guys. But if this Tom guy is trying so hard to find them then they couldn't have been that bad. I guess it would be easier to just think of them us unlovable." She shrugged her good shoulder, "Though I guess it really shouldn't matter. In any case, I'd do it again in a second. I just would really like to avoid having to massacre Tom and his friends."

"Let's hope they co-operate." Jim said.

Angus snorted but cut it short when Jessica looked at him, "Sorry. Just not sure how high likely that is."

"Yeah ... I figured as much." Jessica said. "Oh, speaking of friends ... Jim, could you plug my cell phone in? It's probably dead by now and I really should let Tracey and the others from the bar know that I'm okay. I kind of fell off the face of the earth ..."

"Done. I plugged it in the other day. I figured you'd want it. Everyone from the bar called me. I told them you were out of the city for a while and not to worry but given the way I acted the last time they saw me I'm not sure they believed me. I think they'd really like to hear from you."

"Thanks for charging it for me." Jessica said lifting her face to nuzzle into Jim's neck.

"You talking about that kick ass bar you were singing at?" Abe asked.

Jessica nodded, surprised by how excited Abe sounded.

His excitement hadn't escaped the men's notice either. Nor Jessica's responding enthusiasm. Her face lit up in the most obvious way.

Jim looked around at the men. Scott and Josh seemed taken aback, looking back and forth between Jessica and Abe. But Riley and Angus were scowling at Abe. Neither Jessica or Abe seemed to notice and Jim didn't know if that made things better or worse. He sighed. It seemed there was still work to do on the friend front for Jessica. Although it was possible that Riley and Angus objected to Abe personally but Jim suspected that Jessica having male friends was still going to be an issue for them. And possibly Scott and Josh too.

"Your band was awesome. I think Stasia's going to want to go back. I sure will."

"Thanks. Have you had dance lessons or something? You were really good too."

Abe chuckled, "Yeah, you were expecting me and Rick to be big bumbling oafs weren't you?"

"What? No...?" Jessica asked acting overly innocent.

"Yes you did. Your jaw practically hit the floor when we started dancing ... I saw it. But yes, we've had some dance training. And so did you ... I could tell."

Jessica laughed and nodded and this time even Jim felt a stab of jealousy. She hadn't mentioned anything about dance training to them.

"A little ..." she said.

Jim cleared his throat. He had to get a grip, he was being childish. And the other men were starting to look dangerous. "Do you want your phone now?" he asked.

"Oh, no." Jessica said in surprise when Angus moved to block her line of vision with Abe. Doc had finished with him, and moved to Josh. Angus stood staring down at Jessica and she couldn't decipher his expression. She looked down at his thighs where he'd been shot. "Are you okay?"

Angus followed her gaze, "Physically, yes."

Jessica did a double take. Looking at Riley she found him still scowling at Abe, Josh, Scott and even Jim looked pretty angry. Suddenly she realized that even though the men may have forgiven her for riding for Paul, they hadn't necessarily forgiven Paul. Or it seemed, anyone who worked for him. The last thing she wanted was a scene. Especially with Abe ... she liked him.

"Um, Jim I'll call everyone later. But right now I'd like to try and walk a little. Will you help me Angus?"

Angus blinked. She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster. She was going to ask Riley also but Doc had just finished with Josh and began inspecting his wounds.

"Yeah, of course." Angus said.

Jessica lifted the pants that Riley had given her. Scott took them and after some maneuvering and tugging he and Angus got Jessica into them while successfully blocking her nakedness from the doctor and Abe.

"Easy now ..." Scott said as Jessica dangled between him and Angus, her legs barely holding her weight.

"My legs feel like rubber." Jessica said trying to put more weight on them.

"That's normal." The doctor said, "you've got to get the muscles moving again."

As Jessica hobbled a few steps between Scott and Angus the front door opened and Corey came in. He stopped in surprise when he saw Jessica. "Up and around ... that's great." He said but his tone lacked enthusiasm. Jessica looked behind him, waiting for Leah but he pushed the door shut behind him.

"Where's Leah?" Jessica asked.

"Oh ..." Corey said clearly caught off guard. He looked at the door. "She's not feeling too good right now ... she said she'd be over later. Just gotta go to the bathroom." He added and headed to the back of the house. Jessica exchanged looks with Scott and Angus. Clearly they'd found Corey's answer and demeanor strange too.

"Maybe she's worried about Sean." Scott said.

"Maybe ..." Jessica said, wondering if Scott knew about Corey and Leah. "Can we go to the window? I'd like to see the sun. Feels like forever since I last did."

Just as they neared the window the sound of cars speeding up the driveway could be heard, and tires sliding on the gravel as breaks were hit hard.

"We got company!" Chris yelled from outside. Corey had been on his way back from the bathroom. He and Abe raced out the front door, guns in hand. As car door slammed Jessica found herself pushed to the floor, pressed between Scott who was leaning against the wall under the window and Angus crouching with a grimace next to her. Jim, Josh and Riley had moved faster than they should have to the gun rack. They tossed a hand gun to Scott, Jessica and Angus, and grabbed rifles themselves. Riley inched his way up to the door, Doc had crab walked over to Angus, Jessica and Scott and mouthed, "Are you okay?" to Jessica. She nodded and then everyone froze as footsteps could be heard outside.

"What're you doing here?" Corey demanded when there'd been a moment or two of silence. Scott slid up the wall and peeked out the window. He held up his hands, five fingers on one, two on the other, scanned back and forth and then slid back down the wall.

"Seven ..." he whispered, "armed."

"Since no one's returning my calls I decided to come out and check things out in person." A deep voice replied.

"So you'd be Tom then ..." Corey said in a cold tone that caused a shiver to run down Jessica's spine. Angus felt it and pulled her tight against him. Jessica's heart was pounding a mile a minute when she buried her face in his chest. Angus tightened his embrace and kissed the top of her head.

"It'll be okay." He grumbled.

Jessica shook her head, "Corey has no intention of negotiating with them." She whispered, "He's going to provoke a fight."

"Maybe that's a good thing." Riley whispered from the door, "Get this over and done with."

"No." Jessica shook her head and peeked at Riley from Angus' chest, "No more killing. We agreed. And besides which, they haven't even had a chance to find evidence of Daryl and his clan leaving. This has to end peacefully ..."

"I am." The deep voice replied and there was an almost imperceptible shuffling of feet outside.

Riley nodded and reached for the doorknob.

"No, wait!" Jessica hissed, her arm stretched out toward him. Riley paused, looking at her, but Jessica couldn't think of what to do or say next. She wanted someone to intervene but she didn't want it to be Riley. She didn't want it to be any of them.
"Well Tom, that sure was nice of you." Abe said in an overly friendly tone, "But completely unnecessary. Your phone calls weren't returned because there wasn't anything more to say. We've told you everything that we can. We hope you find your friends but there's nothing that we can do to help with that. So you best be on your way."

"It's funny that you should say that." Tom said, "because I get the feeling that there's a lot that you could do to help with that."

A moment of silence passed before Abe said in a far less friendly tone, "And how do you figure that?"

"Well, I hear that Riley and his whole clan, including that wife of theirs, managed to get themselves shot up. Makes me wonder how that would come to happen. And I find it curious that this should happen right around the time that Daryl and his clan went missing. It doesn't take a genius to see a likely link between the two incidents."

Another moment of silence. "I think maybe you should get your facts straight before jumping to conclusions Tom." Abe finally said. "And I'd be real curious to know who set you down this wrong path ... to clear up the facts."

"My sources are none of your concern." Tom replied, angry now and not bothering to hide it, "But are you telling me that you're going to deny that they've all been shot?"

"We don't answer to you ..." Corey broke in fury barely contained in his voice, "get the fuck out of here."

"Shit ..." Scott hissed from his position at the window as there was more shuffling of feet outside.

"Hold on there now ..." Abe said, "everyone bring it down a notch. Tom, I don't think you're thinking this through real well. All of these folks are under Paul's protection. You harm a one of us and you'll bring the fires of hell down upon yourself. Is that something you really want to do when you can't even be sure what happened to Daryl and his folk?"

"Not sure?" Tom demanded in outright rage, "Not sure? The last time I saw Daryl he was on his way here. Here, to settle things with those cowards, and then he was gone. So I'm pretty damn sure I know what happened to them."

"Well, your men never made it here Tom." Abe said, "That's what I'm telling you ... they never came. Daryl saw almost everyone he loved die." Abe continued, "What makes you so sure that he didn't decide that enough was enough, and that this shit wasn't worth dying for anymore? What if he decided to get out while he still had folks to get out with?"

"Are you calling Daryl a coward?" Tom demanded. More shuffling of feet made Jessica flinch and press her face harder against Angus, she was sure there'd be gunfire at any moment.

"That depends on your point of view." Abe said. "If you consider being willing to leave everything you know and go off on your own cowardice, then maybe. But walking away from your way of life and starting over again seems less like cowardice and more like bravery to me."

More silence.

"Well, that's real convenient ain't it?" Tom finally asked. "Just how are we supposed to ever prove that they left?"

"And I'd ask, how are you supposed to prove that they didn't? How do you think that killing us will prove to you that we killed them? You seem to be in a quandary here Tom. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. We can have it out right now, right here, but you won't be getting the men you want. They're not on the premises right now. So you'll kill three men who have nothing to do with anything and piss the hell out of Paul. Which means you'll have a price on your head until he kills you. And he will. Paul gets everything he wants ... everything. It seems to me that you'd be better off spending your time concluding definitively that Daryl didn't just disappear into a new life. Can you honestly say that you investigated that option to its fullest potential? If so, and if you truly want to have it out, then fine, bring it. I just hope it's worth it."

Silence again. And it dragged. Jessica finally got a grip on herself, pushed herself off of Angus and turned toward the door, gun in hand. She was damned if she was going to let Corey, Chris and Abe get gunned down for them. The men came to the same conclusion. Angus, Jim and Josh moved closer to the door. Jessica dragged herself next to Scott. With determination she began slowly sliding herself up the wall, her legs shaking with the effort. Scott encircled her chest and lifted her so she could look out the window. Corey, Abe and Chris had fanned themselves out on the porch, facing off against seven men who had spread out in a semi-circle, practically encircling Corey, Abe and Chris. Jessica flattened her back against the wall. It was impossible. There was no way Corey, Abe or Chris would come out of a gun fight alive. Provoking Tom and his men was nothing but pure suicide.

Jessica's eyes met the doctor's. He was kneeling on the floor, looking pale. And he had no gun. She motioned him closer with her hand and held out her gun. "I'll get another one." She whispered when the doctor shook his head.

"I save lives, not take them." He whispered back.

Jim grabbed a rifle, stalked over to the doctor and shoved it in his hands, "Take it." He said, "You can't save lives if you're dead." He added when the doctor tried to refuse. Finally the doctor took the gun but laid it on the floor before him. Jim shrugged and moved to the window on Jessica's other side.

"It'll be okay." Jim whispered.

"Not for Corey, Chris and Abe ... they're surrounded." Jessica said.

"Shit." Jim said after looking out the window. "You can't go through the door." He hissed at Riley and Josh, "Chris, Corey and Abe are right there."

Riley nodded. "Back door ..." he motioned to Angus and Josh who nodded and the three of them disappeared down the hallway.

"For the sake of argument ..." Tom finally said and to Jessica's relief he sounded calmer, "If we were to accept that Daryl may have left, we'd be curious to know how exactly Riley and family get shot. Would you be willing to tell us?"

"What would be the point?" Abe asked, "You won't believe me anyway."

"Try me."

"Hunting accident."

"Hunting ... accident ..." Tom repeated.

"It's embarrassing to say the least and therefore not something they like to talk about. But it was a hunting accident. Take it, or leave it."

As more silence ensued Jessica swore to herself that if this would end peacefully she'd never find enjoyment in silence again.

"Fine." Tom finally said. "We'll investigate further. But if we don't like what we find, we'll be back. And this time there won't be time for talking. We'll come in shooting. I promise you that."

"I'd expect nothing less." Abe said. Moments later Tom and the men with him returned to their cars and with the same squeal of tires that had accompanied their arrival, they left.

Jessica sagged in relief, both Jim and Scott catching her before she fell onto the floor. They lowered her onto her butt and then slid down beside her one arm each around her. Jessica took Jim's hand in hers, dropped her head against Scott's chest and sighed. Moments later the door opened and Abe, Chris, Corey, Riley, Angus and Josh came in.

"Christ that was close." Scott said.

"I thought we were dead." Chris added and turned to Abe and extended his hand, "I don't know how you did it, but I'm pretty sure you just saved our sorry asses."

"I'm not sure how I did it either quite frankly ... I mean, hunting accident? Please!" Abe said but shook Chris' hand.

"They bought it." Corey said extending his hand too, "I was of no help. I just wanted to kill the bastards. Thanks for stepping in."

"No problem."

"Thanks Abe." Riley said also putting his hand out.

"I think I may have just postponed the inevitable." Abe said when Angus and Josh followed behind Riley. Scott and Jim got to their feet, lifting Jessica with them. Abe moved to meet them half way as Jessica hobbled between them toward him.

"I think you should sit down." Abe said when Jessica looked up at him, hanging between Jim and Scott, beads of perspiration on her forehead.

"I'm fine. But should we call Sean and the others? What if Tom gets it in his head to go to Daryl's house, or the safe house?" Jessica said.

"I'll call them." Josh said pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket.

"Doc, are you okay?" Abe asked noticing how pale the doctor was for the first time.

"I've been better." He said. "I usually come in after the mayhem has occurred and I think I like it better that way." He said nudging the gun that still lay on the floor with his foot. "But I think that constitutes an imminent threat." He added, nodding his head to Riley in thanks when Riley picked up the rifle and took it away. "I'll have the physiotherapists here tomorrow. I don't think it'd be prudent to wait too much longer."

"Thanks Doc." Jim said.

"Don't mention it. I'll be back tomorrow. Get some rest you're going to need it. Abe and Rick will have to monitor your progress closely."

"Before you go doc. Jessica is able to swallow now ..." Jim said, "should she start taking birth control pills again?"

"Did you menstruate?" the doctor asked Jessica.

"I don't think so." She said.

"If she's pregnant, taking the pills can harm the baby. Better to wait till you know one way or the other."

"Um, doc ..." Jessica said, "if I am pregnant, can anything I do with the physiotherapy hurt the baby?"

"No lass. Just don't get overheated ... stay hydrated and you and your baby will be fine."

"Just in case I've given you reason to think otherwise," Angus said when Jessica still looked concerned about the possible dangers to the baby, "my first priority ... our first priority is you. Your health and your ability to protect yourself comes first. Over and above everything else. Do you understand?"

Jessica nodded, "I'm certain that can be accomplished for both me and the baby." She said, surprised by how relieved Angus looked, seemingly at Jessica's desire to keep the baby safe. Jessica reached her hand toward Angus and when he moved to take it she said, "In case I gave you reason to think otherwise ... if I'm pregnant, I will love the baby with all of my heart."

Angus kissed her hand, "I love you."

"Ditto." Jessica said.

"Mhhhmmm," the doctor cleared his throat. "this is beyond the scope of what I'm here for ..." he said, "but as a medical professional I have to ask. These birth control pills that you've been taking, they were prescribed by a doctor right? A real doctor." He added.

The doctor followed Jessica's lead when she looked around at the men.

"I don't remember seeing a doctor." She said when the men didn't respond.

"And I presume that she's had regular, annual physicals ... again with a real doctor?"

Jessica shook her head when once again the men didn't answer and the doctor turned his attention back to her. She scanned the men again. They had a vacant look on their faces as if they didn't understand what the doctor was asking.

"Well, the thing with birth control pills is that they change hormone levels in a woman. Depending on a woman's medical health or conditions, certain pills have the potential of causing blood clots, or heart attacks. And, without annual exams, cervical cancer can go undetected and therefore untreated."

"What?" Jim muttered.

"I'm sure there's been no harm done ..." the doctor said quickly when the men looked sick with guilt. "But going forward, once she's all better, I'd be happy to be her gynecologist if you don't have one. Hold off on her pills until I get a chance to do a complete physical and prescribe the best kind of pill for her. Okay?"

Riley nodded. "Thanks Doc. Sorry Jess ... I guess we screwed up in ways we never even realized."

Jessica shook her head but couldn't think of a single suitable thing to say to make that look disappear from their faces.

"Not to worry gentlemen, I'm sure everything's fine. What about you?" he asked turning to Chris and Corey, "Are the women in your clan seeing a doctor regularly?"

"Rrrrr, I don't know ..." Corey said.

"See," the doctor said cheerfully looking back at the men, "not an uncommon situation that you're in. Everything will be fine, take my word for it."

"Doc," Jessica said taking advantage of the momentary silence, "While we're talking about things that are unrelated to our current injuries ... could you check Jim's eyes?

Jim groaned.

"I take it you need glasses lad?" the doctor said with a laugh. "Yes my dear." He said to Jessica while turning back and opening his bag, "I'll take his measurements now and bring some glasses tomorrow."

"Doc, any chance I could get some contacts too?" Jim asked noticeably depressed at the prospect of needing glasses or contacts.

"Sure, I can do that."

"We should get the chores done in case those assholes decide to come back." Chris said.

"Do you guys want some breakfast?" Abe asked.

"We'll take care of it, thanks." Riley said.

"I'll walk you out Doc." Abe said, "We'll have you up and dancing again in no time." Abe added with a wink at Jessica before heading out the front door with the doctor.

"You really do need to sit down." Josh said when Jessica sagged between Jim and Scott. Scooping her into his arms he sat on the sofa, seating her on his lap and wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry about the pills and the doctor." Josh said pressing his head against hers, "I had no idea ..."

"It's okay." Jessica said. "You heard the doctor. It's not a big deal."

"It is." Scott said.

"It really is." Angus added.

"No more pills until the doc says it's okay." Jim said and the others nodded.

"Are you okay?" Josh asked when Jessica seemed to slump more against him.

"I'll get you something to eat." Jim said touching her now clammy forehead. "You need some energy."

"I'm not hungry." Jessica said, "Not yet anyway." She added when Jim frowned at her.

"I'll get you some water." Jim said and headed to the kitchen.

"It's not just me then." Scott said when Riley and Angus stared at the front door where Abe had exited.

Riley shook his head. "I just can't figure out what his angle is."

"I hate the guy." Angus added. Jessica looked up at Angus in surprise. "I know, I know." He said holding his hands up in surrender and then sitting beside Jessica and Jim on the sofa. "It's rude, but I can't help it. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way."

"Who are you talking about?" Jessica asked sagging against Josh, resting her head on his chest.

"Abe." Scott said, sitting next to Angus.

"What's wrong with Abe?" Jessica asked.

Josh shrugged, "It's hard to say exactly."

"You don't like him either?" Jessica asked in surprise.

"Something just seems off with him." Josh said.

Jim and Riley pulled a couple of dining room chairs over.

"You like him don't you Jim?" Jessica asked when Jim leaned forward, hand under her chin and brought the glass of water to lips.

"Yeah, sure ..." Jim said but his tone wasn't very convincing. Jessica looked at him and then the others.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Well, for one thing, he likes you too much." Angus said.

"Oh." Jessica said in a tone that sounded confused and sad at the same time. "Well, I didn't realize that people weren't allowed to like me." She explained when the men looked like they were expecting her to expand on her statement.

"Well, you might recall a conversation that we had about other men." Angus said, "And about our commitment to one another ... in the barn ... when you'd thought we were fucking around on you. I thought it was pretty clear and I'd assumed unforgettable but maybe I was wrong ..."

"I remember it ..." Jessica said her cheeks turning pink and a slight stirring making itself known between her legs. "But what does that have to do with this?"

"Well, you seem to like him quite a bit too." Riley said.

"Sure I do. He's nice. But that doesn't mean I'd ... he's just a friend. Like Sean and Corey. I have lots of guy friends at the bar too."

"We know." Riley said and it was clear he wasn't happy about it.

Jessica looked around at the men, an expression they couldn't decipher on her face. "But ... I ... they ..." she stuttered for a moment and then sighed and nodded. "Okay." She said, her expression clearly showing how disappointed she was.

"Now hang on a minute." Jim said, "Is this discussion about Abe or Jessica's male friends because those are two completely different conversations to me."

"This is about Abe." Riley said planting his elbows on his thighs and leaning forward, "Jess, Jess ..." he repeated until Jessica looked up at him. "we're not trying to take your friends away from you. Okay?"

Jessica nodded, "Okay. But then, I really don't understand your issue with Abe. He's just like my other friends. No different."

"Something's different." Scott said. "I don't know what, but something is."

"I think he likes you and not in a 'friend' way." Angus grumbled.

Jessica shook her head.

"Jess ..." Angus said with a sigh, "do you really think you can tell the difference?"

"Yes." Jessica said but scanned Jim, Scott, Josh and Riley's expressions. They all looked skeptical. "I know how the way you like me feels, and I know what it felt like when Jim loved me, before we started having sex. There's a big difference and believe me, Abe does not like me that way. And besides," she added, "it doesn't matter anyway. He can like me any way he wants. It doesn't change my love and commitment to you."

"That I have a problem with." Angus said, "He knows you're married. He should stay the hell away from you."

Jessica scanned the other men's faces. They seemed to be in agreement with Angus.

"Why should he care?" Jessica asked wondering if maybe she was more light headed then she thought. Nothing they said about the topic made sense.

"Why should he care?" Angus demanded his face starting to turn red.

Jessica reached down to take his hand. "What I mean is that Abe isn't in a relationship with you. He didn't make the oath, but I did. From what I know of Abe he seems like a nice guy and I really don't see him trying to wreck our marriage in any way. But even if he did want to try to, it's up to me to say no and it's up to me to keep my oath to you. No one else."

"You're right it is your responsibility." Angus said when the other men were nodding in agreement, "But it's just as much his responsibility to respect our marriage."

"You don't trust me ..." Jessica said, the realization hitting her hard.

"I trust you with my life!" Angus said stunned that she'd come to that conclusion.

"But you don't trust me with your heart."

"What? I trust you one hundred percent but I don't trust him as far as a I can throw him."

"So you're saying that we share the responsibility, he and I. Equally ..."

Angus nodded. Something about the way Jessica said it and the way she looked at him made him think that maybe he was off track somewhere.

Jessica looked at the other men and to her relief they didn't seem quite as sure as Angus. Not even Riley seemed in agreement.

"Okay, if you say so." Jessica said and decided to stop the conversation right there. Beth, and Angus' bungled handling of her rape was foremost in her mind and she didn't care to cause Angus any pain by going down that road. In fact, thinking about Angus' aversion to thinking, seeing or talking about Beth brought Jessica to a realization that she'd rather not have had. In fact she was so stunned by it that she couldn't hide her shock and disillusionment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Angus asked.

"Jess, are you okay?" Josh asked.

"Jess?" Scott prompted.

"I ... I'm not sure." She said.

"What's wrong?" Angus asked quietly as if realizing that he probably didn't want to hear the answer.

Jessica shook her head, "I think that maybe we should take a break from this conversation."
"No secrets ..." Riley reminded her.

Jessica looked back at Angus who had his eyes locked on hers. With obvious reluctance, Angus nodded his encouragement.

Jessica took a deep breath. There was no way to go but forward because no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't un-think her thought.

"So when ... when Beth appeared to have transgressed your relationship you held her responsible and punished her for her part in it ... and then you hunted down the man who broke your relationship up and you punished him too right? You made him a pariah in his own home ... his own clan. Made everyone abandon him ... left him lonely ... right?"

As she spoke Jessica lowered her eyes. She could see surprise, pain, and horrified realization move across Angus' face and it hurt her heart.

Silence hung in the air. No one moved. Josh was so still beneath her that were it not for his arms around her she would have forgotten that she was on his lap. Finally she forced herself to look up at Angus.

The guilt on his face brought the deepest feeling of sadness over her.

"And I guess I should have clued in that you still have intense feelings for Beth."

That statement and the tears that filled Jessica's eyes before she turned to bury her face in Josh's chest shocked Angus out of his stunned stupor.

"You're right Jess. I'm guilty. I say the responsibility is shared but I was horrible to Beth and I did nothing to confront the other man. You've made your point okay?" he asked pulling on her arm but when she didn't respond in any way he slid off the sofa and knelt next to it. Bringing his face next to where Jessica pressed hers into Josh's shirt. "I trust you, and if you say Abe has no romantic interest in you, then that's good enough for me. But God Jess, how can you think, even for a second that I have any feelings for Beth at all?"

Jessica peeked at Angus with one eye.

"You can't stand to be around her Angus. To think about her, to talk about her, to see her. That takes an awful lot of emotion. If you still feel that way after all these years then you have feelings for her."

"N ..n ...no ..." Angus finally stuttered but he was horrified to realize that Jessica was right. Not about him having feelings for Beth, but about the amount of energy it took for him to hate her so much. If he were honest with himself he knew why he was so mad at Beth. Why he hadn't bothered trying to find out who she'd been with. "Jess, it isn't love or any strong feelings that I have for Beth." He said, "It's pride. I was so mad that she could do something like that to me. I was embarrassed, humiliated when it happened and I just never got over that. The only person I love is you. God, you have to know that ... Jess, please." He said dropping his head against hers.

"Okay." Jessica said turning her face to kiss his forehead. "I trust you, and I love you."

"Thank you ..." Angus mumbled as Jessica turned around to face the others. Angus lay his head on her chest and she ran her fingers through his hair.

Riley exhaled, "From now on you pick your friends and we'll stay out of it."

"Now hold on a second ... "Angus growled, sitting up.

"We agreed that we'd stop controlling her." Riley said. "And you trust her to not go with another man. Didn't you just say so?" Riley added when Angus began to argue.

"We have to figure out what's wrong with Abe." Angus said, "It has nothing to do with trust or jealousy but safety. Something isn't right."

Jessica nodded. "That's fair."

"About as fair as it's going to get." Jim mumbled and looked conflicted between shame and relief.

"You know," Jessica said when the other men looked somewhat upset with themselves, "You have good instincts. I mean you wouldn't have survived as long as you have if you didn't." she added when Riley gave her a questioning look. "There must be something about Abe that's triggering your defenses. That's good, right?"

"You don't find anything strange about him." Scott said.

"No ..." Jessica said, trying to decipher the looks the men gave each other. "What? What's wrong?" she asked.

"We're just wondering what your survival instincts tell you about Abe?" Riley asked.

"I do have survival instincts you know!" Jessica said in indignation, understanding dawning on her.

"Sorry Jess." Riley said. "We know you have survival instincts. They're just different than ours. We're just interested in what yours tell you about Abe, that's all."

"Okay." She said when the men managed to look sufficiently earnest. "There's nothing that worries me about Abe. But there must be something to worry about. I mean Jim doesn't usually get worked up about friends that I have and he finds something wrong with Abe too."

"Yeah, about that." Jim said tapping his thighs with his hands, "I was actually kind of jealous that you told Abe about your dance lessons and not us ..."

Jessica's chin dropped in shock.

"Oh come on!" she said, "Really? Geez Jim."

"I know, I know." Jim said putting his hands up, "It was petty and stupid. I'm really embarrassed ... do me a favor and forget the whole thing, okay? Please?" he added when Jessica sat shaking her head at him.

"Fine." Jessica said. "If that's all that bothered you about him ..." she said to Jim, "then I honestly don't know what you may be sensing about him."

"So, what is it exactly that you like about him so much?" Josh asked.

Jessica shrugged her good shoulder. "There's something familiar about him I guess."

"Does he remind you of your brother or God father?" Riley asked.

Jessica thought about it before shaking her head.

"Not really. He's just surprisingly easy going ... for a bodyguard. He likes to dance, joke around. He's just likable."

"Mhmm." Angus said, resting his elbows on his thighs and hanging his head.

"Speaking of embarrassment ..." Jessica said realizing that it was a good time to change the topic. She reached for Scott's hand. "Oh my God Scott. Leah told me what you told everyone about the ... machines. You must have been so mortified ... why would you do that?"

"Because of this ..." Scott said, bringing his hand to her cheek and rubbing his thumb on the pink that inflamed it. "You turn red when we talk about it ... I figured you'd be destroyed if others knew. And they shouldn't know ... that's our private business."

"Thank you. I love you so much." Jessica said pressing her cheek into his hand.

"You're welcome. But Jess, why did you tell Leah the truth? And tell her to tell everyone? You should have just left it."

"These are your friends Scott. You've known them your whole life, I've known them a few days. It's not right for them to think that about you when it's not true. Are you mad at me?" Jessica asked when Scott closed his eyes and groaned.

"No. Not at all. No way ..." Scott said.

"Then why ..."

"I just can't get over how far you're willing to go for us. It's too far. You risk your safety and your happiness. Sometimes you just have to let us take the risk."

"I could say the same about you." Jessica said. "But isn't that what love is about? Caring more about the other person than you do about yourself?"

"Speaking about love ... and the machines." Josh said, shifting beneath her. Jessica realized that Josh had moved his hands from rubbing her sides to her pelvis and when he shifted again she felt something hard press against her back. "Do you like them ... really like them?" he asked his voice becoming guttural.

"I do ..." Jessica said, suddenly breathless. She pressed back against him.

"But the whole slave thing ... do you still like that?" Scott asked while sliding his hand up her leg and pressing firmly on her crotch.

Jessica nodded, her eyes locked on Angus' lips as he began to lean in to her.

"You don't think it demeans you?" Riley asked, sliding off the chair to kneel next to Angus, lifting the bottom of her shirt and sliding his hand up under it. Even though he knew Jessica had a bandage wrapped around her chest he still found it disappointing to not be able to cup her flesh in his hand, to pull on her nipple. He satisfied himself with rubbing and squeezing over the bandage.

"Demeans me?" Jessica asked in confusion.

She looked up when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Jim had moved to the head of the sofa, kneeling he reached between Josh and Angus and slid his hand down her top. Finding her unoccupied breast he began to massage through the bandage.

"Being our slave, it doesn't make you feel like we're not respecting you?" Jim asked.

Jessica shook her head. "When we're having sex, no ... I like it. Oh." She exclaimed when she turned back and found Angus closer to her face then she'd expected.

"You feeling something now?" Scott asked, probing where her hole should be under her pants with his finger.

"Still phantom ..." Jessica whispered, finding it hard to breath.

"That's a pretty damn good phantom." Angus grumbled, flicking his tongue on her lips, "You look horny enough."

"I am ..." Jessica said and losing patience with Angus' near kisses she lunged up to lock lips with him, caressing his tongue with hers when he slid it into her mouth. As if someone had fired a starter pistol all the men moved at once.

Scott pulled the elastic waist of Jessica's track pants out and slid his hand down, the soft curls of her pubic hair bringing him to full erection. With his free hand he worked his pants open.

