"Dude. What the fuck?"

All I could do was shrug helplessly as I got back in my car. Fortunately, Kelk wasn