Josh slid his hand down her pants too, Riley pushed his head under her shirt, kissing her breast despite the barrier between his lips and her skin.

Jim tried to work his fingers under the bandage, and despite the fact the Angus was now pinning her against Josh with his kiss, Jessica managed to slide her hand to her left and between her and Josh and rub on the jeans that covered his erection.

They were all so involved in their pleasure that the words,

"Oh shit, sorry!" barely registered.

It wasn't until another voice said, "We'll come back." And the sound of feet shuffling and then the front door closing that Jessica's eyes popped open and she went rigid. She pulled her hand away from Josh's cock ... prompting him to groan and pull her tighter against him. She patted Angus' chest with her hand but when he made no indication that he'd stop kissing her, she pushed and tried to turn her head away.

"Some ... someone was just here." She managed to mumble around Angus' probing tongue and demanding lips.

The only person who seemed to register what she'd said was Jim. His hand had stilled.

"Shit." He finally said. "I think it was Corey and Chris."

Jessica groaned and tried to pull herself into a ball but the hands and bodies on and surrounding her made it nearly impossible. She felt her face burning red.

"Guys ... guys ..." Jim said, pushing on Angus' shoulder, Josh's head, "Stop. Pay attention. Jessica's stopped participating ... stop!"

He cuffed Josh and Angus on the head earning him disgusted looks from both of them.

He pointed at Jessica, "Look at her. She's bright red."

"What's wrong?" Angus asked, elbowing Riley which earned him a withering look too.

"Somebody came in ... I think it was Chris and Corey." Jim said.

Jessica groaned again and covered her face with her hands.

Angus elbowed Scott.

"What the hell?" Scott demanded. He'd bent over so he could look at the v between Jessica's legs as he poked and prodded. He glared up at Angus now.

Angus inclined his head toward Jessica.

"Jess, what's wrong?" Scott asked.

Jessica looked at Scott from between her fingers.

"I forgot about our visitors ... "she said.

"Damn ... shit ... crap." Angus muttered short on polite ways to express his frustration.

Jessica dropped her hands but her face was still red ... "Having guests isn't very convenient for being intimate, is it?" she asked with a nervous laugh.

"No it's not ..." Angus agreed through gritted teeth, looking at the front door.

"Not at all ..." Riley agreed.

"It's okay ..." Jessica said, bringing her hand up to Angus' face and trying to caress the frown off his face, "We can wait for tonight ... I can sleep on the floor with you now ..." Her voice trailed off. From their expressions it was clear that postponing sexual release was not a favorable option for the men. "Or ... um, we could go in a bedroom ... and lock the door."

There was silence as the men contemplated that option but Jessica's eyes kept flicking toward the door and it was clear that she wasn't relaxed at all.

Scott exhaled. "Good idea Jess." He said, getting up, "but it can wait until later."

Angus pecked her lips and stood up too, followed by Riley and Jim.

"You don't look like you can wait until later ..." Jessica said looking at the bulges in their pants. Scott's cock was poking out from the zipper he'd undone.

"A little self-service and we'll be fine." Jim said, and Josh groaned, shifting beneath Jessica.

"I'm not sure about that ..." Jessica said sitting up and looking over her shoulder at Josh.

"Rrrr, are you okay? I mean, you can't really self-service ..." Josh said nodding his head toward her shoulder.

"I'm okay ... thanks." She said.

"Okay. Well, I need to go take care of this before I do something I might regret." Josh said. Jessica started trying to inch forward to let him up but she wasn't able to move far.

"Allow me." Riley said, and scooped Jessica up, replacing her on the sofa once Josh hauled himself off. "Be back in a minute." Riley said and soon he and the other men disappeared down the hallway.

Jessica lay back on the sofa and closed her eyes, her phantom arousal lingering. She managed to banish it when she contemplated what Chris and Corey saw when they came in. It was embarrassing, but Jessica consoled herself, they'd all had their clothes on. It could have been worse. And they were married after all ... wasn't it normal for married people to fool around?

By the time the men drifted back into the living room she was feeling better about the whole thing.

"I think it's definitely time to eat something." Jim said moving to the kitchen.

"Maybe you should tell Chris and Corey that it's safe for them to come in now." Jessica said when Josh sat next to her on the sofa.

"I'll get them." Scott said and headed out the front door.

Jessica fell against Josh, who wrapped his arms around her again.

Riley sat on the sofa on Jessica's other side, and when Angus pulled a chair up to the sofa, Jessica put her feet onto his lap.

"Hey ..." Chris said when he and Corey followed Scott into the house, "Ah, sorry about earlier ... we didn't mean to mortify you or anything Jessica."

"Thanks." She said with a smile, a light shade of pink on her cheeks. "But it's okay."

"Did you get a hold of Sean and the others?" Corey asked Josh.

"Oh yeah, yeah. They'd finished at Daryl's place. The money is transferred. They were on their way to the safe house. It's not likely that Tom would go there, it's pretty far."

"Breakfast is ready ... " Jim said handing a plate to Josh, who proceeded to skewer a fork full and feed it to Jessica. "I'll get Abe."

Half an hour later everyone had finished breakfast and Corey and Scott had cleaned the dishes.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Jim asked Jessica, "Relax for a bit?"

"Okay. Maybe after I check my messages? Could you pass me my phone?"

To allow as many of the men to be as close to Jessica as possible, Josh had pulled Jessica onto his lap again. Angus sat on one side, Riley on the other. Jim next to him, and Scott sat on the floor, resting between Jessica's legs.

Chris and Corey had arranged themselves on chairs on either side of the sofa. Abe went back outside to stand watch. Given Tom's visit they decided it would be best to have someone on guard at all times.

Jessica spent an hour returning texts. She told everyone at the bar that she was out of town and would come visit when she got back. She had a few texts from Beth ... most of them asking how she was doing but the last one made her look up at Angus in wonder. Beth had just sent "WTF did you do to Angus? He just called and told me to come over if I wanted to. He said he wasn't mad anymore."

Angus had been watching Jessica text and when she looked up at him he winked.

"You called Beth?" she asked, clearly surprised.

"Huh?" Josh asked, he like the other men including Chris and Corey looked equally taken aback.

"Yeah. I really don't care enough anymore to be mad. If she wants to come hang out with you, she's welcome."

Jessica smiled, leaned over to kiss his cheek, and then texted, "Come over. Bring Leah with you."

"Leah has a headache. She says she'll come over later. I'm not sure I want to be around Angus ... may come later with Leah." Beth texted back.

"K. Later." Jessica texted back and put her phone down.

"Movie?" Jim asked.

"I don't know ... maybe not right now. I feel like doing something." Jessica said.

"Like what?" Riley asked.

"I don't know." Jessica said, "Something fun."

"Play cards?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. Something like that." Jessica said.

"I know!" Corey said his sudden excitement in stark contrast to the his earlier all consuming funk. "Abe's been going about that bar that you two sing at ..." he said looking between Jim and Jessica. "He said you're really good. Why don't we jam?"

"I'm not sure you know these songs." Jim said.

Corey shrugged. "I can pick them up ..."

"What do you think Jess?" Jim asked.

"That's perfect!" she squealed. "Josh and Scott you have to play too."

"We can try ... not sure we'll keep up." Josh said.

"Who cares, it's just for fun. We'll stick to songs that you know." Jessica said.

"Okay ..." Scott said.

Scott and Josh went to their rooms to get their instruments and started setting up.

Corey and Jim disappeared down the hallway and returned with guitars. Jim had his and Jessica's.

Corey and Jim helped Scott and Josh set-up the drums and the keyboard, and microphones. They set one up by the sofa in front of Jessica too. Angus and Riley watched, surprised by the extent of the setup.

"You think you can play?" Jim asked holding her guitar up.

Jessica nodded enthusiastically.

"Careful Jess, don't nod your head off." Scott said with a laugh.

Jim helped position the guitar on her lap and the music began.

They played for over two hours. They played some songs more than once, so Scott, Josh and Corey could pick up more of the notes. And Scott and Josh sang so well that Angus and Riley watched in stunned awe.

Chris rotated guard shifts with Abe a couple of times and by the end everyone was in great spirit.

"You look tired Jess." Jim said when they finished what had to be the two hundredth song. "I think we should take a break."

Jessica nodded.

"We have some stuff to check on with the horses." Scott said.

"And I promised to deliver a car." Angus said.

"You guys go ahead." Riley said. "I'll stay with Jess and we'll rest a little."

"We'll be back soon." Josh said.

Riley laid down on the sofa, Jessica stretched out on top of him and was asleep almost right away.

What seemed like hours later Jessica and Riley were still lying on the sofa. They'd slept for a long time, and now Jessica lay staring at her phone. She'd texted Leah to ask her when she was coming over. Leah had read the text and Jessica waited for what seemed like forever for a reply. She texted again. Still no reply.

Corey came in the house and headed for the bathroom.

"Corey. Have you talked to Leah? When is she coming over?" Jessica asked, sitting up. Corey froze in place.

"Ah ... I haven't heard from her since this morning." He said, turned on his heel and walked back out the door.

Jessica looked at Riley. Riley looked at her and shrugged.

Jessica dialed Leah's phone number. It went straight to voicemail.
"Leah, it's Jess. Call me. Right away." She said. Hanging up she dropped the phone onto her lap in frustration.

"I'm sure she's fine Jess." Riley said his tone reflecting his bewilderment at Jessica's desperate attempt to get a hold of Leah. "If she's not feeling well, she's probably asleep."

"Something's wrong Riley." Jessica said.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, confused, looking from Jessica to the phone that she grabbed up in her hand again.

"Just a sec." she said and began to text Leah. "Call me or come over here right away. Otherwise I'm going to tell Riley about you and Corey. I'm worried and I need to know you're okay."

Pressing send she turned to Riley and tried to assess how to get him to help Leah without giving up her secret.

"'K, you know how we agreed that if I knew someone's secret I didn't have to divulge it?"

"Yyyeesss ..." Riley said slowly clearly not liking the direction the conversation was going in.

"So, Leah has a secret. I know about it, and now I'm worried. She's suddenly not feeling well, she's not answering my calls or texts, she's not coming over. I think something bad may have happened." As she'd spoken Jessica had worked her hand up Riley's stomach to his chest. Now she clutched his shirt in her fist, tapping her fist against him.

"Jess, you know I don't like secrets ..."

"I can't tell you. I promised."

"Well, how can I help you to help Leah if I have no clue what's going on?" Riley demanded.

"Okay." Jessica said pulling her legs up under her on the sofa so that she was kneeling. "Leah has a boyfriend but Sean can't know. He'd go beserk. And Leah and her boyfriend got together last night ... 'got together'" she added making quotation marks with her good hand. "And now suddenly she feels sick? She won't return my calls? Something bad happened. Something really bad."

Riley stared at Jessica. He wanted to yell, "What the hell?" shake her and make her tell him who Leah was seeing. But she was looking at him so earnestly. So expectantly. Like she thought he was the most important man in the world to her and she trusted him to help her. The fact that this was the perfect Jim moment didn't escape him and he was worried that he'd mess it up.

"Okay. Just ... just slow down a bit alright? Are you worried about the man she's seeing? Do you think he'd hurt her?"

"I don't think he would." She said seeming to look inside herself for confirmation. "I'm not sure."

"Do you know him? Is he part of the clan?"

Jessica nodded.

Riley relaxed with relief. "That's good then. So Sean knows him then ...."

Jessica nodded.

"And Sean likes him?"

Jessica nodded again.

"Then what makes you think Sean would go beserk? It sounds to me like he should be glad that Leah likes someone in the clan. Someone he likes."

"I don't get it either but Leah insisted that Sean shouldn't know or he'd flip out."

Jessica's phone vibrated. She looked down to see Leah's text. "Don't tell. Will come after dinner."

"It's from Leah." She said looking up at Riley with excitement. And Riley's insides melted. She was trusting him, turning to him, and there was no feeling like it.

"Is she okay?"

Jessica nodded, and fell against him.

"She says she is, says she'll come over after dinner."

"So you were worried for nothing."

Jessica looked up at him. "I'm not sure it was nothing." She said, "but I guess I'll find out tonight."

Riley nodded. The reality was that she was trusting him but not completely. He had little doubt that she would have told Jim who Leah's boyfriend was. He supposed he'd have to resign himself to small steps.

"Riley?" Jessica asked noticing the corners of his mouth droop. He looked sad. When his eyes met hers she knew for a fact that he was sad and she also knew why. It was as plain as if he'd written it in black marker on his forehead. She brought her hand to his cheek. Maybe it wasn't fair that she was gambling with Leah's happiness but she had to tell Riley the truth. The whole truth. A small part of her believed that he'd flip out. Flip out and tell Sean everything. After all, Riley was in the same leadership position as Sean's. No doubt he'd sympathize with Sean ... maybe too much.

Jessica looked around the room with a conspiratorial air. Riley followed her gaze, smiling at the over dramatization she didn't seem to realize she was making. Apparently satisfied that they were alone, she leaned closer to Riley.

"It's Corey." She whispered.

"Corey!" Riley exclaimed. He looked simultaneously shocked and revolted.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Jessica asked in a panic. Maybe he was a child molester or something.

"Hell yes there's something wrong with him!" Riley grumbled, "He's Sean's best friend. He's Sean's best friend and he's sneaking around with his sister behind his back. That's just wrong. And you better believe Sean will freak out."

"Oh no!" Jessica exclaimed, a worried expression on her face.

"Christ, what the hell was Corey thinking?" Riley demanded. Jessica felt Riley's body go hard against her. A wave of fear swept over her.

"Hey Jess, what's wrong?" Riley asked grabbing her face between his hands. And scanning her face. "Why do you look so scared?"

"What's Sean going to do them?" Jessica said, "We have to warn them ..."

"I don't know Jess, but he's not going to do anything to you. Why are you scared?"

"Riley, look how mad you got about this. If you're this mad, Sean is going to be even madder. We have to help them! But how?"

Riley looked dumbfounded. When Jessica continued to implore him with her eyes he shrugged. "It's not really any of our business Jess. I don't think there's much we can do. Especially if we're not supposed to know about it."

"There has to be something Riley. Leah really loves Corey. And it doesn't make sense anyway. Sean doesn't want her to date anyone. Not anyone in the clan, not anyone outside the clan. Does he want her to be a nun or something? You'd think that if she had to date someone, Sean's best friend should be the best option."

Riley sat in silence, studying Jessica. After a few minutes Jessica grabbed his shirt and tugged. "Well?" she demanded.

Riley shook his head. "I think we should stay out of this."

"I know." Jessica said nodding, "I don't think there's anything that we can do directly ... but Riley, a nun? Really? I just need some advice to give Leah. Something that may make this go smoother than it would otherwise. If you were in Sean's position what would make this easier for you to hear?"

Anger flashed in Riley's eyes. "I would never be in Sean's position because we don't lie to each other ... as you may remember."

Jessica pushed up onto her knees and kissed Riley's cheek, wrapping her good arm around his neck and pressing hard against him.

"I know. And you'd never expect your sister to be a nun either. But putting yourself into Sean's position for a minute, what would make this easier for you to handle?"

"I don't have a sister so I don't know if that's what I'd want. Maybe that's what your brothers would have wanted for you ..." his voice trailed off. Jessica leaned back and studied Riley. "Not much of a nun now are you?" he added with an attempt at a smile.

"I think my brothers would have wanted me to be happy. And I am."

Riley nodded but he didn't look like he really believed her.

"Riley ..."

"The best thing Corey and Leah can do right now is to tell Sean everything, right away. The longer they keep it a secret, the worse it will be. You tell Leah that when she comes over and that's the end of it. The best you can do. The rest is up to them to work out. Okay?"

Jessica nodded and brought her hand to Riley's cheek. He still looked sad, disturbed.

"I love you."

Riley forced a smile. "I love you too. And ... I know this is a secret and everything but I think we should tell the other guys. We'll tell them to keep it to themselves but it's not good for me to know something that they don't. Especially not a secret that you trusted me with."

Jessica nodded.

Riley leaned in close to her, "I'm glad you did though. It means a lot to me." He whispered and kissed her. Jessica kissed back. When Riley kissed harder, Jessica lay back on the sofa and Riley moved over top of her, holding himself off of her chest, his kisses became more urgent.

"God damn it I wish everyone would just go home ..." Angus grumbled from beside the couch.

Riley jerked up in surprise. He and Jessica looked at Angus who was standing right next to the sofa completely ready to join in.

"We didn't hear you come in ..." Jessica panted.

"If I scared you, I'm sorry." Angus said. "I'm, ah, done with the car. I thought maybe you'd want to go check on the dogs ..." he said to Riley without looking at him, his eyes busy scanning Jessica from her head down to where Riley straddled her, just below her crotch.

"I guess I should." Riley said, panting but he was looking at Jessica now too. Jessica stared back, swinging her eyes between Riley and Angus. No one seemed willing to move. "Do you feel anything yet ..." Riley asked, sliding his hand down to Jessica's crotch and rubbing.

"I do I guess." She said in a breathless hiss, "but it's not like before. It's kind of ... distant."

Riley nodded, leaned over and pecked her lip, and slid his hand over her breast as he sat up again. "I want you to feel it when we have sex again Jess ... so we'll wait as long as we have to. Even if it kills me."

"Fine." Angus growled and looked anything but. "And when that time comes, guests or no guests we're doing it. We'll ask them to leave first ..." he added when Jessica looked worried. "Before you go," he said to Riley, "I've gotta take care of this." He said pointing at the erection pressing against his pants.

"Me too." Riley said.

Jessica grabbed his hand when he moved to get off the sofa.

"Wait ..." she said, "Angus if you lock the door, I can take care of that for you ... for both of you. This hand is fine, and my mouth ..."

Angus looked at the door, at Jessica and then at Riley.

Riley shook his head.

"Shit ..." Angus groaned.

"Thanks Jess, but the first time should be with all of us." Riley said "And when you can get pleasure too."

"I can do it for the others too." Jessica said, the expressions of sexual frustrations on Riley and Angus' faces making her feel bad.

Angus groaned again and looked away from Jessica.

"Jess, you agreed to be our slave during sex. And as our slave you're not allowed to initiate these kinds of things. Remember?" Riley asked but he didn't sound convincing at all.

"Master, please let me get you off. " Jessica said, "You don't need to suffer like this."

"Jesus Christ ..." Angus growled and limped off to the bathroom.

"We'll be fine. But if you keep going like this you'll be earning yourself some consequences. That shouldn't be the way we start things off when you get your sensations back ..." Riley said, caressing her crotch again. "Jesus." He added and forced himself off the sofa. "Jess, we need to pleasure you, not the other way around. Being horny for you isn't making us suffer but you offering to get us off when we can't accept or reciprocate, is. Please just be a good slave and behave ... okay?"

Jessica nodded. "Yes Master."

A moment passed, Riley stood staring at Jessica. Just the way she said 'Master' sent him over the edge. Finally he forced himself to turn away from her. "Good. I'll be back in a minute." He said and shuffled down the hallway.

Jessica lay staring at the ceiling. Even though she couldn't feel anything but her phantom desire, she was looking forward to when she would. And when she'd be with the men again. She missed them. Physically.

"Okay." Riley said returning, with Angus behind him. He leaned over and pecked Jessica's lips. "I'll be back soon. Jess, I believe you have something to tell Angus, right? I'll tell the other guys."

Jessica nodded and when Riley left, Angus was left standing by the sofa looking simultaneously nervous and curious. He rubbed his hands on his thighs and eyed the arm chair.

"You know." Jessica said, "You guys seem to think that getting you off is some kind of chore or punishment to me. But it's not. I enjoy it ... I want to do it. But if it makes you feel more comfortable, go ahead and sit in the armchair."

"Coming from someone who let me sexually torture them in order to keep us from killing one another, you'll excuse me if I don't take your word as the absolute truth. We've agreed that the first time is going to be all together so I'm good waiting for that, and the only place I'm comfortable is with you." He said sitting next to Jessica on the sofa, Jessica lifting her legs to make room for him and then laying them across his lap. He rubbed her legs, "I'm going to control myself, or go blind trying. So, what do you feel like doing?"

Jessica couldn't help but smile at Angus.

"I love you." She said.

"Ditto." Angus said and grinned ear to ear.

"So what's your pleasure? TV? Video game?"

"Well, I did want to take a bath but I can wait for Jim for that." She said. "Why don't we play a game?"

"Wait a minute. Do you honestly believe Jim is any more immune to getting horny than the rest of us?"

"Hmmm. Well, he used to be."

"Those days baby are long gone. Besides I'm not a complete pig Jess, I can help you with a bath without wanting to jump you. What, I can!" Angus said when Jessica gave him a disbelieving look.

"Okay." Jessica said, "I have heard that when you lose your sight the other senses compensate. You could end up with some spectacular hearing."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny!" Angus said tapping her thigh. "Good thing you don't have a day job or I'd tell you not to quit it ..."

Jessica laughed as Angus' hand roamed up to her armpits and tickled.

"And what are we supposed to do about this bandage while you're bathing?" he asked.

"Do you think I could take it off?"

"I'll go ask Abe. Be right back."

Ten minutes later Jessica was limping down the hallway, leaning on Angus.

"Hey, you're getting stronger." He said, "Earlier today your legs were like noodles."

"I can feel them more now." Jessica panted.

When they got to the bathroom, Angus helped Jessica remove her clothes, and then the bandage. Helped her into the tub and knelt next to the tub while it filled with water.

"Do you want to come in too?" Jessica asked.

"I'm strong baby girl but not that strong. In fact, where is that bubble bath you use all the time?" Jessica pointed to the cupboard under the sink. Getting the bottle Angus dumped practically the whole thing in the water. Jessica laughed while suds sprang up all around her. She had to flatten them to see Angus kneeling by the tub.

"Let me know when you're ready for a rub down." He said holding a wash cloth up.

"Do you mind if I soak for a bit?"

"Not at all. Soak for as long as you want."

"Thanks."

"So ..." Angus said, dipping his hand in the water and scooping up some bubbles. "What was it you were supposed to tell me?"

"Oh yeah. Okay, so I was worried about Leah otherwise, you know, I never would have said anything ..."

"Relax Jess. Your reign as Queen secret keeper will remain intact. Now spill it." Angus' said his lopsided grin eliciting a mock scathing look from Jessica followed by a spray of spittle when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Honestly Angus, I really shouldn't have said anything."

"I know, I know. I get it, I won't say a word."

"Fine." Jessica popped her head up over the tub to check that the bathroom door was closed and then she beckoned Angus closer with her finger.

Angus tried not to laugh as he moved closer. She looked so serious. It wasn't until he was within inches of her lips that she explained everything to him in a whisper. It wasn't until Angus whispered back,

"Hmmm, Leah and Corey ... really?" that she realized how ridiculous it was to whisper.

"I know it's bad." She said a little louder. "Riley said Sean is probably going to flip because they're sneaking behind his back."

"Yeah. He'll flip alright." Angus said wondering where Jessica got weird phrases like 'flip'. "But I can kind of see Leah and Corey together. They make a good couple."

Jessica smiled a humongous smile and looked at Angus like he'd pleasantly surprised her.

"Me too. You know ... I really like your romantic side." She said.

Angus smiled back. "Thanks, but that's as far as my romantic side goes. Yours too. We are not getting involved in this. They'll have to work it out themselves."

Jessica nodded. "That's what Riley said too. He said that I should suggest to Leah that she and Corey tell Sean the truth and then stay out of it."

"Perfect. And even more perfect would be if you listen to him."

"Me? Of course I will." Jessica said taken aback by the implication that she wouldn't.

"Ahuh. We'll see."

"What?" Jessica demanded, "I'm about to get offended here."

"We wouldn't want that now would we?" Angus asked with a laugh. "Okay, change of topic. Listening to you and the guys sing ... is amazing. But I've been thinking ... I'd really like to learn how to sing too. So I could join in. I mean, if you think it's possible for me to learn. I don't ever expect to get up on stage or anything. Just, you know, carry a tune."

"Angus that's great!" Jessica exclaimed bursting with excitement. "Anyone can learn to sing. Vocal chords are muscles and can be trained just like any other muscle. Given how much you love to work out, it'll be a snap for you."

"You haven't heard me yet." Angus said, "You may want to reserve judgment. But, do you think you could teach me in private?"

"Um, Angus, you wouldn't be suggesting that we keep your lessons a secret would you?" Jessica asked trying not to laugh when Angus' mouth dropped open.

"No, not a secret ... just private. As in, no one else has to hear me sing."

"Sure, okay. Though we do seem to have something of a privacy issue these days. But we do have time alone now. I don't know all the words to the songs that Corey and Sean know but we can look them up."

"I don't mean those songs." Angus said, "I mean the ones that you sing with Jim. The ones you sang at the bar."

"Okay ... we can do that. You don't know any of those songs though, right? Got it." Jessica said snapping the fingers when Angus shook his head. "Bring the laptop here ... and one of the kitchen chairs."

Angus looked at her funny but went to get the laptop and chair.

"Now what?" he asked after setting the laptop up on the chair as Jessica directed him to.

"So it really helps with singing if you know the songs pretty well. We'll start by watching some videos. We can get them with the lyrics shown. But basically you'll have to listen to the songs over and over. When you feel like singing in public there's a great singing game that we can play on the game box and it helps a lot too."

"So let's start with the songs we were singing earlier today." Jessica said after ten minutes of instructing Angus on how to get to the internet and then to the video site.

"How do you know this shit?" Angus asked staring at the laptop screen.

"My brothers and I used to watch videos all the time." Jessica said. "Let's start with something fairly simple ...in the search box type Blackeyed Peas."

Jessica was in the middle of telling Angus how to spell the band name when there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Angus asked, reaching for the shower curtain.

"It's me." Riley said.

"Come in."

"Those are a lot of fuck ... freakin' bubbles." Riley commented. "Good evasive action Angus ..." he added, laughing.

"I thought so." Angus said sharing in the laugh.

"What's with the computer?" Riley asked. He'd asked it lightly but did a double take when Angus and Jessica exchanged a look. "Guys ..." he started in a warning tone.
"Okay, okay." Angus said when Jessica clamped her mouth shut and glared at him. "Don't get your undies in a knot ... Jessica is teaching me how to sing ... in private."

"Sing ..." Riley repeated. "You ..."

"Did you have something specific you came in here to do?" Angus demanded turning back to the computer. "Can you hurry it up? Jessica and I are busy."

"I didn't mean it like that ..." Riley said moving to the toilet. "I actually like that idea." He added as he shook off and moved to the sink. "Can I learn too?"

"So we're going to have to listen to each other sing?" Angus demanded.

"Hey, you're the one that sounds like a dying cat. If I can put up with that my slightly off key singing should be a pleasure for you. And besides ... we get naked and awfully close to one another when we have sex with Jessica. You find singing in front of me more uncomfortable than that?"

"Fine ... fine ..." Angus grumbled when even Jessica smiled at him smugly, like Riley's question settled everything. "We have to start by listening to the songs. Which one should I pick?" he asked Jessica when the Blackeyed Peas song list appeared on screen.

"The first one is good, but pick the one with the lyrics." Jessica said.

"Why is it that the dancing on all of these videos looks more like sex than dancing?" Riley demanded after watching a few videos.

Jessica shrugged, "It's the style." But her nonchalance vanished when both Riley and Angus glared at her.

"So Jim said when I demanded to know why all those men were all over you at the bar when you were 'dancing'" Riley growled.

"Honestly Riley, it looks easier than it is. There's so much work put into those dances that the last thing you feel is turned on ... trust me ... honest." She added when they didn't look placated. "But anyway, the words and tune are what you should be concentrating on ..." she added in a rush. "Listen to it again and this time try humming with it."

"Fine, but this conversation isn't over." Riley said as Angus started the video again.

"Maybe you two should get naked and try it ..." Jessica muttered when their combined efforts at humming the song were pathetically dismal. They were hardly making a sound and kept looking at one another in obvious wariness. They both threw withering looks at Jessica but their humming improved considerably.

When the song finished, a round of applause made Jessica shriek and Angus and Riley jump into a crouch position.

"What the fucking, shit, fuck!" Angus yelled at Scott, Jim and Josh standing by the door, clapping.

"You shitheads!" Riley added having reflexively reached into the tub to grab Jessica's arm before she sank under the water. "Are you trying to finish what Daryl started and kill Jessica? And close the fucking door will you? She's naked."

"Sorry ..." Josh said, closing the door.

"Sorry Jess, are you okay?" Scott asked, him and Jim moving closer to the tub.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Jessica asked in mock anger. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute but she honestly couldn't feel mad at them.

"We did knock." Scott said dropping to his knee beside Jessica and kissing her forehead.

"But I guess the humming blocked it out." Jim said unable to hide his smile that turned into a chuckle.

"So ... " Josh said moving into the room and pointing at the laptop, "what exactly is going on?"

"Oh fuck off!" Angus growled when both Josh and Scott were unable to hide their amusement either.

"Well, I'm really proud of Angus and Riley." Jessica said, "They're both being really brave and stepping outside their comfort zones to learn to sing. That takes a lot of courage. A different kind of courage than the kind required to go into a gun fight." She added when Scott, Josh and Jim looked at Riley and Angus in surprise, and when neither Riley or Angus looked placated.

"Wow ..." Jim finally said, and to Jessica's relief he looked and sounded truly impressed, "That's great. I never would have expected that. Can we help too?"

"In complete seriousness." Scott added, "I'd like to help too."

"Really ... me too." Josh added. When Angus and Riley looked unmoved.

There was silence for a few minutes while Riley and Angus seemed to be considering the men's words and demeanors.

"Fine ..." Angus said with a sigh when Riley eventually turned to him and shrugged. "We get naked with you guys too ... I guess this can't be any worse."

"Awesome! That's fucking awesome!" Scott laughed.

"But I'm not singing in front of anyone but you." Angus said.

"That explains the laptop in the bathroom ..." Jim said.

"I take it that you came in here for a reason ..." Riley prompted, looking pointedly at the toilet.

"Yeah, yeah." Josh said moving to the toilet.

"Heads up though ..." Scott kissing Jessica's forehead again before getting up an lining up behind Josh at the toilet, "Corey, Chris and Abe are almost done outside. They'll be in here soon."

"I guess that's it for today's lesson." Angus said getting up and unplugging the laptop. "Can you take this back?" he asked handing it to Riley. "I've gotta help Jess wash up." He added when Riley looked back and forth between Angus and the laptop, raising an eyebrow.

"Right." Riley said taking the laptop. "I'll go start working on dinner. Good luck." He added, "The bubbles are starting to disappear ..."

"Ha, ha." Angus said but wasted no time dunking the wash cloth into the tub.

Fifteen minutes later Jessica had the fastest cleaning she'd ever had at Angus' hands, was seated on the sofa, her mouth watering with the smell of dinner - her appetite was finally back - and watching Corey and Abe go head to head in some overly violent video game.

It should have all been blissful. And it would have been were it not for Scott, Jim and Josh getting a great amount of pleasure from torturing Jessica by pointing at Corey, mouthing 'Leah?' and then acting innocent when Corey looked their way ... winking at Jessica when he looked away again. Jessica closed her eyes and wished she hadn't reacted with such panic the first time Scott did it. Since then he, Jim and Josh were having fun toying with her. Riley was busy in the kitchen and to his credit Angus tried to get the other three to stop but his head flicks, mouthed threats and raised fists almost made things worse. Corey always almost just catching Angus in the act.

Jessica wasn't sure what to make of their behavior. It was hard to get mad because they seemed so playful. Too playful, almost hyper.

The worst part was when she herself got caught. She was waving her hand frantically trying to indicate for Scott to stop when he'd wrapped his arms around himself and pretended to be French kissing someone; when Corey looked directly at her.

"There's a fly ... got it." She mumbled pathetically and pretended to swat a fly away. With that Scott, Jim and Josh fell into fits of laughter. Corey looked at them and shook his head.

"My turn to switch off with Chris." He said standing. "Have fun." He said to Abe, who took one look at Scott, Jim and Josh rolling around on the floor and stood up too.

"I'll help you check the perimeter." He said shaking his head and heading outside with Corey.

No sooner had they left than Scott and Jim dropped onto either side of Jessica on the sofa, taking Corey and Abe's places. Josh, landed beside Jim. And they were still roaring. Jim fell against Jessica, Scott did too and rubbed Jessica's head with his hand. Angus sat on the armchair shaking his head and muttering, "Like little effing boys."

Jessica pushed Jim away from her and then Scott.

"See if I ever tell you a secret again!" she muttered and placed a hand on Jim's chest and her right shoulder on Scott's as they tried to get closer to her.

"Oh come on Jess ..." Jim said.

"It was funny!" Scott added.

Jessica stared at them, unable to comprehend what was wrong with them. They didn't seem to be trying to be mean.

"'Sides Jess," Josh added, "you didn't tell us any secret, Riley did."

"And we won't tell Sean, honest." Jim added.

"But Corey doesn't know that I know ..." Jessica said, struggling to keep Jim and Scott away again.

"No shit ..." Josh said and seemed to sober up a little. "We were under the impression that Corey knew ... that you knew ... geez, sorry Jess."

Jessica looked at him and then Scott and Jim in bewilderment. They seemed to be calming down but they still wore playful smiles.

"Welcome to the dangers of second hand information." Angus said, "And to the antics of these goofballs. When they get carried away with something there's no stopping them."

"Antics?" Jessica repeated.

"Sure. When they think they have something over you they go to town. Think it's real funny." Angus said glaring at Scott, Jim and Josh but it only lasted a moment and Angus was smiling. Almost wistfully.

"I used to be at the butt end of their jokes all the time." He added.

"Oh, oh, oh, tell her about Ingrid!" Josh said to Angus in such an exuberant way that made Jessica think he was drunk. But, she didn't recall them drinking anything.

"Ingrid?" Riley asked in surprise. He'd just come from the kitchen and stood looking surprised but pleasantly so.

"Oh God, really?" Angus demanded but didn't seem too upset about it. "When we were kids ..." Angus began when the three had nodded their heads in encouragement. He leaned forward in the armchair and looked like he was going to tell a favorite bed time story.

"Kids." Scott interrupted with a snort. "You were thirteen, no kid ..."

"Fine, when I was thirteen, there was this woman in one of the neighboring clans. She was older ... a lot older. And one night I had the misfortune of having a dream ..."

"Yes, a 'dream'" Jim interrupted, using his fingers to indicate quotes around the word dream and then fall back against Jessica laughing.

"It was a dream ..." Angus bantered back and really didn't look upset at all.

"Angus, you ruined your sheets." Scott said.

"Okay ... I spewed during the dream." Angus said when Jessica looked at him with a perplexed expression. "She meant nothing to me ... it was just something a thirteen year old boy would do."

"But lucky Angus we were all there and witnessed his ... pleasure."

"Ingrid ... Ingrid ... Ingrid!" Scott moaned, tossing his head back and forth and then jerking his pelvis up spastically before collapsing in pretend bliss.

"She wore tight shirts and short skirts ... what did you want from me?" he asked them and smiled, seeming to go back into the memory. Riley seemed to be doing the same.

"Anyway, these three assho ... clowns, tortured me with it for days. Having near epileptic episodes behind her back and anything else they could do to have me convinced that she'd figure out I'd dreamed about her. Thank God she moved away not long after ..."

Riley shook his head, smiling and clearly remembering also, "Yup these guys get in the mood often enough and when they do watch out if you're the receiving end of their fun."

"And lucky for you, you seem to have joined the club." Angus added.

Jessica looked around at the men. These were clearly happy memories for them. It was refreshing and nice.

"I don't think I've ever seen them do that before ..." she said thinking back and pretty sure that seeing the men so playful would have stuck in her mind.

"Yeah, well, they used to do it a lot ..." Angus said.

Riley was nodding, "Before."

Jessica could tell by the sobering of all their expressions what before meant.

"I like it." She said quietly, "Even if I risk utter humiliation and people's lives may be forever ruined ..." She winked when five sets of eyes shot up to look at her. "I'm kidding ... I know you'd never tell Sean. And, I'm sorry that I ruined this between you. Ruined the fun."

"Jess, it wasn't you." Riley said, "Really." He added when she gave him her 'give me a break' look which was, Riley realized, showing up quite a lot lately. "Things weren't quite right between us for a long time before you."

Jim nodded. "Something changed when we got older."

"Your parents got arrested." Jessica said.

Jim nodded. "That too. Maybe you just don't notice these things when you're a kid, but things got tense and unhappy. Well before you showed up."

"But ... you brought it back." Riley said a huge grin splitting his face. "I don't remember the last time these three jerks bugged the hell out of us in a funny way. I missed it."

"I didn't miss it." Angus said in mock seriousness and then laughed. "Lucky for me there's only one person that I have wet dreams about now and you ..." Angus said pointing his finger at Jessica, "are fully aware of them. Humiliation averted."

Everyone laughed and Jessica fell against Scott, and squeezed Jim's hand. Silence fell but this time there was nothing strained or troubling about it. The men sat looking around at one another, smiling.

"Well, dinner's ready." Riley finally said standing.

"Good, Jessica's starving." Scott said standing and helping Jessica to her feet, "Her stomach has been growling for the past half hour."

No one moved for a moment. Finally Riley held his hand out to Scott's for a handshake.

"I missed you man ... and I didn't realize how much." Riley said when Scott shook it.

Scott nodded, "I missed you too." And they embraced in a bear hug. Angus hugged Josh, and then Jim, and he moved to Scott while Riley hugged Jim and Josh. A couple of tears rolled down Jessica's eyes while she watched.

"Come here you ..." Riley said and Jessica was pulled against him, the other men pressing into a group hug.

"Let's eat before the other guys come in and think we've gone queer." Angus mumbled after a minute or two of hugging. "No queer jokes!" Angus warned pointing his finger at Scott.

"Don't cry Jess." Josh said, wiping the tears on her cheeks with his thumb.

"This is so nice, that's all ..." she said.

"Great." Angus grumbled but took Jessica into a headlock and kissed the top of her head, "We've become a chick flick."

Jessica laughed but couldn't stop crying. Angus pulled the bottom of his shirt up to wipe her eyes. "You gonna be okay to eat at the table? You think you can sit on a chair?" he asked quietly. Jessica nodded.

"So, before we call in the others in." Jim said, "Since you'll be sleeping with us tonight ..." walking his fingers up her arm, puckering his lips and making an exaggerated 'come hither' look. "And we're going to get lucky tonight ..." He chuckled when Jessica laughed but nodded with enthusiasm. "After dinner I'll go into town and get us some condoms."

"Condoms ..." Scott repeated.

"Yeah," Jim said and sighed when everyone, including Jessica, stared at him with blank expressions. "Jess may not be pregnant."

"Yeah ... and?" Josh asked but Jim could see realization dawning on the other men's faces.

"And she's not on the pill anymore." Scott answered for Jim.

Now Jessica got it and she also noticed the men's faces freeze with forced smiles.

"Then you better go to bulk barn." Angus muttered. "I'm guessing we'd go through enough condoms in one night to supply a small army."

"But, won't condoms dull the sensation for you?" she asked after chuckling along with the men. For a second the frozen expressions the men were forcing faltered and she could see that she had hit the nail on the head.

"It's like wrapping yourself in bubble wrap and then trying to have a massage ..." Josh said, "What?" he demanded when Jim cuffed him.

"It's really not that bad." Jim said.

"But all the books and magazines we've read mention that ..." Jessica said.

"Sure, in the old days ..." Riley interjected, "condoms were awful. But these days they're super thin. You almost don't even know you're wearing one."

"Almost ..." Angus muttered so quietly that hadn't it been for the guilty look on his face Jessica wouldn't have been sure she'd heard him correctly.

"Jess, they're fine." Scott said. "And this all depends on whether you feel anything down here by tonight ..." Scott said sliding his hand to the v between her legs. "Nothing yet?"

"No, sorry."

"It's okay. We'll wait." Riley said.

"That's not really necessary you know ..." Jessica said.

"We'll wait." Angus said with a note of finality. "Isn't it time for dinner?"

"I'll call in the others." Jim said and headed for the door.

"Oh wait, before you do." Jessica said, "Leah said she'd come over after dinner. Can you guys keep Corey busy when she does? So we can talk ..."

"Sure. It'll be a good time to do a perimeter check." Angus said.

"Thanks."

"My lady ..." Scott said whisking his hand toward the kitchen table. Jessica dipped her head, attempted a one handed curtsey and limped between Scott and Josh to the table.

Dinner had gone well except that Jessica had trouble sitting on the chair so she ended up on Jim's lap. It became apparent to her that Angus' assessment of Jim's brother status had been accurate. Jim had spent almost all of dinner running his hands up and down her thighs inflaming Jessica's phantom desire to the point of almost feeling real.

It also inflamed the redness of Jessica's face. And at first the way the seating arrangement had worked out - Scott and Josh on either side of Jim and Jessica, with Riley and Angus on either side of them, placing Abe, Chris and Corey were on the far side of the table - had been a relief to Jessica. Thinking that Abe, Chris and Corey wouldn't be able to see what Jim was doing had kept the bright red to a slight pink on Jessica's face at first. But of course, Riley, Angus, Scott and Josh could see what Jim was doing. And they kept looking ... even copping a few feels themselves. And so Jessica was sure that Abe, Corey or Chris would figure it out soon enough and so her face beat bright red through the whole dinner.

At one point Josh had leaned over to Jim and whispered, "I think you're embarrassing her."

"Am I?" Jim hissed in her Jessica's ear, with such a guttural tone that she almost thought it'd been Angus. He shifted and hugged her hard against him while pressing his fully erect cock into her back.

"Uh ..." Jessica managed to mumble. Looking left and right she could see that the others were pitching tents too. She closed her eyes ... how were they going to get up from the table without the visitors noticing that.

Jim leaned around her to look at her face. He shook his head, kissed her cheek and whispered, "You're so cute. Sorry, I'll stop for now." And he planted his left hand on her inner thigh for the remainder of the meal.

That had helped reduce Jessica's embarrassment but at the end of the meal the men still had their erections. Luckily Corey, Chris and Abe, obviously oblivious had gotten up first and moved to the kitchen with the dirty dishes allowing the men to get up and disappear down the hallway relatively unnoticed.

Jim had helped Jessica to the sofa, kissed her on the forehead and disappeared too.

Now Jessica sat going through the texts on her phone trying to ignore her phantom desire. It wasn't easy. And when the men came back out to the living room their erections were gone but they still looked horny. Dangerously horny. Jessica's phantom desire roared again. She forced her attention to her phone. But it was hard to focus. Angus and Riley sat on either side of her on the sofa, Scott dropped into the armchair, Josh and Jim pulled kitchen chairs over. Jessica flicked her eyes from her phone to them. They sat, obviously not concerned about letting Abe, Chris and Corey clean up the kitchen, muscles coiled and leaning toward Jessica. They were so distracting that Jessica barely paid attention to her phone, until a text from Leah appeared.

"On my way, be there in half an hour." It read.

Just as Jessica was about to convey the news a sudden and incredibly intense spasm of pleasure erupted between her legs causing Jessica to cry out and fold in half. Rolled in a ball, the pleasure emanated through her whole body.
"Jess, what's wrong?" Riley demanded, planting a hand on her back and leaning over to see her face.

"What happened?' Angus asked, doing the same.

"Jess?" Scott asked. From the corner of her eye, from her doubled over position she could see Josh and Jim slowly lower themselves to their knees in front of her.

"I'll get Abe." Scott said standing.

"N n no," Jessica managed to say sudden mortification overwhelming her at the prospect of having to explain this to Abe or the other men. "I'm ... fine."

"You don't look fine." Jim said.

"I guess this is what doc meant." Jessica said.

"What doc meant about what?" Josh asked.

Jessica lifted her head, her face bright red, "About things thawing out ..." she said, "he hadn't meant my legs."

"You mean your ..." Scott asked, looking at her waist where she doubled over.

"You had an ... orgasm?" Riley asked.

"Shhh. Yes." Jessica muttered and dropped her head to the sofa.

"And now you can feel ... between your legs?" Jim asked. When Jessica nodded he shot to his feet. "I'm heading into town." He declared and moved for the door.

"I'll come with you." Josh said.

"Are you okay?" Angus asked. "You look like you're in pain."

"It was really ... intense." Jessica said. "I don't think I can move right now ..."

"Holy shit ..." Scott hissed.

"I need to whack off again." Riley muttered.

"Can we help you ... with anything?" Angus asked and there was no misunderstanding what he meant. "We can get rid of them." He said motioning to the three men in the kitchen.

Jessica shook her head. "I think it would hurt. It feels really ... sensitive."

"Holy shit ..." Scott said and rose into a crouch, "Are you okay?" he asked touching her head. She looked up at him, "I have to go ... you know ... are you okay?"

Jessica nodded.

"Are you okay on your own?" Riley growled.

"I have to go too." Angus muttered when Jessica looked up at Riley.

"Go ... I'm fine."

No sooner had the three disappeared than Abe asked, "Jess, are you okay?"

"Fine ... fine."

"Do you have a stomach ache?" Corey asked.

Jessica groaned. Clearly they were done in the kitchen.

"Yeah, I think I ate too much." Jessica said. "I'll be fine."

"Let's do a parameter check." Scott said returning.

"I'll stay with Jessica, you guys go ahead." Riley said. He sat down on the sofa and rubbed her back.

"They're gone?" Jessica asked when she heard the door close.

"Yes."

"Leah's on her way." She said. Riley nodded but didn't seem to be paying attention. "And, ah, when she gets here, can we be alone for a while?"

Riley nodded again but seemed distracted. His initial gentle and slow rubbing of her back had been speeding up and gaining strength.

"Riley." Jessica said, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest.

"Hmmm?" He asked.

"You do realize that the polite thing to do tonight is to wait for everyone to go to bed as they normally would."

"Huh?"

"Not only is it polite but it's the only way we can be sure they won't walk in on us."

"Damn it." Riley swore, his eyes finally focusing on Jessica.

Jessica pressed up against Riley. "You know what really turns me on?" she whispered.

"No, what?" he asked, clearly surprised in the direction Jessica was taking.

"Anticipation."

"Anticipation ..." Riley repeated clearly confused.

Jessica nodded.

"Really ..." Riley asked turning in to her, staring at her mouth.

"Yes, but ..." she said planting her hand on his chest, "without rushing it ... you know, letting our guests go to bed at their normal time ..."

"Mhmmm ..." Riley said bringing his lips to hers. Contact brought an instant and intense reaction in Jessica. She felt like she was on fire. Like she had to be as close to Riley as she could be. Jessica threw herself against Riley, ignoring the pain of her shoulder. She kissed and thrust against him, and when he began to move away in sudden realization of what they were doing, Jessica used the momentum to push Riley against the sofa and slide onto his lap.

"Okay, okay ..." Riley panted, talking around her kisses, "Jess I get it." He said, "Be polite, be patient. But if you don't stop ... Christ!" he yelled when Jessica slid her hand down his pants and grasped his fully erect cock. "Jessica, stop!" he bellowed, grabbing her wrist and pulling her hand out of his pants. "We need to all be together, and we need privacy, remember?" he asked panting, "Remember?!" he said again when Jessica tried to kiss him again. "Jessica!"

"I ... I can't help it." Jessica panted.

"Very creative Jess. You got your point across but you definitely went too far ..." he said shaking her wrist.

"No, Riley ..." Jessica panted and when Riley looked her in the eye she looked possessed. "I really think you need to get away from me ... I can't control ... myself."

"So ... if we're polite and patient and wait for the right time ... this is what we're going to get? Pretty bold for a slave ..." Riley said with a chuckle, "but I'll let it slide this time."

"Tell the others ..." Jessica said forcing herself to slide off Riley onto the sofa.

"Oh I will. Don't you worry. But they may not be as willing to let this slide as I am."

Jessica pushed herself away from Riley, breaking contact. "Um. Remember all that phantom desire I was having?" she asked, running her hand over her face.

"Sure."

"Well, I think it's created a monster."

"Wait, you weren't pretending? To make a point?"

"I wish ..."

"So that's what we have to look forward to?" Riley asked sliding his hand up her arm.

"I think you'd better get away from me ... I really just want to ..."

"Stick your hand down my pants?" Riley asked with a laugh.

She nodded. "Please ..." she said when he started moving in to kiss her again. "This is really hard. Not all the men are here ... Leah is going to be here any minute ... Abe, Corey and Chris can walk in any time ... and I just want to jump you."

"And you think that's the argument that's going to make me be polite and patient and wait forever to jump you?" Riley asked the huskiness in his voice thickening.

"Is it working?" Jessica asked and trying to break the sexual tension she batted her eyes.

"No." Riley said forcing himself off of the sofa. "Fine. I'll talk to the guys and we'll be polite and we'll be patient. But tonight you'd better reign it in ... a lot. You're behavior hasn't been very appropriate for a good slave. A repeat of this .." he said pointing at his crotch while he jacked his jeans up higher, "will get you into a lot of trouble. Got it?"

Jessica nodded. Riley smiled and winked, "But that wouldn't be bad for any of us ... would it?"

"Riley ..." Jessica said when his resolve seemed to falter and he began to move toward her again. Jessica was at the end of the rope when it came to will power and was about ready to forget everything and just go for it when the front door opened. They both jumped with surprise, and Jessica squealed with glee when she saw Leah standing in the doorway.

Riley sighed.

"I'll be quick." He said and headed for the bathroom.

Leah had been scanning the room, and looked nervous.

"They're all outside." Jessica said.

Leah shut the door and moved to the sofa.

"How are you feeling?" Leah asked.

"Fine, fine. How about you?"

Leah flicked her eyes to the hallway where Riley had gone. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked giving Jessica another look, "You look kind of worked up."

Just then Riley came back. "Don't mind me ..." he said and headed for the door. The second he closed it behind him Jessica and Leah visibly relaxed.

"Of course I'm worked up. I'm worried about you. What happened last night?"

"Oh my God Jessica, it was awful. The whole things was awful." Leah said and broke into tears.

"Awful?" Jessica asked in surprise. "Did ... did he hurt you?"

Leah shook her head, "But it was all so humiliating. Jessica, I don't know how you do it with five of them. But I don't ever want to have sex again. Ever. Now I know why Sean didn't want me to date anyone." Leah mumbled and cried even harder.

Jessica looked around for some tissue. Seeing a box on the kitchen table she tried to stand but wasn't very balanced.

"What's wrong?" Leah asked through her tears when Jessica tittered back onto the sofa.

"Tissues are over there." Jessica said.

"Thanks." Leah said going to get the box.

"Do you want a drink?" Jessica added while Leah was near the kitchen, "There's wine and beer in the fridge. Hard liquor in the cupboards."

"Sure, I'll have some rum and coke. You want some?"

"Please." Jessica said hoping that alcohol would dull the desire within her a little. It was distracting to say the least and it seemed kind of unfair to be so horny when Leah had experienced such an awful sexual experience.

Leah slammed the bottle of rum, coke and two glasses onto the coffee table. She poured two healthy portions of rum with considerably less healthy doses of coke and passed the glass to Jessica. Jessica sipped, Leah chugged.

"Forget about the sex for a minute." Jessica said, "And slow down on the rum." She added when Leah poured herself another glass and chugged again. "Do you love Corey?"

"Yes."

"And do you still get that tingly feeling when you think about him?"

"Yes. But Jessica, I'm so embarrassed. I don't know if I can look at him again."

"Leah, I don't know what you thought sex was, but it is a very intimate act. The most intimate thing you will ever do in your life. It takes some getting used to and until you are it can feel very embarrassing in the light of day."

"Can't I love Corey without having to ... do that?"

"Sure you can Leah." Jessica said sipping her drink again. "But I don't think it'll be the kind of love a man and woman have. It would be a friend love."

"Why?" Leah asked sniffling, "Why can't it be a man and woman love?"

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it could be. But my experience has been that men love sex. The more intimate, the more they love it. And you know what Leah? I love it to. I had to learn about it. I had to learn about my body and what felt good and about my husband's bodies and what they liked. And at first it didn't feel ... natural. But now it feels nothing but. And Leah, if you let yourself learn you can experience intense pleasure like you've never imagined."

At this point Leah had stopped crying and stared at Jessica. "Would I have to use machines?"

"Oh no. No, not at all. That's a little ... advanced."

Leah exhaled with relief and chugged her drink again.

"You know. Sometimes things feel more embarrassing to us then they truly were. Why don't you tell me what happened between you and Corey."

Leah poured another drink.

"Okay. Well, everything started off okay. Corey had got this beautiful hotel room. Five star, heart shaped bed, Jacuzzi ..."

Jessica nodded with encouragement.

"We got there and started kissing and taking our clothes off. And I'd kind of thought he'd turn off the light but he said he didn't want to. That he wanted to see everything ... me, my face, my expressions ..." Leah's voice trailed off and she looked like she'd cry again.

"That's normal Leah, all completely normal."

Leah looked up at Jessica and inhaled. "Okay, so ... so, we kissed some more, and then Corey started kissing me in other places." Leah turned red and lowered her eyes, "And touching me in other places. And, he kept asking me what I liked."

"And what did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I mean ... I didn't know. Wasn't he supposed to know? Wasn't he the one with experience?" Leah demanded.

"But Leah, not everyone is the same." Jessica said. "What other women like is not necessarily what you like. "

"So what was I supposed to tell him?"

"Well, what turns you on? Where he should touch you, what should he say or do to you to give you pleasure." Jessica said. "Um, you do have fantasies right?" she added when Leah stared. "What do you think about when you masturbate?"

"When I what?" Leah asked and she looked completely lost.

"Uh. Leah, please tell me that you've had an orgasm before."

Leah shook her head. "I told you, I've never had sex before."

"You don't need to have sex to orgasm Leah. It's something you do to yourself. So you know what you like and what brings you to orgasm."

Leah sat looking at Jessica in stunned silence.

"Okay, never mind that for now." Jessica said beginning to see how Leah's night of perceived romance had appeared to her to be so incredibly off track. "What happened after all of that?"

"Well ..." Leah said her voice faltering, "Corey did a lot of kissing, and touching and after a little while he started telling me what he liked ... and he expected me to do it." Leah said, crying again. "I kept gagging. I've always had sensitive gag reflexes. Ever since I was a kid. And my wrist started to hurt, and when he tried to put his ... he tried to put it in and it hurt. God it hurt. I started to cry. So, then , we stopped. Corey said he should take me home. And he did, and that's the last time I saw or spoke to him."

Jessica took a bigger drink from her glass and tried to figure out where to begin.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Leah asked, studying Jessica's face.

"No ... no, it's not. But there are two completely separate issues here."

"There are?"

"Yup. The second and least important is your sexual relationship with Corey. But the first and most important is you knowing your own body and knowing how to pleasure yourself. Once you've had an orgasm Leah, it'll change your world. It so ... relaxing. It's a great release. You absolutely must do that. After that. If you want to have sex with Corey then you can tell him what you want him to do. And I think you'll be more than happy to do whatever he needs too."

"Really?"

Jessica nodded.

"But, I don't know how ..."

"I know. But I have just the thing. We have some books and magazines. I'll lend them to you and you have to look at them and think about them, and touch yourself like they show you."

"Really?" Leah asked, crinkling her nose up in disgust.

"Yup. And there's a cream. I think I have some left, that you can put on your clitoris to help you a lot. Here, help me up. We have to go back to Scott's room." Jessica said trying to stand.

Leah stood up and pulled Jessica's arm around her shoulder.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Leah asked as they limped down the hallway. "Don't you and the men need these books?"

"Nope. Not at all." Leah helped Jessica over to Scott's dressers. Clearly someone other than Scott was sleeping in the room these days but Jessica found the stash of books and magazine in the drawer where they'd been put a while ago. "And if you have a computer and access to the internet there's lots of pornography you can look at. It'll help. Here take them." Jessica said when Leah stood gaping at the naked men and women on the covers of the magazines.

"I can't just take these home ..." Leah said turning bright red.

"We have grocery bags in the kitchen. Put them in a couple of those and hide them in your room. And no matter how embarrassed you feel Leah, read them. Touch yourself ... fantasize. You have to trust me that this is all normal and incredibly liberating."

They hobbled back out to the dining room. Jessica leaned on the kitchen table while Leah looked around for grocery bags. No sooner had she slipped the books and magazines in the bags than the front door opened and Sara, Justine and Amanda walked in.

"Leah, you're here?" Sara asked.

"Yeah. I stopped by for a few minutes. Um, I kind of have to go though and I drank some. Would one of you mind driving me home? Sorry ..."

So Amanda and Justine helped Jessica back to the sofa while Sara drove Leah home.

Amanda and Justine had brought some new fashion and gossip magazines with them. After pouring several stiff drinks they climbed onto the sofa with Jessica and they all began looking through the magazines. Sara was back within the hour and soon also became engrossed in the magazines.

Jessica was in the middle of a fashion survey when the front door opened again. She'd looked up absent mindedly while trying to determine what her favorite style of underwear was for the survey when she noticed Riley walk in. He winked and held two thumbs up. She smiled, glad that the men had agreed to be patient and wait for the natural course of events to run before they had sex. When Josh came in after Riley he seemed relaxed and the wink he gave her was casual enough and Jessica was just about to return to her magazine when Josh's expression shifted. He hadn't expected Jessica to look up again and for the split second before he realized she was looking and he managed to slide a smile back on, he looked at Jessica like he was on a mission and that mission was her. A shiver of anticipation ran down her spine and the desire she'd managed to forget about roared. She half expected him to come over and say or do something but instead he walked by and watching him go Jessica had to pull her knees up to her chest again. His body was too chiseled, his clothes fit too well. The jeans he wore sat just right, calling her already well attuned attention to his butt and crotch. Her breath caught and when he finally passed out of her view Jessica inhaled and turned back, intending to go back to her magazine. But Scott stalked in after Josh. And again, looked relaxed, but he just stared at her. Jessica smiled, but he didn't return the smile. Not with his mouth anyway. His eyes seemed to be smiling though, and he rubbed his hands together, slowly. Every etched muscle in Scott's arms rippled as he did so and Jessica thought she'd hyperventilate. Scott noticed her reaction gave her a lazy, toothy smile as he walked out of her field of vision. Just when Jessica thought she couldn't feel any more turned on, Jim followed behind Scott, with same determined look as the others, one hand rubbing his well-muscled thigh, his hand planted in his back pocket cupping his hard butt cheek. He locked eyes with her as he passed by. Jessica couldn't breathe and it suddenly dawned on her that maybe they weren't going to be patient after all. Whatever miniscule amount of self-control she had left disappeared when Angus came in. He pinned her with his eyes as he stalked in. He looked like he was going to swallow her whole. Right then, right there. Jessica held her breath as he continued to move by, but when he brought his hand to his mouth and ran his hand over his lips slowly, deliberately, with hunger, Jessica moaned under her breath. But he too continued on past leaving Jessica panting on the sofa. When Jessica came back to her senses she realized that she wasn't the only one to be acutely aware of the men's physical presence. Sara, Justine and Amanda were staring at the men, jaws fallen open. Jessica was pretty sure she could see drool running down their faces too. She brought her hand to her mouth to make sure she wasn't drooling excessively.

Corey, Chris and Abe followed next and Jessica had the sudden feeling that the men were going to order them to go to bed early, or stand guard outside, or leave. She shifted to see Riley and Angus in the kitchen looking in the fridge and Josh, Jim and Scott standing by the dining room table. They all looked relaxed, non-confrontational. Jessica began to wonder if she'd imagined the whole thing. She turned back to see Corey looking around the living room and then lean over and look down the hallway.

"Game of poker?" Scott asked.

"Yeah sure." Chris said, and Jessica watched Abe and Chris move to the dining room table. The men still looked relaxed and happy to play cards. Jessica shook her head and decided to go back to her magazine.

"Where's Leah?" Corey asked and Jessica looked up to see him standing in front of the sofa. His eyes wandered the room again, and then shifted from Sara to Justine, Amanda and then landed on her. He looked expectant and happy. Happier than he had looked all day. "Jessica?" he prompted when she didn't answer right away.
"Um. She's not here." Jessica said and suddenly realized how quiet the others had gotten.

"Her cars out front." Corey said.

"Yeah. She was here. But she asked Sara to give her a lift home ..."

"Why?" Corey asked.

"Well, I guess she wasn't feeling well ..." Jessica said. She could feel her face heating up. She started to panic at the prospect of having to explain their failed sexual experience in front of everyone. A hand grasped her shoulder and squeezed. Jessica looked up to see Jim behind the sofa. He smiled reassuringly and squeezed her shoulder again.

"No, I mean, why didn't she take her car?" Corey said.

"Oh ..." Jessica with great relief. "She had too much to drink and couldn't drive home."

Jessica's answer seemed to confirm something for Corey and the happiness on his face disappeared and was replaced by what could only be described as despair. He nodded, went to the far wall where the computer was set up and plopped onto a chair.

"Are you drinking?" Jim asked, leaning over and sniffing the contents of the glass Jessica held in her hand.

"I'm just nursing this ... oh no!" she gasped. The word 'nursing' and the concerned look on Jim's face bringing realization like a slap in the face. "The baby! I forgot ... take this away ..." she said thrusting the glass at Jim. "I'm going to be a horrible mother!" she cried. "Who forgets they're having a baby?"

"Hey, hey, Jess." Scott said having come to kneel before her. He cupped her face and forced her to look at him. Blinking back tears she noticed that Angus was crouching next to Scott. "It's okay. There's no harm done okay? Look at me ... you didn't do anything wrong."

"I forgot I was having a baby ... that's wrong. And alcohol is bad for babies!"

"Jess," Angus said and squeezed her thigh, "I think Jim was the only one who clued in, honestly." He said looking around at the other men who voiced their agreement. "You're not the only one who forgot ... I forgot." That got Jessica's attention. She was stunned into not crying. He smiled when she blinked at him. "And besides a bit of alcohol is no big deal. " He added. "Our parents used to give us booze to put us to sleep and we turned out fine ..." There was a pause while Angus thought that over. His face contorted into the funniest expressions as he re-thought his statement and its likely impact versus what he'd meant by it. "Forget that." He said a smile growing on his face as Jessica started giggling, "What happened to us can't be blamed on alcohol alone ..." and she laughed harder.

"Besides." Josh added, "You may not even be pregnant. So don't worry about it."

Jessica looked over her shoulder. Josh and Riley were standing next to Jim. Jessica finally realized how crowded it was around the sofa. Justine and Amanda on either side of her, each rubbing one of her arms in support, Sara next to Amanda. The men around the sofa, Abe and Chris had drifted in from the kitchen and stood watching and even Corey lifted himself out of his funk in his chair against the wall to observe. Looking around at everyone, everyone showing concern for her, it dawned on Jessica that she wasn't alone anymore. She had people in her life that cared about her again. She nodded and couldn't help but beam at everyone.

"Okay, thanks ..."

"I have an idea." Jim said. "There are a whole ton of really fancy drinks that can be made without alcohol. Really fruity ... how about I look up some recipes for them and make you something different to drink?"

"You mean like those drinks they serve at resorts ... with umbrellas in them?" Jessica asked.

"Exactly. Give me a few minutes." He said, planted a kiss on her head and then wandered off to the laptop.

"I take it you ladies are going to spend some time engrossed in those magazines?" Scott asked, winking at Jessica then scanning Justine, Amanda and Sara. Scott seemed oblivious to the effect he was having on the three visitors.

"Want to join us?" Jessica asked.

"Ah thanks ... but I wouldn't dream of intruding." Scott said turning his huge brown eyes and sexy smile back on Jessica in full force. Jessica melted on the inside and the outside. She couldn't wait for him to do things to her. By the way Scott tilted his head Jessica knew that she was less than obvious about her feelings. For a second Scott's eyes sparkled and Jessica had the impression that he was going to tell her a joke or share something funny but instead he leaned forward and pecked her lips. "I'll see you later ... when everyone goes to bed." He said, his gorgeous eyes seeming to pull her into them and then he added, "Enjoy." Pecked her lips again and got up.

Angus took his place. He too seemed to be laughing with his eyes. He gave her a longer, slower, yet completely innocent kiss on the lips. To Jessica it felt like torture. Where was the tongue? She wanted his tongue. He pulled back a little and this time Jessica was sure he was going to laugh but instead he said, "later." And left.

Jessica was completely befuddled.

Sagging against the sofa Jessica looked to either side of her. Sara, Amanda and Justine were staring after Angus and Scott, mouths hanging open.

Remembering that Josh and Riley were still behind her Jessica leaned her head back. Riley and Josh seemed to be pretty happy about something but as soon as she looked back at them their casual stance disappeared and they seemed to snap to attention.

"We're going to play cards, or something." Josh said, leaning in to brush the side of her head with his lips. He let his lips wander to Jessica's neck but just as she turned her head in to him and enjoyed the nuzzle he pulled back, kissed her head again and said, "more of that later. Much, much, later." And went over to join Jim and Angus at the computer.

Jessica stared after him for a moment, having a hard time catching her breath. When she looked back at Riley, he was smiling like she'd done something funny. He shook his head before leaning in to Jessica's ear.

"You sure can exercise extreme amounts of self-control when you really want to." He whispered, "I wonder how you'll do tonight. Later tonight. Much, much, much, later tonight."

Fire. Fire burned through her and when Jessica turned her head to kiss Riley he pulled back, kissed her forehead, said, "Tonight." And left.

Jessica scanned the room. From her moony eyed girlfriends next to her, seeming to swoon while staring after Riley, to Abe and Chris now sitting at the dining room table. She wanted them gone. Right then. She wanted to be alone with the men and to throw all control out the window. She was on the verge of saying so too when she notice Corey. He sagged in the chair, a picture of dejection, confusion and loneliness. That was a bucket of cold water on her out of control animal instincts. These were their friends. They'd helped them when they needed it the most. Shame swept over her. Taking a deep breath she looked down at the magazine on her lap and worked on getting herself under control.

"Are you okay?" Sara asked, "You look like you're having an aneurysm."

"I'm fine." Jessica said forcing a smile and looking up at her friends. "Would one of you mind getting me a glass of water? Cold, very cold, water?"

As Sara went to get her one Jessica looked back at Corey. He needed help. She looked over at the huddle near the laptop. Riley, Angus, Jim, Josh all staring at the screen. But Scott was watching her. He cocked his head at Corey when they made eye contact. "Talk to him." Jessica mouthed. Scott smiled, nodded, put two thumbs up and blew her a kiss.

"Unbelievable." Sara said returning with the glass of water. "They really are completely different men."

"And Angus ..." Justine jumped in. "Most different of all, and I can't believe he's forgiven Beth."

"What did you do to them?" Amanda asked.

"And most importantly, can you do the same with my brother." Sara said pointing her chin in Corey's direction.

"And Sean." Justine added.

Jessica blinked. She'd forgotten that Sara was Corey's sister.

"Are they really that bad?" Jessica asked.

"Not that different from how your men used to be." Sara said.

"Really? They don't seem like it." Jessica said.

"Maybe not as mean. But definitely bossy." Justine said.

"Hmmm." Jessica said when she realized that they were waiting for her to say something. "Maybe it takes someone from outside to bring in a different perspective?"

"Good idea. Maybe we'll suggest they kidnap someone." Sara said but when Jessica looked completely appalled she added, "Sorry, bad joke. But seriously, what did you do? We'll try anything."

Jessica shrugged. "Two main things I guess." She said, "The first is ... physical." She said, turning red, even more when realization expressed itself on the women's faces. Sara looked at her brother and gagged. "And the second." She said anxious to get off the topic of sex, "Killing Daryl and his thugs before they killed the men seemed to help a lot. Mostly with the bossiness."

"Yeah, I don't know if that would help." Amanda said. "First of all, we, "she said sweeping Sara and Justine with her glance, "don't go in the field. So I don't think we'll ever have the chance to save their lives. Plus, Leah and Beth have saved their sorry asses more than once I'm sure but they still get treated like ... property."

"That's all I can think of." Jessica said, "sorry."

"Well ..." Sara said, looking at Corey. "Maybe there is a chance ..."

"What, you mean Corey and Leah?" Justine asked.

"The way the two of them are pouting I wouldn't count on it." Amanda said.

A loud sound from the kitchen temporarily caught Jessica's attention. She was surprised and impressed to see that the men owned a blender. Jim and Josh were standing around a blender and intermittent growls from the machine screamed across the house.

A breathless, "That's not who you're talking about, is it?" from Amanda brought Jessica's attention back to the conversation. Amanda and Justine were staring at Sara in disbelief. "Who are you seeing?"

"No one." Sara said, "Yet."

"Then who will you be seeing?" Justine demanded.

"Well," Sara said suddenly getting shy. "Sean's been really nice to me lately. And I'm kind of ... you know, into him."

"Sean ..." Justine and Amanda said at the same time.

"How'd you know he called?" Josh's voice broke in. All four girls jumped and looked up in startled unison.

Jim and Josh stood towering over them. Jim was holding a tray with glasses on it, Josh the bottle of rum.

"He called?" Sara squeaked, clearly concerned that Jim and Josh may have overheard too much of the conversation.

"Yeah. They were successful at the hide out. They're on their way back. They should be here tomorrow. You don't have to worry anymore."

"That's great." Jessica said when the other girls seemed tongue tied.

"For you madame ..." Jim said, picking up a glass and bending at the waist to hand it to Jessica. "I'm sorry but we don't have any umbrellas. Or straws ..."

"And these are for you ladies." Jim said handing a glass to each girl who looked at him in surprise. "Josh brought the rum if you want some added." He said inclining his head to Josh who dutifully removed the lid and held the bottle up. Jessica had to elbow Amanda when no one responded.

"Oh, uh, thanks but we'll keep Jessica company and skip the rum."

"This is really good!" Jessica exclaimed after taking a sip.

"Well, there's lots more where that came from." Jim said, "Just call when you want some. We'll serve on you hand and foot ..." he said his voice dropping an octave and his eyes boring into Jessica's. Jessica gasped as desire made a return. Jim smiled in satisfaction when it was clear that Jessica dearly wanted to be alone with him ... and Josh, who she slid her eyes to and gasped again when he gave her a toothy grin.

"We're at your service ..." Josh added with an equally low and guttural tone.

And then both turned and went back to the kitchen.

Jessica fastened her eyes on her glass and then closed them. She was going to lose it. These were her friends. They were being good to her and the men. They could wait a few hours before having sex ... sure they could. This situation wasn't going to last forever. In no time they'd be back to having sex whenever and wherever they wanted ... yes, she could do this ... she had to do this ... taking some slow deep breaths Jessica was able to bring herself under control again. If she didn't look at the men, and concentrated on her friends, she could get through the night.

With forced confidence, Jessica looked up at the girls. They were staring after Jim and Josh, dreamy looks on their faces, glasses hanging in the air. They hadn't moved since Jim had handed them their glasses.

"So ... when can you get moving with Sean?" Justine asked.

"Aren't you worried that Sean has figured out that Corey is seeing Leah and is being nice to you to get back at Corey?" Amanda asked.

"He wouldn't do that!" Jessica exclaimed completely shocked that Amanda would even think he might. "Would he?" she added when all three looked at her with the kind of sympathetic stares that made it clear they thought she was at best incredibly naive, at worse, simple.

"Yes he would." Sara said.

"And you want to have a relationship with someone like that?" Jessica demanded.

Again with the sympathetic stares.

"Anyway, I don't think Sean knows about Corey and Leah. If he did he'd be a lot less subtle than trying to use me to get back at Corey." Sara said, "And I do kind of like him that way. I'll give it a shot. It can't hurt can it?"

"I don't know. Leah may be the one to ask about that." Justine said, "If she'll ever tell us what happened."

"Hey. I have a sudden urge to watch Twilight." Justine said.

"Yeah, I could use a good dose of Edward and Jacob." Amanda said. "And we can do the 'which actor is your soul mate' survey at the same time."

"What do you think?" Sara asked Jessica.

"You won't get any arguments from me. The DVD is by the TV. Toss it in."

As Sara went to put the movie on Jessica fought the urge to look at the men. She kept her gaze down and sipped her drink.

"It's not working." Sara said crouching in front of the DVD player.

"Let me have a look." Angus said striding toward the TV but looking at Jessica the whole time. Jessica stared back at him until he turned to the TV a strange feeling of disequilibrium washing over her. Something was off. Something about the way the men kept looking at her, and kept doing strange things ... when Angus bent over in front of the DVD player, looked at it for a moment and then stood up to call Scott over for help Jessica started to worry. She was missing something. Some piece of information and she wasn't sure what that meant. Scott bent over for a second with Angus, their butts ... their tight, hard, sexy butts stuck straight out at the sofa. Straight out at Jessica and her friends. Soon they both stood and called Jim over. Who did the same. When they called Josh over Jessica sniffed her drink. Maybe they'd accidently put alcohol in it, but she didn't smell or taste anything. Maybe the rum she drank earlier hit her harder than she expected. She was injured after all, and maybe pregnant. Could those things combined with alcohol produce this strange perception of things? When Jessica finally focused back on the men Riley had been called over and all five bent in front of the TV, their butts in plain sight. And they did a lot of shifting from one leg to the other causing one butt cheek to raise at a time. And oddly they were doing it practically in unison. Just as Jessica was afraid that she was both losing her mind and her self-control, Angus looked over his shoulder at her and was clearly fighting to keep from laughing. But when he saw her expression he lost his battle. His attempted sensual façade cracked into a huge grin and he chuckled. Riley looked back and broke too. Soon all the men were smiling. Straightening, Scott pointed at Jim and Jim raised his hands in surrender. Riley and Angus looked like little school boys, shaking hands, patting each other on the shoulder, laughing. Josh crouched down, pulled out the DVD player and connected some wires, and voila, the TV and movie magically worked.

Jessica stared at them in complete bafflement until they were done laughing with one another and turned to look at her.

And then it hit her. They were playing a joke on her. Just like they used to play on one another but this time Angus got to be part of it. They'd been torturing her with their sexual prowess ... knowing that she was on the verge of exploding. She narrowed her eyes at them, not sure if she was flattered to be 'one of the guys' in a sense or if she should be mad at them. And then another realization hit her. They wanted their guests gone. Gone so they could have sex. And they were hoping to use her to be the bad guy. That was ... genius, and diabolical. But it had almost worked ... she'd been ready to break her own social etiquette to get her rocks off. She was a horn dog. The realization surprised and worried her. Maybe she didn't know herself as well as she thought she did. What if she was capable of things like Sara and the other girls thought Sean was capable of ... abandoning friends and family to meet his most basic needs.

"Hold on, hold on Jess." Riley said holding his hand out to her as he moved closer. The fact that Jessica had figured out what they were up to was clear by her expression, but her ensuing realization and horror about herself and what she was willing to do for sex was misinterpreted as anger and disillusionment toward the men. "I'm sorry okay? It was just too hard to pass up. And you know ... we wanted to give you a chance to walk in our shoes."

Jessica nodded. That she could appreciate. She realized now how hard it was to control the sexual urges. They'd definitely got that point across. And after studying their faces she realized that they had meant to include her in their camaraderie. The way their expressions went from playful to worried as soon as they thought she was mad at a them proved the point.

"Jess ... we didn't mean to embarrass you or anything ..." Jim said, "honest."

From the corner of her eye she could see Sara looking between her and the men who now moved toward the sofa, all playfulness gone.

"It's okay." Jessica said, "it was funny and it made your point. But ..." she said looking around the room. Everyone was looking at them with confused expressions on their faces. "It doesn't really change our situation. And if I'm making things difficult for you to wait ... I'm sorry. I really don't know how to stop."

"You can't," Angus said, "stop. It's not something you can change or control. But we can ... you sure you're not mad?"

"No." she said with a laugh. "I'm not mad. But I think we should talk about this later." Jessica said, her desire flaring again when she remembered their butts staring her in the face.

"Right ..." Riley said, "Well ..."

"Movies on ..." Scott said, pointing at the TV, "carry on ..." and the men scattered.

"What was that about?" Sara asked Jessica.

"Uh ... let's just say that it was an inside joke." Jessica said, "And, I really need to watch this movie now."

"I don't know what just happened." Abe said from the dining room table, "But are we going to play some cards or not?" he demanded, shuffling a deck of cards.

"Yeah, sure." Riley said happy to have a distraction, "Corey, you playing?"

Corey had his elbow on the small table on which the laptop sat. He was holding his forehead. He glanced up for a second, and then down again.

"I got it." Scott said when Chris got up and started toward Corey. "You guys play."

"What the hell was that all about?" Corey asked without moving when Scott pulled a chair next to him and sat down.
Scott considered how to answer. The truth was potentially embarrassing to Jessica but it was also a possible way to get Corey to open up to him. Without Corey opening up, Scott couldn't help him, and Jessica wanted Scott to help Corey, that was clear. Ergo ... be truthful.

"We were just trying to make a point." Scott said. When Corey looked up at him with obvious curiosity Scott knew he was heading in the right direction. "There are some, let's call them perks, to marriage that are a bit difficult to enjoy with all of you around. No offense."

Corey straightened. "You could tell us to get the fuck out you know. "

"I know. That's exactly the point. We would. Except Jessica thinks it's rude. She wants to wait until you'd all go to bed as usual. The thing is ..." he added leaning closer to Corey in a conspiratorial way. "Jessica wants it just as bad as we do. We were trying to prove that it's not that easy to just wait. And ... and I have to admit I'm a little ashamed of this ... we were hoping she'd kick you out for us. I mean we can't disappoint her if she's the one doing the dirty work, right?"

Bingo. Corey was now fully engaged, looking over at the sofa. The four girls were fully engrossed in the movie. He seemed to be studying Jessica.

"She really likes sex?" he asked.

"Just between the two of us right?" Scott asked suddenly wondering if this was really the right way to go about things. He never liked talking about his intimate relationships in the past with anyone. He knew he was a dog in bed but he always prided himself on being a gentlemen once he left the bedroom. And this was especially so with Jessica. But they all knew about the machines and that was Jessica's doing. Well, he'd already begun down the path.

"Loves it." He said.

"How'd you get her to love it?" Corey asked.

"Excuse me?"

Corey looked at him. "Jessica. How'd you get her to love sex. I mean, she couldn't have been into it at first. You did kidnap her after all. So how did you get her to have sex with you ... and most importantly, to want to have sex with you?"

Corey's question hit Scott like a punch to the stomach. What could he say to that?

When Scott didn't answer right away Corey looked at him and exhaled. "I've been seeing Leah." He said. "And last night we had sex for the first time." He glanced quickly at Scott, checking for a reaction. Not seeing a noticeable one he added in a rush. "It didn't go well. I knew it was her first time and I thought ..." he seemed to completely deflate on the chair. "I thought that rather than just ... doing it. You know, the way I'd normally do, I'd try and be gentle. Do what she wanted."

"But ..." Scott encouraged him.

"But, she didn't know what she wanted. Or maybe she was too embarrassed to tell me. I don't know."

"So, what happened." Scott asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Had Corey done like Angus had with Jessica and forced her? No sooner had Scott thought that then he realized that Angus wasn't the only one. They had all forced Jessica. In different ways and in different degrees they had forced her. And maybe he was the worst culprit of all because he'd used her own animal instincts to trick her into it.

"She started crying." Corey said in the quiet, deadened voice of someone remembering something horrible and feeling racked with guilt. "And shaking. I tried to console her, but that made her cry more." Corey slid his eyes over to Scott, looking for a reaction. Finding the revulsion he'd been expecting, he looked away. "I took her home. This morning she wouldn't look at me. Said she wasn't feeling well and to come over without her. I fucked up Scott and there's no way you can be any more disgusted with me than I am with myself."

Scott looked at him in surprise.

"I'm not disgusted with you." Scott said, "I'm disgusted with myself." This time Corey looked at him in surprise. Scott nodded toward Jessica, "It was the same with Jessica, only worse. We, um, abused her. In a lot of ways. Raping her being probably the worst." Corey's jaw dropped and Scott had to look away. Corey was definitely revolted. There was no mistaking his expression and despite how much Scott would have liked to separate himself out from Angus, Josh, and Riley, he couldn't. Scott had been able to convince himself that he was the good one. Just like Jim had been. But he knew now that he in no way had been like Jim. Ever. Nor would he ever be. No matter how good he was to Jessica now ... and he intended to be sainthood good, he could never match Jim in what he'd done for Jessica. And he could never undo what he'd done to Jessica. Not only that, but because of him, Jessica now wanted from him and the men, the very thing that they'd taken from her. He stared at Jessica. All of that was bad. All of that was horrible. But what was even worse was that now, realizing all of that, he knew he wouldn't change anything. He loved Jessica. He wanted her. And she loved and wanted him ... regardless of how she got to that stage.

"But the machines ..." Corey finally said.

Scott nodded. "She does enjoy sex now."

"So. What do I do to get Leah to enjoy it too?" Corey asked.

Scott planted his elbows on his knees and leaned forward.

"Leah got into this with you on her own, right? Of her own free will?"

Corey looked at Scott like he was from another planet.

"You didn't force her into anything ... right?" Scott demanded.

"Right. She likes me. Or at least she did."

"Okay. Well, I have some books and magazines for you to go through. And get her to go through them too. You'll have to be frank about sex, and get to the point where you're comfortable talking to each other about it. Well, if you can't talk about it, how do you expect to do it?" Scott snapped when Corey cocked an eyebrow at him like he was insane.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'll do whatever you say. But, here's the thing. No one knows about us. Except you, me and Leah."

"That's where you're wrong my friend." Scott said, "I'm supposed to keep this to myself but I think it's too dangerous to. Leah told Jessica and Jessica told us. But she only told us because she knew what you were up to last night. When Leah didn't come here today she got worried and asked for our help. She never would have said anything otherwise ... she has a thing about that, trust me." Scott added when Corey didn't look convinced.

"So what? Are you going to tell Sean?" Corey demanded.

"No!" Scott replied, "But my point is, if Leah told Jessica, who else did she tell? You and Sean are best friends man. How could you date his sister and not tell him ... before you started dating her? I mean, really?"

Corey stared at Scott in disbelief. "I ... " he managed and had to clear his throat, "I didn't mean for it to go like this. Honest. When Leah and I first kissed it was a complete surprise to me. And then Leah got all panicky about Sean. Insisted that we keep it quiet. I shouldn't have listened to her but now, here I am."

Scott studied Corey for a minute and then he nodded.

"I'll give you the books and magazines but I strongly suggest that before you do anything else with Leah, you tell Sean. I ... we've learned from experience ..." Scott said indicating the other men and Jessica with his head, "Lying, secrets, omissions, they all lead to bad things. Complete honesty is no picnic either." He added when Corey looked like he was going to argue, "but it's better than mistrust. Tell him."

"I agree." Corey said, "But honestly, do you think I can go to Sean with this without patching things up with Leah first? Think about how it will look to him. We had sex, she wants nothing to do with me? He'll kill me. I would if someone did that to Sara."

"Right." Scott said. "Good point. Okay, do what you need to. I'll get the stuff for you."

Scott headed to his bedroom. When he opened his drawer and found the books and magazines gone he was confused. He was positive he'd put them in the drawer. Closing the drawer he realized that one of the men must have taken them. Why any of them would need them was beyond him but he headed back out to the living room. He ran into Jim in the hallway on his way to the bathroom.

"Wasn't me." Jim said when Scott asked. "We're a little beyond those now, aren't we?"

"Apparently not." Scott said and carried on to the kitchen where he was relieved to see that the men were taking a break in the game. Abe, Corey and Chris had disappeared, presumably to do a parameter check. Josh was refreshing his drink, Angus and Riley sat at the table staring at Jessica ... who continued to stare at the TV.

"Who took the sex books and magazines?" Scott asked when Josh returned to the table.

"Huh?" Angus asked.

"The ones that were in my drawer. They're gone." The men looked at one another.

"Maybe Jim?" Riley suggested.

"No ... I asked him already. Do you mean to tell me that none of you took them? Then who ..." but Scott cut his sentence short when realization dawned on all of them. They swung their eyes to Jessica.

"Did you find them?" Jim asked returning.

"It looks like Jessica took them." Angus answered.

"Really?" Jim asked. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know but I intend to ask her." Scott said when by some miracle Justine paused the movie. "What's going on?" he asked as the Amanda and Sara started helping Jessica up.

"Bathroom break." Jessica said struggling to her feet, "Those drinks go right through you ..." she added with a laugh.

"I got it." Scott said, scooping Jessica into his arms and heading down the hallway with her. Once she was on the toilet he crouched in front of her. He hesitated when she beamed at him. She was happy. Completely happy. It was so nice to see that he paused to peck her lips. "Having fun?" he asked.

She nodded. "How did things go with Corey?"

"Good." He said. "He told me about Leah."

"Oh, good." She said reaching for the toilet paper.

"And to help him out a little with that ... situation, I'm going to give him the sex books and magazines. I went to get them but they were gone."

"Oh. Well, I took them." Jessica said, "And gave them to Leah. I guess we're on the same page ..." she added with a giggle.

"You gave them to Leah?" Scott asked, clearly surprised.

Jessica nodded, "And the rest of the cream too. Scott, you should tell Corey to maybe help her out a little. She's never ... ever had an orgasm. She's really shy about the whole thing and honestly I'm not sure she'll even read any of the magazines or use the cream without a bit of persuasion."

"Persuasion ..." Scott repeated, taking the toilet paper from Jessica and proceeding to wipe her when it became obvious that it was awkward for her to wipe herself. "Do you mean the same kind of persuasion I used on you?" he asked as he worked her track pants back up.

"Well, yeah." Jessica said when Scott straightened and stood looking down at her. "What other kind would there be? Are you okay?" she asked when Scott winced.

"Jess. Do you think that you'd have ever enjoyed sex as much as you do now if I hadn't ... persuaded you into it?"

Jessica did a double take. "Probably not." She said with a smile, "I don't think I'd ever have even considered going there without you. That's why you're the best." She said smiling and leaning in to kiss him.

"The best?" Scott demanded, taking Jessica by the arms and stopping her from kissing him. "The best?" he repeated when Jessica continued to smile at him.

"Yeah. Of course. Why, you don't think so?"

"No I don't think so. Jessica I made you into a sex slave ... out of pure greediness. I hardly think that makes me the best."

Jessica searched his face for a minute. "Scott. You made me a slave to sex, and with the exception of a few frustrating moments when I can't freely indulge in it, I love it. So, you are the best."

Scott shook his head and stopped her from kissing him again, "Without that, maybe you wouldn't love us. They say sex can be an addiction ... which means it's a drug of some sort. I've basically drugged you into staying with us."

Jessica took a step back and really looked at Scott. "You know. You could be right. Maybe you did. But I don't really care. I love you, I love the other guys, and I love sex. And you know ..." she added when Scott looked like he'd protest, "there is another way of looking at this. Maybe I would never have done the things we've done in an alternate life. But maybe that just means that I would have been too ignorant or scared to do something that brings so much enjoyment to my life. And never mind sex itself, but look at the relationships we have. I'm closer to you and the men than I've ever been to anyone in my life. And without the intimacy of sex I may never have been."

"Jess ..." Scott said, not completely won over by her argument but seeming to consider its merits.

"I mean look at Leah. Yesterday she was all gaga over Corey. The world revolved around him. He could do no wrong and he was going to make her first sexual experience the best thing since sliced bread. Then last night happened. Scott, she has never masturbated before much less fantasized. You know, Corey asked her what she liked and she had no clue. And then when he asked her to ... you know, do what he liked, she was totally disgusted. The whole thing ended badly and now, even with the books in hand, I doubt anything will change. Leah is too scared, too shy, and too prudish to really consider what sex could do for her. And Scott, she still loves Corey or I'd never suggest this, but unless Corey 'persuades' her into it I don't think things will be salvageable between them."

"Really?"

"Really. I don't think it would have been for us either."

"Shit." He said, the meaning behind her words hitting him hard. "But Jess, how is that different from rape?"

"How?" Jessica demanded, looking at him like he was completely clueless. "Scott, you didn't rape me. At least not when we started looking at the books." She added when he began to argue.

"But I touched you places that you otherwise wouldn't have wanted to be touched. I forced that cream on you ..."

"Yeah. That was embarrassing and uncomfortable ... at first." She added when Scott looked like he was going to curl up and die. "But it was a necessary evil. You didn't lay a hand on me afterwards until I asked you to. Just like you promised."

"True." Scott said, "But you were stuck here. Stuck with me. You had no options, like Leah does. Now. Now you can open the door and walk out ... just like Leah can. Given that option you never would have gotten to this." He said waving his hands up and down her body.

"You're right I wouldn't have." Jessica said, "But that would have been a shame. I'm a slave to sex, and your sex slave and I love it. Just like I love you and the other men. But like my dad always said, 'it is what it is', and I'm where I want to be. And very happy about it. And as Leah's friend I would like her to enjoy this part of life too. But, " Jessica said shrugging her good shoulder, "I can't get her there. Only Corey can. With your advice. And you know what? If you don't let me go back to the movie I'm going to cave to my primal urges and jump you right now. And then I'll have broken a promise to the other men. And that would make me feel bad. You wouldn't want to be responsible for that, would you?"

Scott looked Jessica over. She was smiling but definitely looked horny.

"Okay ... okay. I'll see what I can do with Corey." He said scooping Jessica up and heading back to the living room, "But you better really mean what you said about sex cause tonight you're going to get more than any one woman can be expected to survive."

"I can hardly wait." She whispered in his ear before he lowered her to the sofa. He stood up, looked at her as if he'd pick her up again, but then he shook his head and walked away.

Jessica watched him walk over to Corey who was standing by the front door.

Scott said a few words to him and pointed his thumb toward Jessica. Corey's head snapped up and he looked past Scott at Jessica. He looked surprised and when Scott said something else he reached for the door. Scott followed him out. Five minutes later Scott came back in. Jessica had been unable to get back into the movie, waiting for Scott to return. Scott smiled and gave her the thumbs up before heading to the table to play cards.

The rest of the night went by quickly and somehow everyone retired for the night by eleven o'clock. Jessica suspected that they may have been helped along by the men but she hadn't seen any evidence of it. By about nine or ten o'clock Jessica was wound up so tight with sexual tension and anticipation she could barely stand it. Jim had helped her to the bathroom and brushing her teeth, looking in the mirror, she realized how crazed she looked. Maybe that was what ended the night early. It was possible. Not only did she look slightly insane but she may have been a little curt with people toward the end. She should have been ashamed of herself but she was so wound up, her body so taught with the strain of controlling herself that she was shaking. Her body vibrated as she rinsed her toothbrush off and lent on the sink.

"Your shaking." Jim said. He'd pressed up against her, melded his body with hers but now he stepped back and stared at her in the mirror. "Are you okay."

She looked back at him and smiled, "I may be just a little bit too eager."

"Oh, is that it?" he asked relaxing and rubbing his hand along her arm.

"Okay Jim, we have to get out of here. Now."

"Okay." He said with a toothy grin and moved to pick her up.

"No ... no." she side stepped him, "Close contact will just make it worse. I think I can walk."

"Really ... okay. Let's go." He said moving to take her arm but then he put his hands up in surrender and backed away when Jessica shook her head vigorously.

Jessica took a few wobbly steps and was pretty happy with how her legs were feeling.

"I just have to make it back to the living room." She said as she made her way down the hallway, Jim patiently walking behind her, ready to catch her if she fell. "And then you won't be able to get me off of you ... for the rest of the night."

"I can hardly wait." Jim chuckled.

"Did you get the condoms?" she asked trying not to notice how close he was behind her. She could feel his breath on her ear when he laughed a low, guttural laugh.

"You bet I did." He growled, "Bought tons. Had to have a frickin' fork lift to bring them in from the car."

Jessica stopped by the sofa. Jim less than an inch away from Jessica stopped too and stood staring at the side of her head with such intensity Jessica sensed it. She could feel the heat from his body. And the other men had set up the mattresses, pillows and blankets. The lights were turned down and several candles flickered around the room. They stood spread out around the mattress, muscles coiled toward her, breathing rapid but otherwise stock still and staring at her. Jessica thought she was going to explode and she was just about to lean back against Jim, seek him out with her mouth, when a thought occurred to her.

"Um ... I wish I hadn't thought of this but I have ..." she said closing her eyes and fervently hoping the answer would allow them to continue with the night.

"What. What did you think of?" Riley choked out.

"Can intercourse hurt the baby?"

"Nope." Jim grunted into her ear. "I looked it up ... when I was looking up the recipe for your drink. Intercourse is fine until the last month or so. And ..." he added, "Many doctors tell women that they can have a glass or two of wine a day while pregnant. You're okay on all counts."

"Not to mention." Scott added, "You may not even be pregnant."

"Well ... that's good." Jessica said. "Thank you."

"Anything else you've thought of?" Angus asked in a low growl.
"No. That's it." Jessica said.

They stood staring at each other.

Angus and Riley stood off to the Jessica's right almost near the dining room table.

Scott stood to the their left, Josh a few feet from him, directly in front of Jessica, closest to her. Jessica scanned them from right to left and ended on Josh. Being closest she could best make out his body straining toward her ... and his face. He was practically snarling in anticipation. Jessica sighed, and fell back against Jim. And then the frenzy began. Josh was on her first but only a second or so ahead of the others. Jim wrapped his arms around her torso, one under her good arm, the other over her bandaged chest. He lifted her up when Josh appeared between her legs, snaked his arms between them, reached up her butt to her waist band and pulled her pants off in one swift move. Riley and Scott were there to catch each leg and pull them back . No sooner were her legs parted than Josh dove face first into her very pink, wet and sensitive flesh between her legs. Pleasure shot through Jessica as he gnawed at her. Angus and Riley kissed, bit and pinched her thighs. Jim nipped her neck and ear, Scott kissed and tried to massage her breasts over the bandage. Jessica wanted the bandages gone and was about to tell them to take it off when Josh parted her butt cheeks and inserted both his thumbs in her asshole. Blinding pleasure shot through her. Jessica threw her head back and screamed. Over and over.

"Jesus ... I forgot about the screaming." Jim said after unsuccessfully trying to silence her by smothering her mouth with his lips and tongue.

"I didn't ..." Angus growled and after transferring her leg to Scott he kissed her hip and then kissed his way under her. Kissed her butt cheeks, parted them and licked and kissed her anus, Josh having removed his thumbs and turning his attention to lapping at her wet meat. Teasing her clitoris with his tongue and teeth, Jessica's twitching legs bringing him to orgasm. Angus was on the verge of cumming also and Jessica bucking when he inserted a couple of fingers into her anus and then screaming when he thrust his hand onto her pussy put him over the edge. Jessica reached out with her good hand and slid her hand down Scott's pants. She hadn't even reached his cock before he exploded.

"Why are you still dressed?" she asked Scott. "Why are any of you dressed?" she demanded. They took turns holding her up while they undressed.

"Better?" Riley asked, taking her leg back from Josh and rubbing it against his bare chest.

Jessica nodded, growing pleasure stealing her voice.

"Where're those condoms?" Josh demanded while rubbing her clitoris between his thumb and finger.

"Coffee table." Jim said.

"Don't stop." Angus told Josh, "I'll get them."

"Take it off." Jessica gasped when Scott shoved his head under her shirt and kissed her breasts over the bandages.

"Right." Jim agreed. "Josh, Angus, she's coming up."

"I got her." Riley said, supporting her lower back.

"Hi," Josh said when Jessica was face to face with him. In response Jessica lunged forward and locked lips with him. Their tongues caressed one another, Josh using his free hand to cup her head and press his mouth harder against hers.

"Shirt coming off." Scott said, pushing Josh and Jessica apart long enough to pull the shirt over her head.

"Condom ..." Angus said nudging Josh.

"Gotta get this on." Josh said against her lips, "and then I'm going to fuck your brains out."

"Hard?" she asked.

"You like it hard don't you? You want it hard, you dirty little slave."

"Yes," Jessica nearly shouted as she let herself fall back against Jim. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" She repeated about to lock lips with Jim when she realized that Riley and Scott were still rubbing and kissing her breasts over the bandage. "I'd meant that you should take the bandage off, not just my shirt." She said with a laugh.

"But your wound ..." Scott said running his hand on the bandage over the place where her wound was.

"It'll be fine." Jessica said.

"Won't it hurt?" Riley asked.

"I don't care if it does." Jessica grumbled getting impatient. "I want my breasts in your mouths. You need to pull my nipples ... hurry up and take it off!"

Scott and Riley needed no more persuasion. A minute of frenzied pulling and unwrapping Jessica's breasts popped free and found themselves taken whole into Scott and Riley's mouths. Jessica sighed and locked lips with Jim.

"Ready?" Josh asked Angus.

"Ready. She's gotta come up now." Angus said.

Jessica was pushed up between Josh and Angus.

"Holy shit you're ready ... " Josh said while he and Angus pushed into Jessica.

"Oh shit yeah ..." Angus agreed, biting the side of her neck as he thrust into her anus. Riley clutched her right breast in his fist, took the nipple in his teeth and pulled, Scott squeezed, and pulled her left breast, tugging on her nipple with his other hand. Jessica wrapped her legs around Josh, threw her head back and screamed.

"Christ, Abe and them are going to come running if you keep this up." Jim said and he shoved his thumb into her mouth, "Suck on this Jess ... pretend it's my cock." Jessica wrapped her lips around his thumb, locked eyes with Jim who shoved it down her throat. "Uhh." Jim moaned as he came.

Josh and Angus thrust and thrust. Jessica loved it and was surprised they were lasting as long as they were.

"Need a little help?" Riley asked Josh, and a second later slapped Jessica ass.

"Oh yeah ..." Josh said, and Riley slapped it again and both Josh and Angus came.

"Did I hurt you?" Riley asked, rubbing her bum cheek as Josh and Angus pulled out of her.

"No. I liked it."

"Jim, you suited up?" Angus asked, handing Jessica to him when he nodded.

"Go ahead Riley." Scott said, "I'll be next."

"Don't mind if I do." Riley said taking Jessica from Josh.

"You're so wet ..." Riley mumbled, stroking her meat before finding her hole with the head of his cock.

"And Jess, you can scream all you want." Scott said, "I warned all of them to ignore anything they hear out here tonight."

"I ... I couldn't stop even if I wanted to." Jessica said, gasping as Riley and Jim worked their way into her. "Scott ... my left hand ... your cock. I can stroke you off. Angus or Josh you can try my right hand. Not sure how much pressure I'll be able to use but ... try."

For a second Jessica thought Scott and Josh would refuse because her commands were not slave like but soon she felt their hard and vibrating cocks slide into her hands. Scott moaned as her left hand stroked hard and firm but Josh had to wrap his hand around her right to apply more pressure.

Josh and Scott came in minutes but Jim and Riley were still thrusting. Angus had slid his hands between Jessica and Riley and kneaded her breasts. Pleasure shot through her and she cried out when she came. As the pleasure tapered out to a constant warm tingling Jessica watched Riley's face as he continued to thrust. Those condoms were a problem. She could tell. It never took the men this long to come. And even though Angus had cum, his cock was hard almost instantly afterwards. She was going to have to make up for the lack of intercourse pleasure in other ways, and she could hardly wait. But first to get Jim and Riley off.

"Spank me." She said to Scott. "Like Riley did ... hard." She said when Scott cocked an eyebrow at her.

"My pleasure." Scott said with a toothy grin and a moment later skin cracked against skin and Jessica jumped, sufficiently contracting her pussy and anus to penetrate the desensitization effects of the condoms. Riley and Jim came. For a moment Jessica pressed her forehead on Riley's shoulder, Riley kissing the side of her head, Jim kissing the back of her neck as they caught their breathes.

Scott began pulling her nipples harder. Jessica slid her hand lower and her suspicions were confirmed, he was hard again. Come to think of it, Riley and Jim didn't feel completely soft inside of her, and judging by the looks on Josh and Angus' faces they were more than ready to go again.

"Turn me over." Jessica said while kissing Riley.

"Hmmm?" Riley asked, nipping her lower lip and flicking her tongue with his.

Jessica ran her fingers through his hair, and leaned back to rub her head against Jim's chest.

"Pass me a condom." Scott said to Angus.

"No wait." Jessica said. Pushing up from Jim she patted Riley's head. "Turn me over, quick."

Riley shrugged his shoulders when Jim looked at him in confusion. "Let's turn her over." Riley said.

Jessica was turned over to hover above the floor. Riley was holding her hips and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Jim was holding her by her armpits. Jessica wasted no time grabbing Scott by his cock.

"Whoa!" Scott exclaimed, "Now that's not slave like at all." He added when Jessica all but swallowed his cock but he didn't argue or try to stop her when her mouth worked its magic on his shaft.

"Not slave like at all." Angus agreed when Jessica took his cock in her right hand.

"You have to help her out a little." Josh said to Angus, holding his hand up to demonstrate holding a cock and stroking, "She doesn't have all her strength back yet."

Angus nodded and wrapped his hand over hers and sighed with pleasure.

"May ... maybe ..." Jim began, losing his concentration when Jessica took his cock in her left hand in a no nonsense manner and began stroking. In seconds they all came. Including Jessica. Angus had reached around with his free hand and stroked her clitoris, sighing when his fingers swam in her juices.

"Enter her again." Angus said to Riley, "she's grinding."

"I need a new condom." Riley said.

"Wait." Jessica said having completed licking Scott's cock clean. "Can you put me down?"

No sooner had Jessica's knees hit the floor than she made her way closer to Riley, grabbed his now erect cock and took it in her mouth.

"Okay ... this is going way too far." Riley said, planting his hands on either side of Jessica's head but unable to bring himself to remove his cock from her mouth.

"What I meant to say earlier." Jim said, shaking his head when Jessica felt around with both her hands, found Josh and Scott's cocks and began stroking. "Is that we may be partly to blame for her ... overzealousness. I mean we did titillate her a lot earlier."

"Fine ..." Riley said throwing his head back, closing his eyes and enjoying the pleasure of shooting his cum into Jessica's mouth and feeling her frantic swallowing as she tried to keep up with his load. "We can skip the consequences this time but after this you've done enough." He patted her head while he stroked her hair and took the nodding of her head to be acquiescence. But no sooner was she done with him and Josh and Scott than she was sucking on Angus and yanking on Jim, cupping Scott's testicles when it became clear that he was too sensitive to be stroked again so soon.

"Wait ... stop, stop!" Riley said, starting to pull Jessica off of Angus but then he paused. "Do you want her to finish first?" he asked Angus. Despite himself Angus wanted her to finish. He nodded and neither Jim nor Scott insisted she stop either.

"Jessica, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Riley demanded when the men had cum and Jessica had completed cleaning Angus off.

"Loving you." Jessica said, her eyes locking onto Riley's now mostly erect cock.

"You're being a naughty slave Jessica. A real naughty slave!" Riley said, dropping to his knees in a move planned to avoid her grasping hand, but also to get her to stop and look at him. Riley grasped Jessica by the hair on the back of her head and forced her to look at him. The other men landed on their knees around her and Riley. Scott and Angus on either side of Jessica grabbed her arms so they couldn't move, Josh, next to Scott, knitted his fingers through her hair too. Jim, next to Angus landed a slap on her butt before grasping the back of her neck.

"Jessica, your pass on consequences is gone." Jim said, "You need to stop attacking us. When we let you go, you're going lay face down, legs apart and butt in the air and you will not touch us again unless we tell you to ... do you understand?"

"Jessica, Jessica!" Riley said, when she tried to reach for him again. She had a crazed look in her eye that had Riley beginning to worry.

"Is she okay?" Angus asked.

"I'll take the consequences ..." Jessica finally said.

"What?" Scott asked.

"Give me the consequences." Jessica said sliding her eyes over to Scott, unable to move her head, "If the point Jim made about you guys torturing me into a sexual frenzy, which I may add was a very good point, isn't sufficient to let me love you guys then I'll take the consequences."

"That's convenient Jessica." Josh said, "since we can't really give you consequences with our ... 'guest' here."

"I have a consequence that we could use." Jim said. "but it's pretty mean and it'll be just as hard on us as on her."

"I ... I," Jessica stammered surprised that the men would think she was trying to take advantage of the situation. "I didn't think of that ... that you couldn't give me the consequences. Honestly, I wouldn't do that. You know that ... don't you?"

"I didn't think you would." Angus said, "But the evidence is kind of stacked against you Jess."

"I ... I can explain. But could I sit up straight first? My neck is getting kinked."

"That depends." Riley said, "Can you keep your hands to yourself?"

Jessica nodded, "I promise."

The men let go of her and Jessica straightened. She followed Riley's eyes as he lowered them to where she'd placed her hands on his chest, rubbing.

"I'm not allowed to touch you at all?" Jessica asked, pulling her hands away from his chest and holding them in the air.

Riley stared at her for a minute, and then his eyes and expression softened.

"Of course you are." He said with a wink and he kissed her palms before placing them back on his chest, "Just keep them away from our goods."

Jessica slid further onto Riley's lap.

"I really don't understand." She said, looking around at the other men, over her shoulder at Josh and Jim. "I want to give you pleasure ... "

"You do give us pleasure Jess. By letting us give you pleasure." Jim said.

Jessica nodded, "But everything I've ever read or heard says that men like having their sexual partners use their hand and mouths on them. And I mean, really, really like it." She added looking around at the men. "And I know you like it. You get very ... excited. And now with the condoms ... intercourse doesn't seem quite as good as it used to be ..."

"Jess ..." Angus said taking her chin and turning her face to his, "you don't need to worry about that. If something isn't working we'll fix it." He came in close to her lips but rather than kiss her he moved his lips lightly back and forth over hers, and brought a hand up to her breast. Barely touching her he teased her nipple, and it responded as if he'd taken it and pulled. A soft moan escaped her as the other men brought their hands to her body and began stroking her. Most noticeably Riley, between her legs.

"Maybe you don't need to use the condoms." Jessica said beginning to lean back. Josh moved closer and she leaned back against him, spreading her legs more and pulsating her pussy against Riley's hand. "I mean getting pregnant doesn't seem as big a deal as it used to."

"Jessica!" Angus grumbled next to her.

She glanced at him and he looked exasperated. The other men equally so. Riley's eyes flashed with what looked like a cross between anger and defiance.

"Stay down." He said when Jessica moved to sit up. "We'll get you off first, talk after." And with a measured and frustratingly slow, deliberate pace Riley lowered his face between her legs. His eyes locked on hers as he did so. And when his tongue finally slid over her clit ... his teeth finally taking it between them, electricity shot through her. Riley slammed his fingers into her pussy causing her to arch ... thrusting her breasts harder into Scott and Angus' mouths. As Riley tapped on her g spot she felt Jim working his fingers into her anus and it took all her self-control to not bite Josh's thumb off when he shoved it into her mouth. Seconds later Jessica screamed when a blinding jolt of pleasure shot through her. She tried to stifle her screams by wrapping her lips around Josh's thumb but it didn't work. Jessica writhed, the men counter writhed, and after a couple of intense minutes they quieted, slowing in to small leisurely stretches. Jessica was practically meowing while Josh circled her lips with his thumb. Scott and Angus toyed with her nipples, earning extra gasps from her as they nipped and pulled the nipples to their zenith. Jim stroked her anus, dipping the tip of his thumb into it intermittently and Riley lifted his completely drenched face and chuckled a deep, throaty laugh as he ran his hand over his lips.

"Now that gives us pleasure ..." he grunted. He placed the palm of his other hand on her pussy and pressed. Slid it down, down her inner thigh, and then brought it back.

"And clearly it gives you pleasure too." Scott said.

"It does." She agreed fighting to catch her breath.

"And before you start talking about condoms and babies again let me tell you about two things that are going to happen." Riley said. "First ..." he said leaning down to kiss her inner thigh ... up high, an inch from her pussy causing a shiver of anticipation to ripple through Jessica. "we're going to get better. All of us will heal and get back in shape so we can defend ourselves. And once we can, we're going to get the hell out of the clan. We're going to get so far away that this life ... the killing, the terrorism, will be a distant and un-recallable dream. And the second thing that will happen ... hopefully at pretty much the same time, is that we will prove to you that we can treat you equally. And with respect. And hopefully ... not now, not soon, but maybe in a month or two, you will feel like we're the kind of husbands that you can be happy with and you'll agree to be our wife. Our real wife. Legally. And kids. Well, we can talk about kids later. Way later. We need to concentrate on us for a long, long, time."

"So the condoms stay." Angus said when Riley seemed to lose his train of thought. Jessica was beaming at him ... at them, each in turn.

"You seem pretty happy with the plan." Scott said, pleased.

"I am. And once I'm your wife, will I be allowed to please you then?"

"No." Josh said, "Not the way you mean it."

Something in the way Josh spoke reminded her of the conversation she'd had with Scott earlier that day. When he'd felt guilty about forcing her to enjoy sex. Suddenly it all made sense. Jessica sat up and looked at Scott.

"Is that because you feel guilty? Guilty about making me enjoy sex?" she asked him.

The other men looked back and forth between Jessica and Scott.

"No Jess, that's not why. Or at least not completely why. I'll explain later." He said to the men, "But right now we'd better figure out what consequence we're going to use for Jess because I get the feeling we'll need one or two tonight."

"What did you have Jim?" Angus asked and caught Jessica's wrist as she began to move it toward his fully erect manhood.

Jim shrugged as he slid his fingers between the lips of her pussy and stroked.

"I'm not real proud of this one." He said, increasing his stroke speed and pressure. Jessica began to pant. "What we do is get her all ready ... almost get her off, and then stop." He said removing his finger. Jessica snapped her head up and stared at Jim. He sat with his finger in the air.

"And then what?" Josh asked.

"Nothing. That's it. We leave her like that. She can't get herself off and we don't get her off ... she just ... suffers."
Jessica whimpered as the reality of what he was proposing sank in. She twisted back and forth.

"That is mean." Angus said.

"But apparently effective." Josh said as Jessica's writhing increased.

"Would that work Jess?" Riley asked, "Would you behave then?"

"No!" Jessica said. She lifted her head and leveled what was likely intended as a glare at the men but it failed miserably. She was pouting and looked like her feelings were hurt. Her eyes were watering.

"Jess, I'm sorry okay? It was just an idea. We never said we'd do it ..." Jim reaching out to caress her face. Jessica looked like she was torn between pulling away from his hand and throwing herself at him.

"Hold on, hold on." Scott said, caressing her arm. "I have an idea. A way to put a positive spin on things but also to meet the same purpose."

"Well?" Riley urged.

Scott laughed, "Jim man, I think you'd better finish her off first." He nodded his head at Jessica. "I'll tell you after."

"Gladly ..." Jim said wiggling his eyebrows at Jessica as he lowered his mouth to her pussy. Jessica sighed, leaned back and spread her legs eagerly. It didn't take long for Jessica to get her release and through it all she kept her hands safely on Jimmy's head, running her fingers through his hair.

Jim kissed his way up her body until he was on his elbows looking down at her.

"Better?" he asked pecking her lips.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Did you really think I'd just leave you like that?" Jim asked.

"You looked serious." Jessica said.

"Well, I wasn't. Not completely anyway."

"I'm glad. So Scott, what's your idea?" She asked trying to look around Jim to see Scott.

Jim sighed, "One track mind ..." he muttered but sat up pulling Jessica up with him.

"Okay. So rather than consequences, Jessica can earn time to do whatever she wants to us."

"Earn it ..." Angus repeated, looking even more concerned when Jessica squealed with joy and clapped her hands.

"Earn it how?" Josh asked.

"Well, I haven't thought it all the way through but basically Jessica has to do whatever we say while we ravage her and if she's successful she gets to go at us."

"For example ..." Riley said.

"For example," Scott said reaching out to stroke Jessica's clitoris. She was still sensitive and her legs jerked. Scott tilted his head, stroked her again and watched her legs when they jerked. "Jessica, uncross your legs and spread them about shoulder length. Josh put your hand by her right ankle, Riley put yours by her left." Scott nodded when they'd placed their hands, and he stroked her again. Jessica's feet slid over Riley and Josh's hands in a knee jerk reaction. "Spread your legs again, further this time. That's good, guys put your hand down again. Okay. It can get more complicated as we go but for now, in order for you to earn a go at us Jessica, I'm going to stroke you to orgasm. You have to keep your legs spread, exactly this wide through the whole thing. The second your feet touch or pass Josh or Riley's hands, you've lost the privilege."

"But I can try again?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, but not right away. Maybe you get one try every hour or something. That ought to pace you ..." and he chuckled when Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. "So we can keep up babe." He added with a wink. "You ready?"

Scott stroked her after she nodded and her legs jerked past Riley and Josh's hands.

"You can try again in an hour." Angus said in a tone that made it clear that he really liked Scott's plan.

"Okay," Jessica said putting her hands on her hips and looking as dignified as she could in her current situation, "What time is it?"

"One o'clock." Angus replied after checking the clock on the TV.

"We should probably not stay up too late." Riley said, "Abe said the physiotherapists would be here in the morning."

"Two o'clock isn't that late is it?" Jessica asked in an incredibly sweet voice, batting her eyelashes at Riley.

"No smarty pants it's not that late. Okay, hardy har har ..." he said when Jessica broke into a laughing fit, "so you're not wearing pants ... very funny ..." he continued. But when Jessica didn't stop laughing it was his turn to put his hands on his hips and pretend to be angry. The other men were beginning to crack grins and chuckle and it took all of Riley's self-control to keep from doing the same. "So what position did Jim say he wanted you in? Face down, legs apart and butt in the air? You have two seconds to get there. One ... two." He finished just as Jessica scrambled off of Jim's lap, around the limbs of the other men and planted herself on the floor, her legs spread, her butt facing Riley. "We have an hour to tire you out. Let's see how spunky you feel at two o'clock after an hour long sexathon."

Jessica sighed as Riley parted her butt cheeks and shoved his face between them, sticking his tongue in her asshole. Jim's fingers worked through her sparse pussy hair and lips to find her hole and slide a couple of fingers into her. Scott and Angus slid their head under her chest and began to suck, bite, pull her breasts. Josh knelt in front of her and lifted her chin so she was looking at him.

"Let's see how wide you can open your mouth." He said and stuck a finger in her mouth, and then another, and another. Pretty soon he had the tips of all his fingers in her mouth. "Now take them all in ... but don't move while you do. Your ass and pussy should be stock still for Riley and Jim ..." As he pressed his hand into her mouth the stimulation from the other men sent Jessica into a blinding orgasm. She screamed around Josh's fingers. "I think I found a way to keep her quiet." Josh's said, "Let's try this again."

True to their word over the next hour the men relentlessly brought Jessica to orgasm. By two o'clock she was visibly exhausted but when asked if she wanted to try and earn the chance to stimulate them to orgasm with her hands and mouth again, she said yes. Given how tired she was, plus the fact that they all really wanted her to suck and jerk them off, the men made the test easier and she passed it without trouble. For half an hour she'd serviced all of them and then they'd fallen into a tangled mess of body parts and passed out. Jessica woke up and smiled. She felt so relaxed, so spent, so happy. She had no idea what time it was. Lifting her head she found herself sandwiched between Riley and Josh, her head resting on Josh's arm. Jim had his head resting against her butt, Scott laying just below him, his face pressed up against the back of her legs. Angus had his legs intertwined with hers, his head in the opposite position to hers.

She looked at the ceiling and wondered how the men intended to get away from the clan. Aside from the physical pleasures they'd had together, Riley's statements about leaving the clan and treating her like her father had treated her mother, gave Jessica incredible joy. She was certain that once they left the clan, life could be whatever they wanted it to be. But then Jessica realized that maybe it could be whatever she wanted it to be because she'd have everything she needed, everyone she loved. But what about the men? All they'd have was her ... which of course they'd say was enough, but seeing them with Corey, Sean, Chris and the others Jessica knew better. They needed their friends too. She knew that leaving the clan would be tricky enough but she had to find a way for them to leave the clan with their friends. But how? While Jessica had been contemplating this she'd been marginally aware of some movement around her but it wasn't until Riley's hand brushed her cheek that she realized the men were awake.

"What are you thinking about?" Riley asked.

"Hmmm?"

"You look pretty serious. What are you thinking about?"

"When we leave the clan. Do you know how we'll do it yet?"

"No, not really." Riley answered.

"You know what we should do?" Jessica asked, enjoying the kisses and gentle rubbing that Jim and Scott were applying to her butt and legs. Angus was rubbing his foot on her abdomen. Josh hugged her closer, and Jessica traced Riley's chest muscles with her finger.

"What?" Riley asked.

"We should take Corey, Sean and the others with us."

All movement stopped.

"Ah, why?" Angus asked, sitting up.

"Because you guys are a family. You and Sean's clan ... you started off as one clan, didn't you?"

"That doesn't mean anything." Scott said, sitting up too.

"Yes it does. I can see how much you missed them. I've cost you a lot of things. Here's a chance to get some of them back. They missed you too. You have to be able to see that. Leah, Sara, Justine, Amanda and ... Beth ... I really like them. We could be a family. A big happy family. We could go somewhere where we could still have a farm. We can keep raising horses, dogs, fixing cars, all of that, and just be happy. You can be happy again."

"Really?" Josh groaned ... "Really?" he asked pushing up on his elbow to look down at Jessica.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked, completely confused by the pained look on Josh's face. She looked at the other men as small groans and muttered oaths escaped them.

"You're killing me here, you know that don't you?" Jim demanded.

"I don't understand ..."

"Unbelievable ..." Riley muttered.

"Unfucking believable ..." Angus added.

"So this is really what you're worrying about Jess? About how to make our lives happier?" Josh demanded.

"How is that a bad thing?" Jessica asked, completely bewildered.

"And through all of this have you given any consideration as to what would make you happy?" Angus asked.

"Yes." Jessica replied, struggling to sit up. Josh and Riley took an arm each and helped her up.

"Making us happy doesn't count." Jim said pointing a finger at her.

"Do tell." Scott said when Jessica nodded agreement.

"Well, I'd like to continue with a lot of stuff I've been doing here ... training the dogs, singing, racing cars and I'd really love to finally get to race Ebony. But most of all, I'd like to go to university."

"University." Angus choked out when no one else said anything.

Jessica nodded. "I'd have to finish high school though. I never did finish grade twelve so I'd have to redo it too. But after that I want to go to university."

Jessica looked at her hands when no one said anything.

"What would you take?" Jim asked when it became clear that she'd been serious and that she was not sure how to react to the silence. She'd peeked glances at the men but couldn't read their expressions.

"Law." She said, a dazzling smile on her face. She hadn't had the sense that the men would not allow her to go to university but she was relieved when Jim seemed to accept the idea. Her smile drooped a little when the men looked like they were choking on their tongues.

"L ... L ...Law?" Riley sputtered.

"Why law?" Josh asked.

"Well, just because you and the clan chose a not so favorable way to voice your opinions about the government and the laws they make doesn't mean that you don't have valid points. Changing laws in court may not be as quick and satisfying as you may like it to be, but it works. And no one gets hurt. And you don't have to be fugitives from the law. "

"So you would be our ... lawyer?" Scott asked in a tentative tone.

"Yup. The real power is in government though. But most politicians start off as lawyers anyway."

"Law school ..." Riley whispered.

"Oh, I know it's expensive." Jessica said, misinterpreting his expression. She pushed up onto her knees. "I'd find a way to pay for it. I'm sure I could make money racing, fixing cars, singing ..."

"No. No way. Cost isn't the issue. If you want to go to law school, we'll pay for it Jess. It's just that ..." Riley paused not sure what he wanted to say or how to say it.

"I can do it. I know I can." Jessica said. "I know it's hard. But I don't mind working hard ... studying. I promise it won't be a waste of money ..."

"Of course you can do it." Angus thundered, "Christ Jess, you're the smartest person I know. It's not that."

"But Jess," Josh said, "The likelihood of us being able to send you to law school is about as likely as us sending you to the moon. And not because we don't want to ..." he added quickly, " If that's what you want, that's what we want, but Jess right now there's no good way for us to get out of the clan."

"Honestly Jess, I don't know if we can get Sean and the others to let us leave the clan much less come with us." Riley said, "And if we run away, we'll be living on the run. Which means we may not have the dogs, horses, farm ... none of it. I just don't want to get your hopes up."

Jessica nodded. "I know. Too many things have to go right." She chewed on her bottom lip while she contemplated the options. "Maybe we could fake our deaths?" she suggested looking up.

"That's not a bad idea." Jim said.

"Not bad at all." Josh agreed.

"It would be pretty hard to do if we plan to take Sean and the others with us. The more people to 'kill' off the harder it gets." Angus said, "Plus we couldn't take the animals with us."

"And even if we could get away, there is the minor issue of us being enemies of the state." Riley said, "You couldn't represent us in court much less parliament without us all being arrested and put in front of the firing squad."

"So ..." Jessica said seeming to look inward, "enemies of the state. That's not good, we have to make you the opposite ... not enemies ... and not friends either ... acquaintances. The state needs to tolerate you ... that's it!" she said her head snapping up, "We have to get you a pardon." Jessica said clearly excited.

"A pardon?" Scott asked, "How?"

"I have no idea." Jessica said in the same cheery and excited tone she'd just used. "But it doesn't matter. We have lots of time to figure it out. I have a year of high school to do, four years of university undergraduate and then law school. It'll be forever before I could even begin to represent you in court. We'll figure it out. But a good first step is to ask Sean and the others if they want to come with us."

The men were looking at Jessica with stunned expressions.

"Fuck Jess." Riley said running his hand through his hair, "I feel like I've just been hit over the head by a two by four."

"Oh. Sorry." Jessica said reaching up to rub his head.

"It's just a lot to process." Riley said.

"I'll say ..." Angus muttered.

"Look I haven't thought of a good way to talk to Sean or Corey about us wanting out of the clan. If they tell Paul what we're planning ..." Riley said.

"We're up shit creek." Josh said.

"When I figure out how to talk to them about it, I'll ask them to come with us. Okay?" Riley asked.

"Perfect." Jessica said.

"And Jess. You don't have to wait till we leave the clan to finish high school." Jim said and chuckled when she looked completely confused. "The curriculum is available on line. You can study on your own, take the standard tests and get credits."

"How .. how?" Jessica stuttered.

"Did I know that? We were home schooled for a bit." Jim said with a laugh. "A failed attempt to keep the 'man' at bay. I'll get you the books tomorrow and you can start right away."

Jessica clapped her hands, squealed, hugged Jim and then bounced up and down clapping her hands in pure excitement.

"It's practically four AM." Angus said glancing at the clock on the TV but then bringing his eyes back to Jessica's bouncing breasts. "I don't know about you, but Jess I want to fuck you again. At least once, and then get some shut eye. Tomorrow's going to be a bitch without some sleep."

"Okay." Jessica said, more than game. She lay back put her hands above her head and bent and spread her legs, "Is this okay?"

Her answer was Angus diving head first into her pussy, and the other men devouring all of her available erogenous zones. She sighed with contentment ... she'd never been so happy.

**********************************************************

"Sorry." Chris said when Scott rubbed his eyes and looked around. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"What time is it?" Scott asked. Chris and Sara sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and observing the bodies on the mattresses.

The other men were beginning to wake up also. Only Jessica remained passed out on the mattress, pressed between Angus and Jim. She'd obviously gotten hot because she'd shoved the blankets away. Scott was glad that the men had insisted that she put her pajamas back on before they went to sleep. And equally glad that Jessica had showered before putting them on. Chris and Sara were observing her pretty closely. Last thing they'd need was for her to be was butt naked with their seed all over her for all to see.

"Eleven." Chris said.

"What the fuck?" Scott bellowed. "Shit," he said lowering his voice and glad to see that Jessica hadn't moved an inch, "When are the physiotherapists coming?" he asked throwing back the blanket. Turned out it was a good thing they'd all put at least their underwear back on. Sara politely averted her eyes as he stood, hunted down his pants and pulled them on.

"After lunch. Abe figured that you'd need your rest this morning and called to reschedule." Chris said, a big goofy smile spreading across his face when Scott looked up at him.

"Shit." Scott hissed under his breath. "You heard everything last night didn't you?' he asked. Sara's pink cheeks and averted eyes would have confirmed Scott's suspicions but Chris sprung out of his chair and clasped Scott's hand in a two handed handshake.

"You better fucking believe it." He said pumping Scott's hands, "You're my new fucking heroes. All of you, especially Jessica ... holy shit, that was incredible ..."

"You keep that to yourself." Angus grumbled, kissing Jessica's head before extricating his arm from under it and crawling out of bed, "Don't go embarrassing Jessica okay?"

"No worries, no worries." Chris said glancing around as the men all got up, "But what's to be embarrassed about? I mean, Scott man, you warned us but nothing could have prepared us for ... that. I haven't witnessed such raw, animal sex before ... ever."

Jessica groaned and brought her hands to cover her face.

"Knock it off man." Josh said and punched Chris in the arm.

"No Josh ... it's okay." Jessica said when he looked like he was going to slug him but in the face this time. "We had to expect that they'd hear everything. It's only logical."

"See? See?" Chris said pointing his finger at Jessica and looking around at the men with that goofy grin again, "She's the bomb man ... the best. You have no idea how lucky you are ... Christ."

"We do know how lucky we are ..." Jim said, "and really, cut it out. You're embarrassing Jessica. You okay babe?" he asked pulling Jessica into his embrace when she stumbled across the mattress, cheeks flaming red. He pulled her face into his chest and kissed her the top of her head.

"I'm fine." She mumbled against his chest, "Really."

"Okay, I'm sorry Jess, forget I said anything." Chris said, "But what do you want for breakfast? We made eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes ... They're in the oven keeping warm. The girls had no idea what your favorite is ... but we kind of figured that after the night you had you may eat it all. Oh and toast and coffee. Here," he said pulling a chair out from under that table, "Take a seat. I'll get it for you."

The men froze in place. Jessica felt Jim's body go rigid against her.

"Chris, I think you need to shut the fuck up." Riley growled.

Jessica peeked out from Jim's chest and took a good look at Chris, and Sara. Nothing in Chris' expression or demeanor indicated that he was trying to be rude. He looked truly in awe. And Sara looked ... baffled.

"No it's okay Riley." Jessica said, straightening in Jim's arms, "I'll take a bit of everything, thanks."

"Coffee too? Have a seat." Chris indicated the chair he'd pulled out and moved into the kitchen, Sara trailing after him.
"Apparently Chris has no tact." Riley grumbled.

"I'm going to kick his ass." Angus added as the men moved closer to Jessica, "He doesn't need to be so fucking crude."

"No, really, it's okay. I really don't mind, and besides what can we expect? There was no way they wouldn't have heard us."

"Sorry Jess. We should have known ... should have planned things better." Jim said.

Jessica smiled. "What planning?" she asked and ran her hand up and down Jim's chest, "Besides, I'm just as much to blame. I mean, I couldn't keep them in your pants ..." she said eyeing the men's crotches. "Besides. If we're going to take them with us ... we have to get used to being more personal with them than we're used to."

"You're really serious about that?" Riley asked.

Jessica nodded and moved into Riley's arms. "I am." She said pecking his lips.

"But you are embarrassed." Josh said stroking her cheek.

Jessica tilted her face into Josh's hand and kissed it, "I can't control what my face does." She said, "But I'm honestly okay. Are you embarrassed?" Jessica asked suddenly realizing that it wasn't all about her. "Oh my God, if it bothers you then I'm sorry ... I didn't think of that."

"Jess, Jess." Scott said, "We're not embarrassed. But thanks for worrying about us."

"Here you go Jess." Chris said sitting a plate piled high with food onto the table, "Guys, you want some too?"

"Yeah, sure." Scott said, his stomach growling at the sight of the food. Taking Jessica's hand he led her to the chair and pushed her and her chair in to the table. "I love you." He said kissing the top of her head before pulling the chair next to her out and seating himself. The other men followed but got interrupted part way to sitting when the front door opened and Don, Rick, Stan, Sean, Caleb and Mark came in followed by Abe, Amanda and Justine.

"You're back!" Jim said, moving to shake their hands. The other men followed.

"You too!" they said to Caleb, shaking his hand also.

"Yeah, I hear you had some excitement while I was gone." Caleb said, eyeing Abe and Rick in a less than enthusiastic way.

Jessica took a bite of her food and followed the men into the living room, smiling at the excitement the return of the men's friends generated in the room. She felt it too, especially since the mission had been successful.

"Jessica, I think you met Caleb before, right?" Riley asked pulling Jessica forward, into his embrace and waving a hand at Caleb.

"Yes, at the campfire." Jessica said.

Caleb nodded at Jessica and there was something about the way he looked at her that caused the men to look at each other in disbelief. Looking at the others, Mark, Stan, Sean, Don, Rick, Amanda and Justine the men were caught off guard. They all knew about the sex they'd had the previous night. It was obvious. They weren't lurid about it. In fact, they looked as impressed with Jessica as Chris and Sara had been, but they knew. How, the men couldn't figure out.

"Angus wait." Jim said when Angus clearly looked pissed off and opened his mouth to tell them off. Jim pointed his chin in Jessica's direction and shook his head. Angus looked at Jessica and realized that Jim was right. Jessica hadn't noticed that they knew. Angus nodded but didn't look very happy.

"Jess, you'd better go eat, before the physiotherapists show up." Angus said and went with her.

Jessica sat down and dug into the food, the whole time watching the commotion around her. Everyone was talking at once, congratulating Sean and the others for their work with the money transfer and the hide out, bringing Caleb up to speed on all that had happened since he was gone.

"Holy shit." Sean said when the subject of Tom had been discussed. It was evident that he was relieved that things were settled peacefully and it seemed like Abe's intervention was causing a shift in Sean attitude toward Abe. He looked at Abe with a less suspicious air. Even Caleb seemed to be less suspicious.

"Where are Corey and Leah?" Sean asked.

"Uhh. At home I think." Scott said.

"No. We just came from there. Beth said they were here."

"Oh. Well, they're not." Scott said.

Sean looked surprised and perplexed.

Scott saw Jessica's face go pale.

She looked at Scott and mouthed, 'where are they?'

Scott shrugged and mouthed, 'I don't know'. They both looked around at the other men who were scattered around the room except for Angus who sat next to Jessica. But they all shrugged too. Jessica returned to eating but she worried that Corey and Leah didn't know Sean was back.

She leaned in to Angus and whispered, "I don't think Leah and Corey know Sean's home."

"I know." Angus whispered back. "I just texted Corey to let him know." He said showing his cell phone to Jessica.

"Thank you." Jessica said with relief kissing his cheek and then leaning against him when he drooped his arm around her. "You're the best."

Angus chuckled while sliding his hand down her back to cup her butt cheek, "I beg to differ."

Jessica giggled and leaned her head against his chest. Looking up at him she said, "Corey is going to appreciate the heads up. You're a good friend."

"Hey." Josh said dropping into the chair next to Jessica. Jessica and Angus hadn't noticed the room clearing out. Scott, Jim and Riley surrounded the table. "Don't worry about Corey and Leah." Josh continued, "Jim texted Corey to let him know that Sean was back."

"Thanks Jim." Jessica said, "Angus did too."

"He did?" the men said almost in unison.

"Well, I guess great minds think alike." Jim said with a laugh trying to cover up the fact that he had been surprised.

All the men had been surprised. It was obvious. But Jessica hadn't been. She'd acted like she'd expected nothing less from him. Angus slid his hand over top of Jessica's where it lay on the table, laced his fingers between hers and squeezed. When Jessica looked up and smiled at him he leaned over and kissed the side of her head.

"The others have gone to do chores." Riley said, "I think I'm going to check on the dogs before the physiotherapists get here."

"We should check the horses." Scott said.

"Can I come?" Jessica asked, "It feels like forever since I've been out with the dogs and horses."

"Go get dressed, we'll wait." Riley said.

"I got it." Josh taking Jessica's plate from her when she turned to the kitchen with it.

"Thanks." She said pecking his lips and then hurrying down the hallway to the bathroom.

In the bathroom she rushed through brushing her teeth and impatiently dropped onto the toilet wanting nothing more to get out to see the animals. Bunching toilet paper in her hand she was about to wipe when she looked down at the underwear between her legs. For a moment all she could do was stare at the blood stain. Standing she wiped herself and then looked at the toilet paper. Blood again. She wasn't pregnant. Intense relief was followed by intense sadness. Jessica barely noticed as she sank back onto the toilet. She closed her eyes. She'd been so sure that she was pregnant. It seemed impossible that she wasn't and she was surprised to realize that in the back of her mind she'd already pictured some little person with the combined characteristics of all the men as part of their lives. And now suddenly that person wasn't going to exist. Jessica's eyes watered at the realization. A sense of urgency hurried Jessica off the toilet, to find a pad under the counter and to dress in Jim's room as quickly as she could. She needed to tell the men and she preferred to do it while they were alone. As she moved down the hallway she hoped none of their visitors had come back into the house. Her heart squeezed when she entered the living room. Riley was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, legs stretched before him, crossed at the ankles. Scott and Jim were leaning against the table in the same position as Riley was on the sofa. Angus and Josh were standing in between. They were all so relaxed, joking around.

"Great minds?" Angus was saying to Jim and laughing and then they noticed her and they all scrambled to their feet.

"Ready?" Jim asked, being closest to her he reached to put his arm around her shoulder but did a double take when he saw her face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Jessica snuggled into his side, wrapping her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"Jess?" Josh asked.

Jessica looked at Josh and then the other men.

"I got my period." She said and was relieved to see that the initial reactions of the men seemed to be relief too. Even Angus, who had the most reason to want a baby given that he'd already lost one that he'd thought was his.

"Well, that's good, right?" Jim asked, "I mean, we weren't ready yet anyway. We have rehab, plans to get out of the clan, you have school ... we wanted all of that to be done before we have kids, right?"

Jessica looked around at the other men and they were all nodding so she did too. Full relief flooded through her.

"That's better." Riley said when Jessica smiled. "You are relieved, right?"

"Yes. But I wasn't sure how you'd react, and, I guess I kind of believed that I was pregnant. I mean, how likely was it that I wasn't? I kind of got used to the idea so this was a surprise." Jessica looked at Angus. "Are you okay about this?"

Angus' mouth slid into a lopsided grin as he moved closer and cupped Jessica's cheek in his hand. "Never happier Jess. I'd rather plan our family than have it sprung on us. Are you okay now?"

Jessica nodded.

"I guess it must be the drugs and everything from the shooting but you obviously didn't feel any pain before your period began, none of the usual stuff right?" Scott asked.

Jessica shook her head. "None of the usual indicators."

"That's a good thing." Josh said, "I'd say you've suffered enough already."

"While we're alone." Riley said glancing at the door, "What was that thing last night about us feeling guilty about making you enjoy sex?"

"Well, you won't let me ... pleasure you. I was wondering why, that's all." Jessica said.

"And you think it's because we feel guilty about having sex with you?" Riley asked.

"Corey and Leah had a not so great first time the other night." Scott said, "Corey asked me how we got Jessica to enjoy sex. It occurred to me that had Jessica been in a position to say no to me or to leave I may not have been able to do what I did to get her to enjoy sex. So I feel guilty, yes."

"But ..." Jessica said when the men looked stunned for a moment and then upset. "I told Scott that while all of that may be true ... it got me, us, to where we are now and if I'd been allowed to submit to my embarrassment and fear I never would know myself as well as I do and I'd never enjoy sex with you as much as I do. There's no point in feeling guilty because I'm happy. In fact I urged Scott to tell Corey to help Leah along with her own discovery. I hope you know I wouldn't have done that if I thought that what happened to me was horrible."

The men stared at her in silence.

"Say something ... please." Jessica said when she couldn't stand the silence any more.

"I don't know what to do with that." Jim said when she looked from the other men to him.

"That's easy." Jessica said. "Forget it. Forget it all." She said looking back at the other men. "That was another life, lived by other people. Nothing about us now is remotely close to us then. Right? Right?" she asked again when no one said anything.

"Right." Angus said. "You're right. We are completely different people now. All of us." And he sounded completely shocked by the realization. "Okay, okay, me most of all." he acknowledged when everyone stared at him.

"So new beginning ... no guilt?" Scott said.

"Right ..." the other men agreed.

"But Jess, that's not really why we won't let you pleasure us." Jim said.

"Why then?" Jessica asked scanning the men, returning to Jim when no one replied.

"Jess. You tend to take things to the limit, beyond the limit. And there are five of us, one of you. We just want to limit how hard you work ... to pleasure us. And, I know you may count this is as not treating you equally but we can't let you do that."

"Do you understand?" Riley asked when Jessica didn't say anything.

"Yes. I do." Jessica said. "That's how I felt when you guys wanted to go with Sean to Daryl's safe house. I understand completely. But just so you know ... I really want to pleasure you ... more. Just in case you change your minds."

"We'll keep that in mind." Riley said. "We will ..." he added when Jessica didn't look like she believed him. "And um, I know you have your period and everything. But if we don't get out to the dogs and horses soon we're going to end up in a compromising position. Yes, apparently I'm a complete pervert." He added when Jessica looked completely surprised. "And that's one of the reasons there are limits on what you can do for us. So let's get the hell out of here."

Jessica took the hand that he held out to her and had to admit that at that moment she definitely was more interested in going out to see the animals than having sex.

"I've turned into a pervert." Jim mumbled, as he, Jessica still tucked under his arm, trailed behind Riley as he led Jessica out the front door.

"We all have." Jessica said with a laugh.

"I'm okay with that." Scott said once they were outside. "See you in a bit?" he asked as Jim kissed Jessica's head before letting her go and turning toward the barn, Jessica following Riley toward the dog kennel.

"Yup." Jessica said skipping alongside Riley.

"I think we may be sex addicts." Angus said while he, Jim, Scott and Josh watched Jessica and Riley leave.

"May be?" Josh asked.

"I've got a few things to do on my car ... I'll meet you at the barn in a bit too." Angus said, taking a step and then turning back to the men. "Should I be concerned that I don't get quite the same joy out of working on the car as I used to?" he asked.

"If it bothers you, I guess so." Jim said.

"It doesn't." Angus said, "Not at all."

"Then you're good." Jim said, "See yah."

Jessica and Riley had fed the dogs. Jessica brushed them and was particularly happy to see Baby and Max. When they'd finished at the kennel Jessica had brought Baby and Max with her and Riley to the barn. She stood now brushing Ebony. Everything felt so perfect. The sun was shining and she enjoyed it's warmth while the dogs ran around her and Ebony. Jim, Josh, and Scott were brushing other horses, Riley was filling the water troughs, and the visitors were scattered around the grounds busy with whatever other things needed to be done. Jessica felt like she was in heaven which made the expression on Angus' face when he rounded the corner of the barn feel like a punch to the stomach.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a panic. He looked upset, disgusted.

"Angus?" Riley asked when Angus looked behind him rather than answer.

"I ... I know what we sensed about Abe." He said and looked like he was going to vomit.

"What?" Jim asked.

"He's ... gay."

"What?" Scott demanded.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked.

Angus nodded his head, "I came out of the garage and caught Abe and Rick trying to lick each other's tonsils. I'm sure."

"Holy shit." Jim said.

"What did you do?" Riley asked.

"I backed the hell up and went around the other way to get here." Angus said.

"So they don't know that you know?" Jim asked.

Angus shook his head.

"Um ... does it matter that they're gay?" Jessica asked quietly. All the men looked completely disgusted which worried her.

The men looked at her, and then each other. Jessica was beginning to think they weren't going to answer but then Jim cleared his throat. "Does it matter to you?"

Suddenly Jessica realized that the men had never been in this situation before. They looked at her as if whatever came out of her mouth would point them in the right direction.

"No." she said. "There's nothing wrong with being gay."

"I don't understand how they can choose to fuck another man." Angus said with obvious revulsion.

"I don't think it's a choice." Jessica said, "Did you choose to have sex with women? I mean, what if it was normal to have sex with someone of the same sex and you felt like you do about women? Would that be your choice? Could you change who you wanted to have sex with just because society said so?"

"Ugh. No." Angus said with a shiver. The other men shook their heads.

"I don't think it's fair to judge them just because their preferences are different than yours. And there are a couple of upsides to this. The first ..." she added when the men looked at her with incredulous expressions, "is that you now know that Abe can't possibly like me 'that way'" she said using her fingers to put imaginary quotes around the words, "and secondly you now know what it was you were sensing about him."

"That's ... true." Josh said but didn't seem overly convinced that these positives overruled the overall feeling of disgust that came with the new knowledge about Abe and Rick.

"And why didn't we sense anything about Rick?" Angus asked and suddenly looked worried, "Does that mean we have some gay in us?" Angus' worry seemed to be turning into panic as he looked around at the other men, "I mean, we do get naked together."

"Do you want to have sex with any of us?" Jim asked in a tone that to Jessica's relief made it clear that he was exasperated with Angus' question.

"No!" Angus practically yelled.

"The only person you're interested in fucking is Jessica, right?" Scott asked.

Angus nodded vigorously.

"Congratulations then." Scott said, "You are definitely not gay."

"I bet Rick is the man in the relationship, and Abe the woman." Josh said, "That's probably why we didn't notice anything with Rick."

The other men nodded and looked both happy and relieved by that explanation.

"You're not going to treat Abe and Rick differently, now that you know are you?" Jessica asked, "I mean other than not being jealous every time Abe looks at me? Because you know ..." she continued when the men looked unreceptive to carrying on with business as usual around Abe and Rick, "where I come from our relationship ... " she said pointing her finger at Angus and then the other men before sweeping it to herself, "would be considered disgusting. I may have been only eighteen when you kidnapped me but I was old enough to know what people thought about girls who dated more than a handful of men in their lives much less more than one at the same time. If people knew about us they would ostracize me. Not you ... it seems that it was okay for men for some reason, but because I'm a girl I'd be considered to be lower than scum. Ironically, homosexuality was considered okay ... so I guess society and your clans have reversed what is normal. But anyway, I don't think you'd want people thinking and saying horrible things about me just because I love all of you. If you treat Abe and Rick differently just because they're gay, you'll be doing to them what my society would do to me. I don't think you want to do that."

As Jessica had continued speaking the expressions in the men's faces had gradually softened.

"If that's true, what are we going to do when we leave the clan and go back to your society?" Jim asked.

Jessica shrugged, "I don't really care what society says about me. I'm not saying it will be easy but I love you all and I don't intend to change our relationship for anyone. But I'm counting on a few folks to tolerate our situation. Be on our side. And I think that's what Abe and Rick need from us right now too."

"So, what do you want us to do?" Riley asked.

"Keep this to yourselves. It's up to Abe and Rick to tell people when they want to. And, remember what they've done for us. Treat them the same as you would if you didn't know this about them. Except ..." she added, her eyes landing on Angus, "for the hating part. I think you'll agree that there's no reason for you to hate Abe anymore."
Angus sighed. "Okay. I'll give it a shot. But I can't promise anything ... I've always had issues with fags ... homos." He added when Jessica cringed.

"Hey." Stan said rounding the corner of the barn, "Physiotherapists are here."

"Just leave everything." Don said appearing behind Stan, "We'll take care of it."

"Thanks." Scott said dropping his horse brush, taking Jessica's from her and handing it to Don, taking her hand and pulling her toward the house. "The sooner we get back in shape the sooner we can get on with our lives." He said as he, Jessica and the other men moved to the house.

"Amen." Riley said.

***************************************************************

"What the hell is going on!" Riley's voice thundered. Jessica looked up through tear streaked eyes to see the men stalking toward her. She heaved, and vomited, again.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" Angus boomed. Jessica shook her head, unable to speak as another wave of nausea forced another spray of puke to spew out of her mouth. Abe and one of the physiotherapists, Terry, had been crouched beside her but they stood and took a step back when Angus and Riley lunged toward them.

"Cool it!" Jessica heard Jay another physiotherapist say.

"Take it easy." Craig another physiotherapist added when Angus shoved Terry.

"Jess ... are you okay?" Scott asked dropping down in front of her. Jim and Josh on either side of him.

Jessica nodded vigorously.

"She's pushing herself way too hard." Abe said, "She won't stop."

Silence ensued as Jessica vomited again. She could feel Jim and Josh's hands rubbing her back. An hour earlier the doc had returned with Jay, Terry and Craig. Abe had suggested that he and Terry would work with Jessica separately from the men since her wounds were different then the men's and to everyone's surprise Angus had agreed without hesitation. So the men had gone with Rick, Craig and Jay to begin physiotherapy and Jessica had gone with Abe and Terry. They'd started off gently enough but with Jessica's desire to move things along faster combined with the news that Jessica was not in fact pregnant, the exercises had advanced to the point that Jessica was sweating profusely and at times seeing stars. Abe and Rick had tried to get her to stop but Jessica had assured them she was fine. But then her own body turned on her.

"Jess." Scott said while she dry heaved, "When I made the comment about getting back into shape faster I didn't mean this. You can't get back into shape in one day. None of us can."

"I'm fine. Really." Jessica said sitting up and wiping her eyes and her mouth with her hand.

"Here." Josh said pulling his shirt off and handing it to her.

"Thanks. I'm not over doing it Scott. Honest. My stomach is just upset, I think I ate too much."

"You should stop for today." Riley said crouching down to eye level with her.

Jessica shook her head. "I'm okay, honest Riley. I want to finish the session. And Abe and Terry really did try to get me to stop ... it's not their fault."

"Sorry." Riley said, looking up at Abe and Terry. Angus mumbled the same.

"You ready for a break then?" Jim asked.

She shook her head. "I'm just getting started. I feel good, honest. What about you?" she asked looking into his blood shot eyes, "Are those contacts bugging you?"

"A little." Jim admitted.

"You know, you look great with the glasses Doc brought. You don't have to be embarrassed to wear them."

Jim nodded and his lips twisted into a small smile but his eyes looked at her with concern, "I'll remember that." And then he looked up at Craig, Rick and Jay, "I think we can do the rest of our rehab here with Jessica. We don't have to do the same things, but we need to be with her. Especially if she's vomiting all over the place."

"Okay. We can do squats instead of running." Jay said.

"Have some water." Josh said offering Jessica his water bottle.

"I'll refill hers." Abe said shaking the one or two mouthfuls of water that were left in her bottle.

"Thanks." Jessica said to both and chugged the water. "How many push-ups was I at?" she asked Terry.

"Ten." He said.

"Ten more to go." Jessica said and got into position. Terry shook his head, watching her strain to complete a push-up.

As Jessica struggled through her third pushup a small audience had gathered. Sara, Justine, Amanda, Sean, Don, Stan and Chris stood near the men, Rick, Craig and Jay watching.

"Christ she's determined." Craig said.

"Try stubborn." Angus grumbled.

"Is there a difference?" Craig asked.

"Maybe not." Scott said kicking the ground with his foot, "but she's making us look bad either way. Squats you said, right?" he asked Craig and winced as he lowered himself into a squat. The other men followed Scott's lead.

When Jessica collapsed on the ground after her fifth pushup Justine elbowed Amanda and Sara. "Come on." She moved to Jessica and dropped onto her knees next to her. "I've never been really good at pushups." She said. "Let's do them together."

Jessica pushed herself up and smiled at the girls as they got into push up positions around her.

"Let me help you out." Abe said straddling her back and holding her up by her hips.

"Does that count as doing a pushup?" Jessica asked.

"You're putting too much weight on your good side. You'll mess yourself up if you keep going like that. I'm just going to even you out."

"How much are they paying you?" Jessica muttered, nodding her head in the direction of the men.

"Joke all you want but you should count yourself lucky that they're not insisting that you stop. Now, are you going to do a pushup or not?"

Jessica nodded and lowered herself for a pushup. She was glad to see that Abe was really just supporting her one side. The pushup was just as hard to do as the others had been.

When Jessica finally completed the tenth pushup she collapsed on the ground and lay panting.

"Angus looks like he's going to have a stroke." Justine said from her place beside her.

"What?" Jessica demanded and looked up to see the men straining with their exercise and Angus looked the worst out of all of them. His face was red, almost purple and veins bulged everywhere, even on his face.

"Angus!" Jessica exclaimed. She struggled to her feet finally standing just as Angus reached her.

"Are you okay?" he asked still panting from the effort of his exercise.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I'm fine." He said clearly surprised by her concern.

"Your face is purple ... you don't look okay."

"Purple?"

"Yes." She said bringing her hand to his cheek. "You need some water and a break."

Angus searched her face for a moment and Jessica was certain that he was going to demand she stop exercising too. But then he smiled and pecked her lips.

"You're right. I may be pushing a bit too hard but it's hard to take it easy when you're exercising like a bat out of hell."

"Okay. I'll make you a deal. You get some water and rest for a few minutes and I'll slow down. Terry had said to do twenty situps ... I'll do ten. Deal?"

Angus nodded. "Deal."

"And tell the other guys the same thing ... please."

Angus nodded, kissed Jessica again and then walked back to the men shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked when he returned.

"Apparently my face is purple. We've been told to slow down."

"By Jessica?" Scott asked in surprise. "She told us to slow down? Now that's rich."

"It is." Angus agreed, "But so help me God, I don't have it in me to argue with her anymore. I just can't."

"My neither." Riley said watching Sara sit on Jessica's feet and Jessica start a series of sit-ups.

"Well, your face is purple." Jim said.

Angus nodded, "I'm going to get water. Make sure she doesn't start doing burpies or something. She promised to take it easier too." He added before heading to the house.

Jessica watched Angus amble toward the house. She was relieved that he was taking her advice and when she looked back at the other men Scott pointed at his eyes, and then pointed at her, repeating the movement a couple of times.

"And don't forget it." Josh added when Jessica and the girls giggled.

Sean laughed too, slapped Scott on the back and said, "Gonna go do the parameter." Before stalking past Jessica and the girls. As he went he turned his head slightly and winked at Sara. The wink did not go unnoticed by Jessica, Justine and Amanda.

"Sara!" Justine whispered when Abe and Terry moved away to talk with Craig and Jay, "What was that?"

Sara smiled. "When we went to do chores, Sean followed me. He asked me out to dinner!"

"Oh my God! That's great!" Amanda said.

"It is." Sara agreed, "So long as Leah and Corey show up some time soon. He wants to see them before we go. Where the hell can they be?"

"I don't know." Jessica said when the three girls looked at her.

When Jessica finished her last sit up Justine said. "I have to tell you something." She said leaning forward, "Today, when we went to do chores, Chris asked me out too."

"Caleb, Don and Stan asked me out too ... " Amanda said, "Not at the same time." She added when everyone did a double take.

"I think ..." Justine said, "I think that you helped with that." She said to Jessica.

"I did?" Jessica said, completely taken by surprise.

Justine nodded. "Last night. You and the men. Chris has been looking at me differently ever since."

"Caleb, Don and Stan too." Amanda said.

"That can't be." Jessica said, "They weren't even here."

"No, but they heard it. Heard you." Amanda said.

"But how ..."

"Chris called them and Caleb." Sara said. "He held the phone up so they could hear."

"Oh my God!" Jessica said feeling her face burn red she covered her face with her hands.

"Don't be embarrassed." Justine said, "Please. You couldn't even tell that they knew, could you so obviously it doesn't change their opinion of you."

"But it changed their opinion of us." Amanda said, "A lot."

"I don't think I can look at them now." Jessica said.

"Sorry. We didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Sara said. "Can you just pretend that you don't know ... that they know?"

"I guess I have to." Jessica said, "If Angus ever finds out what Chris did he'll probably knock his block off."

"What?" Justine squeaked.

"And I'm not supposed to keep secrets from him or the other men." Jessica said.

"Well, you can't tell them if they're going to get violent!" Justine said, clearly upset.

"I guess I can wait to tell them later, once I've found some way to not be so upset about this." Jessica said, "But I'll have to tell them. Technically I'm not even supposed to wait."

"I'm sorry Jessica." Amanda said, "I don't think Chris meant to hurt you."

"That was a huge breach of privacy." Jessica said, covering her face again.

"Sorry." Amanda repeated.

"I think I'm done for today." Jessica said getting to her feet.

"Everything okay?" Abe asked, him and Terry returning. Between them, in the background she could see her men looking at her as well as Rick, Craig and Jay. She groaned when she realized that Rick would have heard her too since he'd been with Sean and the others. She avoided Abe's eyes and turned to Terry, hoping with all her will that he hadn't somehow heard her and the men the previous night also.

"Is there anything more for today?" Jessica asked.

"No, I think this was good." Terry said with a smile, "You did good. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks." Jessica said and without acknowledging Abe or the other girls she limped over to the men.

"You alright?" Jim asked.

"I'm going to get cleaned up." Jessica said.

"Okay. I think we did enough today, right?" Josh asked Craig.

Craig nodded, "See you tomorrow. Bright and early this time."

Jessica looked at Craig in surprise. She couldn't tell anything from his expression but she got the feeling that he knew why they'd been delayed that morning. A kind of wink, wink, nudge, nudge in his tone that had Jessica's cheeks flaming red again. Jessica closed her eyes and cursed her body. It gave everything away about her. When she opened her eyes she saw the men studying her.

Josh reached up and caressed her cheek with his thumb.

"You look better." Jessica said when Angus moved closer, "Not as purple."

"You on the other hand look pretty flushed." Angus said caressing her other cheek.

Jessica realized how ridiculous this whole thing was. So a few more of Sean's clan heard her night of ecstasy. So what? With the exception of Rick, she was planning on including these people in her and the men's lives permanently. And she hadn't been nearly this embarrassed when Chris, Abe and the girls heard them and they'd been in the same house at the time. It was no big deal and Jessica knew she should just tell the men about it and then move on. But when she thought about everyone hearing it, over a phone no less, she couldn't help but cringe inside. She had to get over it and fast, but not right then. The men were studying her. Josh and Angus, up close and personal. She forced a smile, slid into Josh's embrace and then pulled Angus close too.

"I could use a hot bath." She said.

"Then let's go." Scott said sweeping his hand in the direction of the house.

Half an hour later the men had showered, Jessica too, and then feeling the need to hide away from others for a bit longer, Jessica scrounged up a tampon and slid into a hot bath. She'd been unable to convince any of the men to join her, claiming weak resolve as their reason. But they'd kept her company in sporadic bursts. Jim had ended up bringing the laptop into the bathroom to help Jessica look up the curriculum for grade twelve.

"So there are eight courses you need to take for grade twelve." Jim said, staring at the computer screen. "English, math, biology, chemistry, physics, history, social studies and geography."

"Christ." Angus mumbled, looking over Jim's shoulder. "That's grade twelve? Why don't they include fucking rocket science?"

"You have to complete about ten lessons in each class, and write four exams to pass." Jim said.

"Holy shit." Angus muttered.

"I think Angus means that it seems like a lot of work." Riley explained when Jessica looked at Angus with a perplexed expression.

"Yeah." Jessica agreed. "I don't think I'll try and do them all at once. Maybe one at a time would be a better idea."

"Okay." Jim said, "Which one do you want to start with?"

"What's the hardest one, do you think?" Jessica asked as Scott and Josh wandered into the bathroom. They looked over Jim's shoulder.

"I'm guessing chemistry." Scott said.

"Somehow I don't think physics is going to be a walk in the park." Josh said.

"K, look. The classes have prerequisites. You can't take chemistry and physics till you've finished biology ... which looks like it's more of a general science course than strictly biology. You also need the math."

"Okay, well then I'll start with the math. Do they have a list of reading material for the English class?" Jessica asked.

"Yup."

"So I'll start with the math class and do the reading material for the English. That ought to be enough for now."

"Okay. There's some material online but I'll go to the store tomorrow and get you the math books and the novels." Jim said.

"Thank you."

"Christ Jess." Riley said dipping his hand into her bath water, "The water's freezing. Don't you want to add some hot water?"

Jessica sighed. She'd been hiding out long enough. She felt kind of bad actually, hogging the bathroom.

"I'm ready to get out." Jessica said pulling the plug on the water.

Jim took the laptop and left the bathroom. Riley took Jessica's arm as she stepped out of the tub, and Scott grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Jessica.

"You can get dressed in my room." Josh said before Angus had a chance to say exactly the same thing. Angus exhaled and followed Scott and Riley out of the bathroom.

While dressing Jessica was trying to talk herself out of being embarrassed. It made no sense. And she reminded herself that when Sean, Don, Stan, Mark and Rick and even Caleb ... she winced at the idea of Caleb, the one she knew least of all, somehow being on the receiving end of the phone call, had come to the house earlier that day they'd given no indication that they'd heard anything. They'd been perfect gentlemen. And had it not been for Justine mentioning it, she may have never known about the phone call. She thought she had herself convinced but as soon as she walked into the living room full of everyone, and all of them, the girls, Sean, Abe, Rick, Chris, Don, and Stan in the middle of joking around, turned to look at her, Jessica's cheeks flamed red and she couldn't look at them. Everyone noticed, especially her men.

"Jessica, what's going on?" Scott asked.

"Um," Jessica said looking up at Scott, "can we talk about it later? In private, please?"

"We had plenty of privacy when we were in the bathroom." Riley said.

"Or my room." Josh added.

"But we can go to one of the rooms right now and have plenty of privacy." Angus said pointing down the hallway.

"Jess ..." Jim said also indicating the hallway. It was clear that they were not happy that she'd been keeping something from them.

To be honest, Jessica wasn't really happy about it either. She began to move toward the hallway when the front door opened and Leah came in. She looked nervous.

"Leah." Sean said pausing when he got up, his arms half open toward her. Leah went into them and hugged Sean hard.

"Everything went okay?" Leah asked.

"No problems at all. Where's Corey?" he asked eyeing the closed door behind her.

"Outside." She said, "He wants to talk to you."

"Outside?" Sean asked clearly bewildered by the idea.

Leah nodded and looked ready to fall down when Sean shrugged and then disappeared out the front door. Jessica hurried to Leah's side and took her arm.

"Come sit down." She said, and mouthed sorry to the men who were very clearly not happy that Jessica had deviated from the course to the back of the house.

Abe took one look around at everyone and shook his head. "I'm going to walk the parameter."

"Me too." Rick said and both left.

"Justine, can you go grab the rum and coke?" Jessica asked as Leah slouched onto the sofa. "I think I'll join you in a drink." Jessica said when Justine poured several glasses, "since I'm not pregnant." She added when Leah looked at her funny.

"Oh I'm so sorry." Leah said.

"Us too." Sara said, "Jessica, we're so sorry, we didn't know."

"It's okay. We weren't sure I was pregnant anyway."

It hadn't escaped Jessica's notice that her men were closing in around the sofa.

"Would you like drinks too?" she asked them holding her glass out toward Riley and Angus.

"What we'd like," Riley said, "is that private conversation with you."

"Right now." Angus added.

"Please." Scott said, once again indicating the hallway.

"Excuse me for a minute." Jessica said to the girls and moved toward the hallway, talking Angus and Josh's hands in hers as she passed them.

"Hey, help!" Rick yelled from outside.

"Shit!" Angus swore and he and Josh changed direction and following everyone else they towed Jessica behind them to the gun rack and then out the front door. In the front yard Rick was holding Sean back, his arms snaked under Sean's and behind his head. Abe was doing the same with Corey.

"You son of a bitch!" Sean yelled, "You lying son of a bitch! I can't believe you'd sneak around behind my back with my sister. You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"I'm sorry Sean, honest." Corey said, "I didn't mean for it to be this way ..."

"My sister! You have some nerve!"

"Come on Sean, calm down." Chris said moving between the four men.

"You hit him!" Leah said, moving to Corey and gently touching his nose where Jessica could now see blood dripping.
"You're damn right I hit him ... get away from him Leah, now!" Sean bellowed.

Jessica couldn't' believe her ears. Sean was actually going to rag Corey out for something that he himself was about to do with Corey's sister?

Jessica looked around. Her men had moved closer to Corey and Sean but were hanging back and Jessica got the distinct impression that they intended to stay out of it as they'd said they would.

Sara, Amanda and Justine were staring at Sean in obvious disbelief but they didn't look inclined to say anything.

"I said get away from him Leah. You and I will discuss this later and if you don't get the hell away from him now our discussion ain't going to be pretty!" Sean growled.

And that was the final straw for Jessica. She narrowed her eyes at Sean but bit her tongue. She didn't know these people. Not really. But she knew her men and she was already in trouble with them. It certainly wasn't worth getting more in trouble over this but she couldn't stand the injustice of what Sean was doing. She had to let her men know about Sean and Sara and let them decide what to do about it and there was only one way she could think of doing that in a timely way. She looked at her men again and they were fully focused on Sean and Corey. Perfect. Jessica quietly moved away and went back into the house. She took her cell phone, sat down on the sofa and opened a text to all her men. She typed, 'Sean has dinner date with Sara tonight' sent it and then realized that the men would want to know where she was. So she added 'I'm in the house on the sofa, staying out of this' and sent it. Seconds later she could hear five cell phones chiming outside. She heard someone say, "What the hell." And there were few minutes of silence that grated on Jessica's nerves so she picked up her rum and coke and took a gulp.

"What the fuck?" she heard Angus grunt.

The men looked at their phones, one another, and then the house.

Everyone was looking at them.

"Fuck it." Riley said when the other men looked at him for direction on what to do next. "Sean, is there a certain dinner date you have planned for tonight that you'd care to talk about?" Riley asked.

"You told them?" Sean demanded staring at Sara. Corey and Leah did a double take, looking between Sean and Sara.

"I ... I told Jessica ... I was excited." Sara and she looked like she was going to cry.

"You asked my sister out and you have the nerve to yell at me?" Corey demanded.

"I asked her out this morning and I was looking for you to talk to you about it. There was no sneaking around." Sean said and his voice was so full of fury that everyone took an involuntary step back. In the house, Jessica shrunk on the sofa.

"If you'd give me a minute to explain you'd know why we didn't tell you." Corey said in a hushed voice.

"I can hardly wait to hear this." Sean said, his voice hard and cold.

With the voices lowered Jessica couldn't make out spoken words anymore and she was glad. She was feeling out of sorts. She knew it was probably because of her period but she was really upset that she'd been stupid enough to keep the information about Chris calling everyone to herself. She should have told the men right away. Now they were going to be angry with her and they'd probably assume that she'd kept the date between Sean and Sara a secret too. She didn't want them to be angry with her, and she definitely didn't want them to think she was keeping secrets.

Minutes ticked by. Jessica had no idea what was happening, only the intermittent murmurs of voices outside giving Jessica any indication that people were still out there. And the more time that passed the more anxious Jessica became. She couldn't sit still any longer. Taking her drink with her she paced in front of the sofa. She felt a little knot in her stomach. Everything had started so well that morning ... how did things go from that to so much stress. Her men would be mad at her, Sean was mad at Corey, Leah and Sara, and who knew how Corey felt about Sean and Sara. But that was their problem, not hers. All she had to worry about was apologizing to her men. Apologizing, and never keeping anything from them again.

She had no idea how much time had passed but she had made it through three quarters of her drink and had her back to the door when it opened. Jessica spun around to find her men come in.

"Okay ..." Jessica said before Scott had time to close the door. They hadn't even moved into the living room when she put her glass down on the coffee table and met them by the gun rack, pacing in front of them and ringing her hands. "I should have told you about Chris calling Sean and the other guys the other night. They heard us ... be intimate." Jessica felt her face flame red again, "But I just found out when we were exercising, and I was so embarrassed. I don't know why ... I mean I wasn't embarrassed about everyone who was here knowing. But maybe it's because I knew they would likely hear us ... I don't know ..." she was talking a mile a minute and kept pacing back and forth, waving her hands around while she spoke, "and I was afraid you'd hurt Chris. I mean, not that I'd have minded giving him a knuckle sandwhich myself really ... ah, maybe that was the problem. I think I may have liked you punching him out." Jessica said to Angus ... "I don't know. And then I thought I was okay, not so embarrassed anymore and I'd just tell you later but when I came out here ... I was still embarrassed. So I'm really, really sorry that I didn't tell you right away. I should have. Please don't be mad. And about Sara and Sean, I didn't know until we were doing sit-ups. It was really none of my business and I wouldn't have said anything but it really burned me that Sean was so mad at Corey and Leah when he himself planned to date Corey's sister ... it was just so wrong ... God I hope it didn't make things worse!" Jessica said pausing long enough to stare at the door in horror.

"Jessica ..." Jim said when he finally saw a window of opportunity to get a word in edgewise.

"I know, I know ... keep out of their business but I just couldn't stay out of this ..."

"Jessica, stop." Josh said, grabbing her firmly by her arms as she went to wander by him.

"I'm sorry." She said looking at him for a second before looking at the other men, "Really I am."

"Jessica," Josh said, shocked by the crazed look in her eye. Taking her chin he brought her eyes back to his. He scanned her eyes and her face. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked putting the back of his hand against her forehead.

"Does she have a temperature?" Riley asked moving closer and feeling her cheek.

"Doesn't seem like it." Josh said. "Jess, what's wrong. You look kind of out of it."

Jessica looked around at the men and realized that they didn't look angry, just worried. She sighed. "I feel kind of out of it." She said, "It's probably just because of my period but I feel really, really, stressed."

"Maybe it's time for our friends to take their problems home." Riley said.

"Actually, I'm not stressed about them." Jessica said. "I'm more worried about doing something wrong with you guys. I mean, sometimes it's just a matter of timing. Sometimes I find something out that I can't tell you right away ... or, you know, sometimes there's some judgement required about when to tell you something. And I just feel like I'm going to anger or disappoint you and it won't be done intentionally. I really don't want you to be upset with me ... geez," Jessica paused, "can I have the rest of my drink?" Jessica said motioning toward the coffee table and the glass that she'd set on it.

"Come on." Josh said taking her hand and leading her to the sofa. He handed her the drink and then sank onto the sofa pulling her onto his lap. Riley and Jim sat on either side of them, Josh and Angus pulling up chairs.

"You know what." Angus said after Jessica had chugged the remainder of her drink. "I don't think our rules about secrets and honesty can apply to things outside our relationship."

"You don't?" they all said in unison. Angus glared at them for a moment and then laughed.

"In terms of timing and urgency. I honestly could care less what Corey and Sean do with Leah and Sara or anyone else ... except you." He said to Jessica. "What Chris did for example is unacceptable. And someone, possibly more tactful than I am, should talk to him about it. And we have to be more careful about what we do when others are around. It's just the way it is. And Jess, I have tell you that we knew that Sean and the others knew about our ... intimate night. It was obvious to us when they got here but we couldn't figure out how they knew and didn't have a chance to ask them. But we also didn't tell you and we should have. I guess we didn't want to embarrass you ... a judgement call, like you said. I'm sorry about that."

As he'd spoken Angus had leaned forward and placed his hand on Jessica's thigh which he squeezed now.

"And I don't think there's anything you could do that would anger or disappoint me Jess. You've proven time and again that everything you do you do because you love us and want to protect us. So don't get stressed out okay? Not because of us."

Silence hung in the air while Jessica and the other men gaped at Angus.

"Of course I can only really speak for myself." He added, "But those are my two cents. And," he added when they continued to gape, "I may not get angry or disappointed but if you all keep looking at me like I've grown two heads I am going to get my feelings hurt. I am capable of change. I thought I'd already proved that."

"You did, you did ..." Jessica said when Angus looked hurt. She scrambled off of Josh's lap and onto Angus', wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her head in his chest. "I feel better already. Thanks."

"I agree with everything Angus said." Riley said and the others agreed.

"We left them out there to work things out." Jim said looking at the door, "But it won't be long before they come in. Unless anyone else really wants to, I'll talk to Chris about what he did."

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Jessica asked.

"They promised they wouldn't kill one another." Scott said, "What they accomplish beyond that we'll have to wait and see."

"You okay now?" Josh asked.

"Much better. Thanks."

"I'm going to get started on dinner." Jim said, "I think you need some food in you."

"Can I help?" Jessica asked.

"Sure." Jim said.

For half an hour the men and Jessica had had a riot in the kitchen. Food fights and jokes about the fear the men had had about Jessica cooking their food had them all laughing so hard they barely heard the others come in.

One look at their faces though and Jessica and the men sobered up quickly. No one looked overly happy and after a moment Sean mumbled that he'd walk the parameter and left. Both Sara and Leah looked like they'd been crying. Corey glared at Sara and Sara, arms crossed in a clear sign of defiance, glared back.

"I think we girls will eat at the coffee table." Jessica murmured to the men.

"Do you still want to take these people with us?" Riley murmured back.

"I'm not sure." Jessica said.

Scott snorted and leaned closer to her, "You didn't think having girlfriends was going to be easy did you?"

"It seemed easier when I was younger." Jessica said.

"Welcome to our world." Angus said, "Understanding women has never been an easy thing."

"Hey!" Jessica said, "I'm easy to understand." Jessica added in an indignant tone.

"Oh yeah." Riley added with a chuckle, "You're easy to understand now. But trust me, getting here was not a cake walk."

"Hmph!" Jessica grumbled when Jim and Josh chuckled along with Scott, Riley and Angus. "I won't dignify that with a comment." She added but couldn't resist breaking into a smile when the men smiled at her with the goofiest grins she'd ever seen them muster. "You work on the men, I'll work on the women and maybe we can get them seeing eye to eye."

"Roger that." Jim said snapping to attention and saluting her, "Be careful in there."

Jessica shook her head as she headed to the sofa where the girls had seated themselves. Justine got up and switched to a chair so Jessica could sit between Leah and Sara.

"Everything okay?" Jessica asked.

"Not hardly." Sara said. "Corey and Sean are like a couple of immature little boys pissed off because someone is playing in their sandbox. It's stupid."

Leah snorted her agreement.

"So, um, things are better with you and Corey?" Jessica asked Leah. Leah flicked her eyes at Sara and shifted on the sofa.

"Yeah. They're better. But, ah, it's kind of awkward talking about it around Sara."

"What? Why?" Sara demanded.

"Corey's your brother ... I think there are some things you just don't want to know about your brother. And if you start dating Sean that's going to be even more awkward."

"Well that sucks." Sara stated crossing her arms and pouting her lips.

"Yeah. And Sean and Corey are going to have the same problem." Leah said.

"If they ever start talking to each other again." Sara added.

"Oh come on." Amanda said, "We're all grown-ups. Sean's my cousin and he's also a man. I really couldn't care less what you tell me about him Sara."

"Right." Justine said, "Me too."

"Look, if it makes that much of a difference to you I can leave." Sara said to Leah but the pronouncement of her pout made it clear that leaving was the last thing she wanted to do.

Leah sighed. "No don't go. Just remember that I warned you ... there may be parts of this conversation you just don't like."

Sara nodded vigorously.

"Okay. Well, things are better." Leah said. "Jessica, I heard that you were really embarrassed about that phone call Chris made the other night, but I have to tell you that it really inspired us, Corey and me. We've, um, explored sex quite a bit and you know, I'm enjoying it a lot more ..." Leah's voice trailed off.

"Ah, Leah ..." Jessica said.

"Yeah?"

"That's not exactly a ringing endorsement ..."

"What? No, no, really, it's good."

"But ..." Amanda prompted her.

"Well, it's just ... I mean Corey works really hard to ... you know, bring me pleasure." Leah said and her eyes flicked over to Sara while her face turned red.

"Pretend that I'm not his sister." Sara said, "Pretend I don't even know him. That's what I'm doing ... just go ahead."

"Well, he really wants me to scream, you know like you did ..." Leah said to Jessica, "but he's just a little too quick with his, ah, services, to make that happen. I think it frustrates him. And then he wants me to reciprocate. A lot. I'm just not quite as good at it. I still gag, and my wrists hurt ... it's kind of awkward."

"Oh, wow." Justine said.

"Seriously?" Sara asked, "Seriously? What if that's what they all want?" she added when everyone was looking at her . "What if they want the same thing that Jessica did that night?"

"It's not that big a deal." Amanda said.

"Yeah, right." Justine said.

"Well, that's just not realistic." Jessica said. "Not everyone screams. They can't expect you all to scream."

"No." Justine said, "But you weren't the only one that was really enjoying yourself."

"Oh my God." Sara said and looked at Jessica in horror, "How the hell are we supposed to measure up to you? There's absolutely nothing we can do to meet those expectations!"

"I'd thought the same thing." Leah said reaching out to grab Jessica's hand when she stared at Sara, her mouth hanging open in horror. "But you can learn ... a lot."

"You take care of five men. At the same time! There's no way we can be as good as you Jessica. Thanks a lot!" Justine said and stood up to leave.

"Sit down will you." Leah ordered, grabbing Justine's hand. "Sit down now. You're scared and saying things without thinking them through and you're hurting Jessica. Yes Jessica satisfies her husbands' incredibly well ... stupifyingly well ... but what you don't know and I found out from Corey is what she went through to get there." Leah looked at the men in the kitchen, leaned forward and lowered her voice, "They raped her. All of them. And then Scott taught her how to enjoy herself and please them. She's fantastic at what she does, and she gets some mind blowing orgasms but think about the price she had to pay to get that."

"Oh!" Sara said, holding her hand to her mouth. Justine and Amanda looked equally shocked and stared at Jessica in stunned silence.

"I'm so sorry Jessica." Justine said, "I had no idea ..."

"It's ... it's okay." Jessica said.

Silence fell between them. As minutes ticked by, Jessica desperately wanted to change the topic so they could stop looking at her with such pity. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be a suitable segue from the topic. The best she could think to do was change the focus to them.

"So, no dinner with Sean tonight?" she asked Sara. Sara blinked back tears and shook her head. "Or with Chris?" she asked Justine.

"Not tonight." Justine said. "Us girls have been ordered to go home after dinner. Talk about boring."

"Talk about infuriating." Leah said. "We're not freaking kids anymore but they treat us like we are. You've been bad, go to your room. It drives me crazy."

"I'm sorry I told my men about you and Sean." Jessica said to Sara.

"At least it's out there now. I was starting to think that Sean was just going to pretend he hadn't asked me." Sara said and sniffed.

"Just, in the future, if you don't want something getting back to Riley, Angus, Josh, Jim and Scott don't tell it to me. I have to tell them. I understand if you'd rather not hang out with me." Jessica said.

"Will they tell our men?" Leah asked.

"I don't think so. They don't like messing in other people's business. But I can't promise."

Amanda shrugged, "I kind of wish they would tell them. We've had more communication in the past few weeks that we've been here then I can ever remember. I don't care what gets back to them, personally."

"Rrrr, at the moment I'm not crazy about Sean hearing all the details of my sex life with Corey thank you very much." Leah said. "He went ballistic because we're dating, can you imagine what he 'd do if he knew ... everything?"

"The men know some of it." Jessica said, "And who knows what Corey and Scott discussed. But I really don't think they'd say anything to Sean about that. They've been really respectful of my privacy so I can't see them completely ignoring yours."

"Speaking of sex." Amanda said biting her lip while looking at Jessica in a way that made it apparent that she was debating whether to continue, "Actually it's about more than just sex ..."

"Are you going to pick Don or Stan?" Sara asked.

"Well, that's part of it. I've been kind of seeing a guy from another clan." Amanda said.

"What?" Justine demanded.

"Who?" Leah asked.

"Quinn."

"From Tristan's clan?" Leah demanded and when Amanda nodded Leah paused, "Really?"

"Yeah. And I really like him." Amanda said.

"But Manda ... if you marry him you'll have to go to his clan ..." Sara said and looked like she'd cry again.

"That's what I wanted to ask ..." Amanda said and paused. She looked at Sara, Justine and Leah and seemed unsure about continuing.

"Well?" Leah asked.

"Well ..." Amanda said, "I like Quinn, and I like Don, Stan and Caleb. So I was considering dating all of them."

"That's an awful idea!" Sara said.

"It is?" Amanda asked in obvious surprise.

"Duh, yeah." Sara said, "They'd be bound to find out eventually. You think Sean flipped about Corey and Leah, imagine what kind of reaction cheating would get."

"No, no, no ..." Amanda said with a laugh, "I didn't mean that I'd cheat. I meant a polygamous relationship. Like Jessica has."

"Really?" Leah.

Amanda nodded. "So Jessica, what do you think? Would you recommend it?"
"Um, sure. I guess. If you like them all that much, and they all like each other that much."

"That's kind of the thing. I'm not sure if Don, Stan and Caleb even know Quinn." Amanda said.

"And Quinn is going to be willing to come to your clan?" Jessica asked, "That's how it'd work, right?"

"If we became serious, yes. I don't think we'd all go to his clan. What's wrong? You look worried." Amanda asked when Jessica began gnawing on her lip.

"It's just that these kinds of relationships are tricky. They require a lot of commitment, honesty and communication and I wonder if the dynamics of Quinn the new guy with Stan, Don and Caleb, three friends, would support something like that."

"Hmmm. I guess I can see how that could be a problem." Amanda said and looked disappointed.

"But you won't know until you try right?" Jessica asked.

"How would you even bring that up with them?" Justine asked.

Amanda shrugged. "Just put it out there ..."

"Aren't you afraid it may turn them off?" Sara asked.

Amanda shrugged again. "If it does then they're not the men I thought they were. But ..." she added, smiling at Jessica, "given what they 've seen here, I can't imagine them not wanting to at least try it out."

"And the sex!" Justine said, "Do you want to have sex with four men at the same time?"

"Shhh." Amanda said looking around to see if any of the men heard Justine. "I have no problem with that." She said in a near whisper.

"It may not turn out to be all that you think it will." Leah said in a grim tone.

"I thought you were enjoying it now." Jessica said in surprise.

"I am, I am." Leah said, "But there are still some things I can live without."

"Well, I enjoy all those things." Amanda said.

"You and Quinn?" Sara asked.

"Yup, we've got a good thing going there." Amanda said.

"Well then, go for it." Jessica said. "If your men have any questions I'm sure my men could help them out."

"Excellent. Thanks." Amanda said.

"So ..." Jessica said, "Corey is dating you ..." she said to Leah, "Chris is dating you," she said nodding to Justine, "Sean, is with Sara and Don, Stan, Caleb is with Amanda. What about Mark?"

"Mark?" Leah asked.

"Yeah. All of the men in your clan are accounted for but him. Isn't he going to be lonely?" Jessica asked.

The girls looked at one another.

"I hadn't thought of that." Sara said.

"I kind of thought that he liked me ..." Justine said, "but he hasn't asked me out or anything."

"Maybe he has a girl in another clan?" Jessica asked.

The girls shrugged.

"I'm not aware of anyone." Justine said, "Do you think it's going to be a problem ... Mark not having a girlfriend?"

"Maybe not. But I'd be lonely if I were him. With everyone else paired off." Jessica said.

"I'll ask Corey, maybe he knows if Mark is seeing anyone." Leah said.

Suddenly a low buzzing noise sound. The girls looked around, Leah shifted a little on the sofa. Jessica assumed it was a cell phone, but the sound continued, sometimes getting louder and then softer.

"Is that you?" Sara asked leaning closer to Leah. Leah shifted on the sofa again and her face flamed red she nodded.

"It's not a phone." Justine said.

Leah shook her head and when the sound suddenly got louder, Leah practically jumped off her seat.

"Is that a vibrator?" Jessica whispered.

Just as Leah's face looked like it would turn fluorescent red a second buzzing noise began and Leah jumped in her seat again.

"Two vibrators?" Jessica added.

Despite looking like she wanted to crawl under a rock, Leah nodded.

"Why ....?" Sara asked looking completely bewildered.

"Corey's training me." Leah said, "Oh!" she exclaimed when both buzzing sounds erupted into much more powerful sound and judging by the expression on Leah's face, force. The sound quieted and Leah caught her breath. "He wants me to learn to cum faster. If he turns it on with the low setting and then turns it off I'm supposed to fantasize myself to orgasm. If he turns it on to low but leaves it running I'm supposed to go to the bathroom and masturbate. And if he turns it on high ... he'll meet me in the bathroom and take care of things for me."

"Wow." Amanda said.

"But, two of them?" Sara asked completely baffled as to how that would work.

Leah nodded, "One in my pussy, the other, my anus. He, ah, thinks I need to loosen things up ... there."

Just then the sound got louder again and Leah jerked on the sofa.

"I'd better go." She said and scrambled off the sofa. Her legs had trouble working properly as the buzzing sound increased again.

"Dinners ready ..." Scott said arriving at the sofa just as Leah had taken a few steps.. He lifted one of the two plates he was carrying.

"Just put it on the coffee table for her." Corey said as Leah stumbled past Scott.

"Here you go." Scott said, placing Leah's plate on the coffee table and passing Jessica hers. "Do you want any salt or pepper?"

"Thanks, and no thanks." Jessica said. Scott pecked her lips and headed back to the kitchen. Jim and Josh brought the remaining plates for Sara, Justine and Amanda and then kissing Jessica on the head, also returned to the kitchen.

"We never get served at home." Sara whispered.

"Do you think it's because of the sex?" Justine asked Jessica.

"I guess there's only one way to find out." Amanda said when all Jessica could do was shrug. "Well, is it that horrible to suck and whack them off if you get treated like a queen for it?" she added when Sara and Justine looked horrified.

"That is when things got better for me." Jessica said.

"Wow. I don't really know how to do all of that." Sara said.

"Me neither." Justine said.

"Leah has some information that we lent her and Corey. Ask her to borrow it." Jessica said.

"Corey went back there with her ... " Justine said looking around the room and not finding him.

"If I can get Quinn, Don, Stan and Caleb onboard, I wonder if they'll want to do it at all sorts of times and places." Amanda said looking toward the table where the three sat eating and joking with the other men. "I get excited just thinking about it."

Amanda's words reminded Jessica how much she enjoyed being with her own men. Jessica sat studying her men. Angus noticed Jessica's inspection, calked an eyebrow at Jessica and winked when Jessica blew him a kiss.

"I guess it wouldn't be hard to enjoy sex with Chris." Justine said ogling Chris.

"Now you're talking." Amanda said.

A few minutes later Corey returned from the bathroom. Not long after Leah did too.

"Here's your dinner." Jessica said indicating the plate on the coffee table.

"I'm not hungry." Leah said and didn't look happy at all.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked.

"All Corey cares about is making me suck ... perform oral sex. He spent all of a couple of minutes on me and then had me on my knees. Would you believe he wants me to put dildos in my mouth so I learn to not gag? And when I can't do it he insists that I use my hands. I swear my hands are going to fall off. I don't understand how you keep up with that for five men." Leah ended, looking at Jessica.

"Actually, the men don't really focus on that." Jessica said, "They don't!" she added when both Leah and Amanda rolled their eyes in disbelief. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes." Amanda said. "I'll be the first to say that sex between Quinn and I is great. But, he does want that a lot. A lot , a lot."

"Oh." Jessica said.

"And your men don't?" Leah demanded.

Jessica shook her head. She was beginning to realize that what the men did for her, and what they expected from her, was not the norm. It dawned on her that she should appreciate it more rather than argue and try to force them to let her pleasure them.

"So all your men care about is your pleasure?" Leah asked.

"Pretty much." Jessica said. Looking her men over again, she felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach. They loved her and proved it to her in so many ways. But the one way she hadn't been aware of until now was in the bedroom. And of course she couldn't possible look at her men without her body reacting. Damn her period and damn the lack of privacy. She wanted them more than anything. Angus noticed her looking again, and interpreted her expression correctly. Elbowing Riley, Angus nodded his head in Jessica's direction. Riley looked over, and so did Scott, Jim and Josh. Scott wagged his tongue at Jessica and he looked so silly she couldn't help but laugh. Jim and Josh jumped in with wagging eyebrows and lewd leers. Riley shook his head at their antics and mouthed, 'love you'. Angus puckered his lips and mouthed, 'later.'

"I'm sorry Jessica. I know you went through hell to get to this stage of your relationship with those guys, but I want what you have. They joke around, they listen to you, they care about your happiness ... in bed too ..." Leah said, "I want that. I'm tired of cranky, mean men who care about nothing but themselves."

Jessica thought back to all the times that she saw Corey, Sean and the others. Not once would she have classified them as cranky or mean. And everyone had known that Riley and Angus were pretty mean in the old days so she was pretty sure it would have been obvious to her. There had to be some major disconnect between how they behaved here and how they behaved at home. In either case Jessica wondered what kind of effort the women had put into improving their situation.

"You know, none of this just magically happened." Jessica said, "There was a lot of hard work put into building our relationships so they worked for all of us. There was a lot of negotiation, give and take. You'll only get out of it, what you put into it."

"Well, they don't listen to us. They tell us what to do and we're expected to do it with no argument." Leah said.

"So what are we supposed to do with that?" Sara demanded.

"I guess you need to find a way to make them listen." Jessica said.

"Make them listen. Hmmm." Amanda said. Sara, Justine and Amanda stared at each other as they seemed to rack their minds for ideas on how to get their points across.

"I'll be back." Jessica said heading to the bathroom.

As she passed the table she noticed that in addition to Sean, neither Rick, Abe, Jim or Josh were at the table with the other men. She and Angus made eye contact as she went by and he gave her a knowing smile. Jessica smiled back. She couldn't deny it, when Angus looked at her she melted inside. Riley had just finished his dinner, put his knife and fork on the plate and pushed it away, when he looked up and met her eyes. Scott was in the middle of a conversation with Chris and he looked up too ... both gave toothy grins that made Jessica's heart jump and an overwhelming yearning between her legs. She wasn't watching where she was going and walked into what felt like a brick wall. Two solid arms slid around her and caught her when she bounced back. She looked up to see Josh smiling down at her, a twinkle in his eye that made it clear that he didn't mind the situation in the least.

Neither did Jessica. She slid her arms around him and pressed up against him hard.

"Well, hello there." Josh said and slid his hands down to cup her butt.

"Hi." Jessica said in a breathless whisper. She felt out of breath and she couldn't stop staring at Josh's lips. She had the strongest urge to bite his lower lip.

"Everything okay?" Jim asked from beside her and Josh. Jessica blinked. Jim had come from the bathroom and without thinking Josh slid his hands up from Jessica's butt to her hips and Jim slid in behind her, pressing up against her. Jessica leaned her head back against Jim's chest, ran her hands up Josh's chest, and sighed. "How are Leah and Sara doing?" he rumbled into her ear.

"Getting themselves pretty worked up." Jessica said giggling and tilting her head into Jim's when he nuzzled her neck.

"Oh, and you're not?" Josh purred into her other ear and kissed the other side of her neck causing Jessica to giggle and tilt her head against his.

"Yes ..." Jessica whispered, her lips fluttering over Josh's as he hovered them right over hers. "But it's not the same kind of worked up. How about you? Are you getting anywhere with Corey?"

"Hardly." Jim said sliding his cheek back and forth against hers.

"Are they really that mad?"

"I think some things were said that shouldn't have been." Josh said kissing her collar bone over her shirt, "Both Corey and Sean feel betrayed."

"Because they're dating each other's sisters?" Jessica asked absent mindedly running the fingers of her left hand through Josh's hair and the fingers on the right through Jim's. "That hardly seems worth feeling betrayed over. You guys have had way more reason to feel betrayed than that and you've worked through it. You should tell them that."

"That may have to wait." Jim said. "Sean is pretty pissed at us for outing him and Sara."

"What?" Jessica demanded straightening and causing Josh and Jim to straighten with her. "That was me not you guys." She said looking over her shoulder at Jim and getting momentarily distracted by the longing she found in Jim's eyes.

"It was Riley's decision to tell." Josh said leaning in to kiss her neck.

"No." Jim said. "He really didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked. Jim was doing that double jointed thing with his face again ... his lips slightly upturned but his eyes, so serious, so hungry that Jessica felt like she was being sucked in to them. Their intensity worried Jessica for a moment but then they shifted slightly and seemed to sparkle while his smile broadened. "None of us have a choice. Unless there's some impact to your well-being, we can't say no to you. Your wish is our command ..." Jim said and leaned in to kiss Jessica.

"But, Riley had to think it was the right thing to do ... to say something about it. He wouldn't do it if he thought it was wrong ..." Jessica said.

"You thought it was the right thing to do, right? So, Riley did too." Jim said and he couldn't help but smile at the expression on her face. Her power over them seemed to disturb her.

Jessica turned back to Josh who kissed his way up to her cheek. He leaned back and looked at Jessica when she cupped his cheek with her hand.

"If you thought it was wrong to say anything about Sean and Sara you would've have kept quiet, right?"

Josh shook his head and he had the same expression on his face that he'd had when he'd had his breakdown. Kind of an entranced, devoted puppy look. Jessica's stomach dropped when she realized that Jim had the same expression. Panic overwhelmed her. Had Jim wigged out too? She turned back to look at Jim when from the direction of the kitchen table someone cleared their throat in a loud and emphasized way. To Jessica it sounded like Scott.

Jessica, Josh and Jim looked over at the table. Scott had obviously been the one to clear his throat. He, Riley and Angus all looked like they'd rather be involved in their conversation than sitting at the table with the others. And their expressions were the same as Josh and Jim's. Jessica's mind raced. What did that mean?

Scott motioned Josh and Jim over with his head.

And then Jessica noticed Corey, Chris, Caleb, Stan, Mark and Don looking over too. Remembering what they'd overheard from the night before, Jessica looked away, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Were you going to the bathroom?" Josh asked, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. "See you in a bit then." He said, kissing her forehead, when Jessica nodded.

"Later." Jim said, kissing the back of her head and smacking her bum before she scampered down the hallway.

"That was a conversation?" Chris demanded from Scott when Josh and Jim took their seats. Scott rolled his eyes at Jim and Josh.

'Sorry' Jim mouthed.

"Damn. I want conversations like that." Stan said.

"Conversations and sex." Corey said slamming his fist on the table. "I need to know how you got Jessica to like giving pleasure as much as receiving it. Leah acts like I'm asking her to clean a toilet with her tongue or something and it's fucking frustrating."

"I've already given you everything you need." Scott said when Chris, Corey, Stan, Dan, Mark and Caleb had bounced their expectant looks around from Riley, Angus, Jim and Josh, causing Riley, Angus, Jim and Josh to look to Scott for help. Chris, Corey, Stan, Dan, Mark and Caleb looked to him too. "And we won't go into details. That's just not appropriate. But the one thing I will ask is how much attention are you paying to your own pleasure rather than hers?"

"What? I take care of her ..." Corey said.

"Ah huh. Well, 'taking care of her' isn't good enough. If you want her to want to please you, then your only goal should be to please her. Blow her socks off over and over again and it's just a matter of time before she wants to do the same for you. Trust me."

"Really?" Caleb asked and looked completely dumbfounded.

"Okay." Jim said scanning their faces and surprised to find that Corey, Stan, Don, Caleb, Mark and Chris all looked surprised by this news. "I guess I haven't had as many sexual experiences as you guys but you make it sound like women don't usually care much for some sex acts."

"Hand jobs are usually no big deal, but blow jobs ..." Don said, "You may get it the first time but then they start to crinkle their noses and act all shocked that you want them to actually swallow. I mean, we don't get all squeamish about eating out their pussies ..."

"Yeah, but you enjoy that. Your pleasure that just happens to coincide with theirs." Scott said.

"So this is common?" Riley asked Scott.

"Oh yeah. Common complaint number one." Scott said, "Why do you think so many men go to hookers?"

"I guess we're pretty lucky then." Angus said.

"Fuck yeah." Corey said.

"Maybe we shouldn't be trying so hard to dissuade her." Angus said.

"What we're doing is right." Scott said, "The last thing we want is to make her resent it."

"Dissuade her?" Corey demanded, "Did you just say you have to dissuade her?"

Just then the front door opened and Sean came in.

He cast a dirty look in Corey's direction and then stalked over to the sofa where the girls still sat.

"You're done dinner. Now go home." He growled.

"No." Leah said.

"What the fuck!" Sean thundered and dragged Leah from the sofa by her arm just as Jessica came back into the living room.

Jessica stopped and took in the scene. Just as Sean had grabbed Leah the men at the table had shoved back their chairs and moved into the living room. They all looked tense, including her men, which made Jessica feel queasy.

Jim spotted her out of the corner of his eye. He motioned her over and Jessica gladly slid under his arm and pressed tight against him.

The other girls had jumped to their feet.

"Let her go!" Sara yelled and gave Sean a shove.

"Sara!" Corey said stepping closer.

Leah's eyes fell on Jessica and Jessica was confused by the look of resolve that settled on Leah's face.

Leah stuck her chin up at Sean and yanked her arm free.

"You don't own me Sean. And this isn't your house. You can't kick anyone out of it. I'm ... we're ..." Leah said motioning with her head to the other girls, "are tired of being treated like second class citizens by all of you men." She said casting her eyes over Sean, Corey, Stan, Don, Chris, Mark and Caleb. "We want to be treated with the same respect that Jessica gets. You don't see her being sent home like some naughty little kid, or getting dragged around by her arm. And her men cook for her. So we're not going anywhere until you promise to treat us differently."

"Maybe if you acted more like Jessica ..." Corey muttered earning him a horrified look from Leah. And when Leah's face turned red, Sean glared at Corey.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sean demanded, turning away from Leah and looking like he was ready to pound Corey into the ground.
"If you'd talk to me I could explain it." Corey said but he looked embarrassed.

Still glaring at Corey, Sean said, "Tell them to get the fuck out of your house Riley. Please."

Riley looked over at Jessica. Her mouth was hanging open and she had that look on her face like she'd been falsely accused of something and couldn't figure out how to prove her innocence. It was clear that she had not been aware of the girls' plans to rebel but it wasn't clear if she supported it or not. Riley could guess though.

"What do you want me to do Jess?" he asked.

Jessica was having a hard time keeping up with what was happening. Somehow she had become the weapon in the disagreement between the girls and the men in Sean's clan. She hadn't wanted to be but she doubted that anyone, except maybe her men would believe that. She was dumbfounded and unable to think until Riley had asked her what to do. The look on his face ... Jim was right. Riley wanted to please her and he was going to get himself into trouble with Sean and the others because of that. She could see the anger in Sean's face as he glared at Riley. She looked around at Scott, Angus, Josh and finally up at Jim and they all looked at her expectantly. That stirred something within her. A ferocious need to protect them ... she recognized the feeling from the incident with Daryl. Pushing away from Jim she stepped forward.

"I've been trying to stay out of your affairs." Jessica said, looking from Sean to Corey and then back again, "I don't know you that well so I figured I should keep my opinions to myself. But that seems to have backfired on me and made Riley look like the bad guy. I was the one who told about you and Sara." She said to Sean, "Riley was just delivering the message for me. And so long as you're not hurting anyone ..." Jessica nodded from Sean to Leah, "no one is being kicked out of here."

She looked from Corey and Sean to the girls and then shook her head. "I don't understand you. You've lost so many loved ones in this war you have going on with the government. And yet, you don't appreciate the ones you have left. Your little sister and your best friend want to be together ..." Jessica said to Sean. "The two people in the world that you love most want to love each other. You should be happy about that, not mad. Corey wanted to tell you about this from the very beginning. But Leah wouldn't let him because for reasons that you never explained to her, you've forbidden her from dating. Anybody. How realistic is that? And rather than being her protector and confidante you forced her to fear you and hide things from you. Does that make sense? And you ..." she said turning to Leah. "have a brother who cares enough about you to, in his own deluded way, protect you. Even from his best friend. That's not something to just throw away. One day he may be gone and you'll wish you took the time to work things out with him. So, this is what's going to happen. It'll be daylight for a couple more hours. We," she said sweeping her men, Stan, Don, Caleb, Chris, Mark, Justine and Amanda with her gaze, "are going outside for those couple of hours. And you four," she said indicating Sean, Corey, Leah and Sara, "are going to work things out in here. Hopefully you can get past your egos and salvage what you had. That's up to you ... but please don't throw away what you have because you will regret it one day."

Jessica gave a quick glance around the room and found stunned expressions staring back at her. Jim and Josh were closest to her so she grabbed a hand of each and began walking to the front door. They trailed along behind her. Outside she stopped. Riley, Angus, Scott, Don, Stan, Caleb, Chris, Mark, Justine and Amanda had followed her out.

"Sorry." She said, "I guess I've got us all stuck out here."

"Not a problem." Chris said looking her up and down, "You gave me something to think about." He added with a smile. "And I'll do it walking the parameter. Justine, do you want to join me?" he added, holding his hand out to Justine.

Justine nodded and took his hand.

"We were going to head into town for the night." Don said, inclining his head toward Stan and Caleb.

"Actually, I was hoping to spend some time with Amanda." Caleb said.

"Really?" Stan asked, clearly surprised and Don looked surprised too.

"Yeah. Um, I kind of wanted to talk to all of you." Amanda said a pink flush coming to her cheeks, "Can we go into town together?"

"Ah ... okay." Don said in a bewildered way.

Jessica gave Amanda a thumbs up when Amanda looked at her for support.

"What was that about?" Jim asked, taking her hand back into his. Josh was still holding her other hand.

"Amanda wants to have a relationship with them." Jessica said.

"Really?" Scott asked.

Jessica nodded. "I guess we make it look appealing. But, there's kind of a wrinkle. She also wants to include Quinn ... from Tristan's clan?" she asked.

"We've heard of him." Riley said.

"That sounds ..." Scott started.

"Tricky." Angus finished for Scott.

"Yeah. I told her it may be awkward given that Quinn would be the odd man out. I think they may need your help with that." Jessica said.

Riley nodded his head while stepping forward and cupping Jessica's cheek with his hand. "Are you okay? I hadn't meant to put you on the spot like that."

"I'm fine. I guess I got a lot off my chest." She said with a smile.

"I'm sorry that you miss your brothers so much." Angus said. He sounded so sad, and when Jessica looked at him it was obvious that he was forcing himself to maintain eye contact with her.

"We all miss somebody." She said. "So." She said exhaling and looking around the front yard, "What do you want to do for the next few hours?"

"You mean aside from the obvious?" Scott asked wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, aside from that. I have my period, remember?"

"Painfully aware." Josh said.

"I got a request to stag out Ebony again." Scott said. "I figure that since it'll be a while still before you can ride Jess that I may as well do it. So, I should get him over to the client's farm. I'd invite you along Jess but the client is a member of another clan. I think it's better that you stay off his radar."

"I won't argue about that." Jessica said.

"We'll help you out." Jim said, and Josh nodded agreement.

"Got some work to do on the car." Angus said, "Wanna give me a hand? And it'll be friend time, promise." When Jessica looked at him skeptically.

"I'll check on the dogs." Riley said when Jessica moved to Angus' side. "See you in a bit."

*******************************************************

"They're still talking." Josh said jogging off the porch. The sun was going down and he'd just stuck his head in the door.

"Justine and I may take a trip into town then." Chris said. "Maybe go home for the night. If they're here," he tilted his head toward the house, "And you're staying, right?" he asked Abe and Rick who both nodded, "Then you should be covered for tonight. Right?" He asked Riley.

"Go ahead. See you tomorrow." Riley said and smiled when he noticed that Justine and Chris were holding hands.

"We'll be fine out here." Abe said, "We'll do a couple of rounds of the parameter. When they finally call it a night, we'll come in."

"That just leaves us." Jim said. "We can't very well setup our mattresses in the living room with them still there."

"We could setup in the basement." Angus said, "Plenty of room there."

"Not a good idea." Jessica said. "There's no way out of there ... believe me, I know." She said when the men looked at her in surprise.

"We can go out the way we came in, I'm pretty sure." Scott said with a laugh.

"We can't count on that if there's a fire." Jim said catching Jessica's drift.

"Or an attack." Jessica added.

"Good point." Riley said.

"We can unlock the window." Angus suggested.

"But the only one who could fit through that would be Jessica." Riley said.

"So what option do we have?" Scott demanded. "There's no way we'd fit those mattresses in one of the bedrooms."

"If we take the bed and dresser out we could." Josh said.

"Let's do it." Riley said.

"I'm going to unlock that window downstairs." Angus said, "There's no reason to keep it locked now." He said by way of explanation, "And it could be a good escape route for Jessica." He added, pulling Jessica into his arms. Jessica went gladly and snuggled into his chest.

"You look exhausted Jess." Jim said when she peeked out at him from Angus' embrace. "Why don't you take a bath while we get setup."

Jessica nodded. She was feeling pretty tired.

They were barely noticed by Sean, Corey, Sara and Leah while they snuck in and through to the back of the house.

Jessica was surprised by the lack of blood she found on her pad as she undressed. Normally she bled like a stuck pig. No pain and no blood, definitely the oddest period she'd ever had. She sunk into the water, feeling relaxed despite the sounds coming from the hallway as the men dragged the bed and dresser out of Riley's room. Not long after the men came into the bathroom.

"We're ready. Whenever you want to come out." Jim said but to Jessica's pleasure he looked like what he wanted more than anything was to get into the tub with her. The other men did too.

"Jess." Riley said, "I know you find it gross but we really don't care if you're bleeding while we have fuck. And we really want to fuck. Do you think you could live with it ... if we did ... fuck? Right now?"

Jessica felt a shiver of anticipation tingle over her.

"I'm not bleeding much." She said, "If you don't care then neither do I."

"Excellent." Scott said locking the bathroom door before hastily dropping his pants. Soon all the men were naked. Scott climbed into the tub with Jessica. "Angus, put a towel over the side of the tub. Jess, lean over the side, your ass on the outside." Scott said. "Jim, Josh, in here with me. You two work her breasts, and hold her by the back of the knees so her legs are spread. To avoid embarrassment Jess, you're going to suck me off while you orgasm. No screaming okay? Keep your mouth on my dick. Angus and Riley, one of you eat her out, the other fuck her up the ass."

"With pleasure ..." Riley said rubbing her butt cheek as he knelt down behind her and handed a leg to Jim who was kneeling in the tub, and her other leg to Josh who was on the other side. "You okay?" he asked when she teetered on the side of the tub in a frog like position. She nodded as Jim and Josh steadied her. Each pulled her knee as close to them as they could, parting her butt and pussy lips to their zenith.

"That's what I'm talking about ..." Angus said bring his thumb to her anus and pressing it in.

"Oh yeah ..." Riley said, sliding onto his back under Jessica and looking at her pink, tender meat. "Do you mind if I take the tampon out?" he asked tugging gently on the string that hung out of her hole.

"No," Jessica said breathlessly.

Riley pulled it out and tossed it aside. Jessica sighed when he slid his hand onto her wet meat and then a few fingers into her hole. At the same time Jim and Josh took a breast each into their mouths and Scott slid his cock between her lips. No longer worried about falling off the side of the tub, Jessica slid her hand along the shafts of Jim and Josh's cock, and began to stroke. Pleasure shot through her when Riley's tongue and teeth met her pussy meat and Angus slid into her anus. Jessica began to make noise as pleasure mounted, Angus and Scott pumped, Riley nipped her clitoris, and Jim and Josh bit and pulled her nipples. Scott clamped his hands around her jaw and cheek bones.

"Suck Jess, suck ... no noise. That's it ..." he encouraged and moments later they all came.

Hours later they lay in a tangled mess on the mattresses in Riley's room. They had gone on for half an hour longer in the bathroom changing positions several times. Then they'd come to the bedroom and gone at it like crazy. To Jessica pleasant surprise the men made the hourly test ridiculously easy and she was able to service them without issue every hour. And somehow, she didn't know how, they brought her more intense pleasure than she'd experience before. Barely containing her screams.

Jessica had her arms thrown around Jim. She couldn't help but pulse her pelvis against him, warm swirls of tingling pleasure running through her. She rubbed his ear with one hand and kissed his chest. Angus lay with his head by her thigh, his face pressed against it. Riley, his head pressed against her butt, Josh's, the small of her back, and Scott's her shoulders.

"Jess?" Angus asked. Everyone had been silent and presumably asleep but Jessica kept moving her pelvis.

"Mhmmm?"

"What was the joke that you told Josh? That night Riley and I came home from a job? The last time we went out."

"That was a good one." She said in a dreamy tone.

"Fuck yeah." Josh agreed. The other men, roused themselves to listen too.

"So, there's this old couple." She said in a lazy tone, "They're like ninety or something, and they just get married and go on their honeymoon. They're in their honeymoon suite when the old guy goes for a shower. The bride gets naked, lays down on the bed and decides that she should do some stretching exercises to limber up for the night of sex. So, she puts each of her legs behind one of the bed posts on the bed and then she gets stuck. So the old guy comes out of the shower, takes one look at her and says, 'For God sakes Bertha, comb your hair and put in your teeth!'"

They all erupted into laughter, Josh and Jessica finding it just as funny the second time around.

Jessica felt Angus move away from her leg. Looking up she saw him leaning over her, looking at her face. "Not even light pink this time." He said brushing his lips over her cheek.

"Nope." She said. "Not even my body is embarrassed around you guys anymore."

"Good. That's good ..." Angus said, kissed her cheek and went to lay down by her thigh again.

"We should get to sleep." Riley said. "Terry, Craig and Jay said they'd be here early tomorrow."

No sooner had they said good night then they were all asleep.

****************************************************

Jessica lay panting in the grass. The next morning had come quickly, the physiotherapists arriving at six in the morning.

They'd skipped breakfast and gone out to get on with the physiotherapy. Jessica had been too groggy at first to wonder what had happened with Sean, Corey, Sara and Leah. But after an hour of exercise Jessica waited on the grass while Abe went to the bathroom and Terry went to refill her water bottle. They'd been hesitant to leave her alone but she had convinced them that the brush they were behind made it a well hidden place for her to wait. And as she caught her breath she was beginning to wonder what had happened to Sean, Corey, Sara and Leah. A sound caught her attention and she looked up just in time to see Sean step out of the woods. He was carrying a rifle and he looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

He scanned the clearing and seeing no one around he walked closer to her. He reached behind his back, produced a hand gun and handed it butt end to Jessica.

"I guess I don't have to ask if you know how to use it." He said with a crooked grin, "You shouldn't be out here without protection."

"Thanks." She said taking the gun, "Abe and Terry will be back in a minute."

"I'm glad to see that you can look at me again." He said locking his eyes with hers.

"Oh, that. I'd just found out that you guys heard the men and I ..." she said, her face flaming red, "the other night." She lowered her eyes. "I was embarrassed."

Jessica was surprised when Sean sat down beside her.

"Chris shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

"Thanks." Jessica said forcing herself to look at Sean despite her embarrassment.

"I'm glad I have a chance to talk to you alone." Sean said, "I wanted to say thanks for what you said yesterday. It smartened us up, a lot."

"So things are okay?"

"Not completely, not yet. But they will be."

"I'm glad." Jessica said.

"Me too." Sean said. "Corey told me about the jam session he had with you, Scott, Jim and Josh. Do you think you'd do it again? I'd like to join in."

"Yeah. Of course. Any time." Jessica said.

"Sean?" Riley asked, appearing in the clearing with Abe and Terry. His eyes wandered between Sean and Jessica and he seemed to be searching for signs of trouble.

"Hey." Sean said getting up. "Stumbled across Jessica out here alone. Gave her a gun."

Jessica waved the handgun in the air as proof.

"Thanks." Riley said and visibly relaxed. "We're done for the morning." He continued, "And we figured we'd all go out to the pond for a swim. You want to join us?" he asked Sean.

"Yeah, sure." Sean said.

"I've gotta go." Terry said, "But I'll see you tomorrow. Same time."

Jessica was beside herself with excitement all the way to the pond despite the fact that the men insisted she wear a t-shirt and shorts to swim in instead of a bathing suit, and the fact that the men didn't feel that she was well enough to ride alone so she'd had to double ride with Scott on his horse to get to the pond. Sean, Corey, Chris, Sara, Leah and Justine came also and although they seemed to be feeling each other out and gradually adjusting to changes in their relationships, they seemed happy. Mark came also and Jessica still wondered how he was going to fit in to the changing dynamics of the clan. He was partnerless. But Jessica couldn't see any evidence that it bothered him.

Not even half an hour after getting to the pond, Jessica was drowsing in the sun, her head on Jim's lap when she heard horses approaching. Opening her eyes she saw Don, Stan, Caleb, Amanda and a fourth dark haired man who Jessica deduced was Quinn, dismount from their horses.

"Well I'll be damned." Angus muttered beside her and got up.

"I guess they're going to give it a go." Jim said. Jessica got up and so did Jim. Riley, Scott and Josh had just gone for a swim. They climbed on shore dripping wet but moved toward the new arrivals.

All the men converged, each taking turns shaking hands with Quinn. Justine, Sara and Leah had moved next to Jessica and Amanda drifted over too.

"They said yes?" Justine asked.

Amanda nodded and looked back at her men. "They agreed to try. It is a little awkward and I really don't know how it'll work out. I kind of feel sorry for Quinn ..."

"You'll all have to be patient." Jessica said shielding her eyes as the group of men began to drift toward her and the girls.

"Quinn," Amanda said taking his hand, "I think you know my cousins Leah and Justine ... my friend Sara ..." Quinn nodded a hello to each of the girls, "and this is Jessica."

"I've heard a lot about you." He said putting his hand out for a handshake. Jessica took it but couldn't help turn beet red, imagining exactly what he'd heard about her. "It was all good." He said in confusion as she turned even redder.

"It's nice to meet you." Jessica said and was grateful when Angus distracted Quinn by asking about Tristan and the welfare of the other men in his clan.

"I'm sorry." Amanda said when the men had moved away, "I had to tell him about you and your men to explain why I thought our relationships would work. I didn't go into any detail, I promise."

Jessica nodded though she was quite certain that even if Amanda didn't go into detail Don, Stan or Caleb probably had. But she shook off the embarrassment. Looking around the clearing she realized that with the exception of Abe and Rick, the group of people relaxing in the clearing were going to be part of her extended family. She toyed with the notion of suggesting that Abe and Rick be invited also but she wasn't as confident in the probability of them leaving the clan as she was the others. They didn't have a long lasting relationship with her men and that was what she was gambling on being the key to getting them to agree to leave. Eyeing Quinn, who stood talking to Riley, she realized that he too was a liability in the plan.
"Let's swim." Amanda suggested.

Jessica decided not to worry about the logistics of leaving until it got closer to the time.

"At least you get to wear a bathing suit." Jessica mumbled as Amanda pulled off her clothes to reveal a rather revealing bathing suit under them. Someone had obviously called to tell her that they were swimming. Even Leah, Justine and Sara were only in their underwear.

"It's part of my plan." She said, her back to the men, "Is it working?"

"Plan for what?" Justine asked.

"To assimilate Quinn and the others."

Jessica looked toward the men and found Quinn, Stan, Don and Caleb staring at Amanda.

"I think they're drooling." Jessica said.

"Perfect. Come on." She said taking one of Jessica's hands and one of Sara's hands and dragging them to the pond. Leah and Justine following. "And later we'll have to get help putting sun lotion on." Amanda added, stretching slowly and deliberately at the edge of the pond.

"You are bad ..." Leah giggled.

Jessica felt anticipation shoot through her as she looked over her shoulder again and found her own men watching her intently.

"We definitely wouldn't want to burn." Jessica said and jumped into the water before her desire could become too obvious.

They'd been at the pond for most of the day and Jessica didn't have a chance to get even slightly pink. The second she was out of the water one of her men was lathering her up with sun screen. Which would have been nice if it hadn't been so distracting. She had to keep reminding herself that there would be plenty of time for sex later that night.

By the time they got back to the house it was dinner time.

"You need some lawn chairs." Justine said to Jessica as the girls spread their towels out on the grass.

"Lawn chairs, on the list." Josh said as he walked by them on his way to the house.

"What list?" Leah asked.

Jessica shrugged.

"I'd like to know why we can't go in the house." Sara said. On their return Riley had told the girls to relax in the sun and to not, under any circumstances, come into the house.

"That is curious." Jessica said while stretching out on the towel.

"How do you think Quinn fit in?" Amanda asked.

"He seemed to get along fine with everyone." Sara said.

"What the ...?" Justine said when Quinn, Scott, Sean, Corey and Chris came over each with a glass in his hand. Scott stopped in front of Jessica, Quinn in front of Amanda, Corey in front of Leah, Sean in front of Sara and Chris in front of Justine.

"For you." Scott said bowing slightly and holding the glass out to Jessica. The other men did the same with their respective loves.

"Thank you." Jessica said taking the glass and sipping the fruity drink that was ninety percent rum. "What's going on?" Jessica asked.

"Glad you asked." Chris said.

"Steaks are on ..." Quinn said wiggling his eyebrows at Amanda.

"And you ladies can just relax here while we serve on you hand and foot." Corey said.

"Date night ..." Jessica exclaimed.

"That it is my dear." Scott said.

"Date night?" Leah asked.

"Food, drink, dancing ... date night." Scott said and with a wink and a crooked grin, he turned and left. The other men followed.

"This could be interesting." Sara said.

"You'll love it." Jessica said leaning back on her elbows.

"I already do." Leah said lifting her glass in an air toast.

Off in the distance Jessica could see Abe and Rick, rifles slung over their shoulders, heading toward the woods. Jim called their names and then jogged over to them. Abe pointed at the woods. Jim shook his head and pointed at the house. They spoke a little more and then Jim planted his hand on Abe's shoulder. Abe and Rick looked at one another and then Abe nodded his head. Jim clapped Abe's shoulder again, and then Rick's as they all turned and headed back to the house. Jessica smiled. So it looked like the men liked Abe and Rick too. That would be something to consider when deciding whether to take them with them when they left the clan. And Jessica was glad that Abe and Rick weren't going to be left out of the date night. They were dating after all.

For the next hour the men waited on the girls. Pulling the chairs out for them every time they needed to get up from or return to the table. They poured wine, served food, dessert, and then they danced. Abe and Rick rotated in with each of the girls but never showed any affection for one another. Jessica found it sad that they couldn't be themselves. But they seemed to be having fun anyway.

Near the end of the night the girls sat on the sofa giggling.

"Now that was romantic." Leah said.

"I think we'll be calling it a night soon." Sara said, "And Sean asked me to come home with him."

"I think we're all going ..." Justine said, "Chris asked me too."

"Abe and Rick will stand guard I guess?" Amanda asked.

"I guess." Jessica said.

"Hey Jess. I heard that you're going to get your high school diploma." Leah said.

"Yup."

"Do you mind if we do too, with you?" Leah asked indicating the other girls.

... continued in 8b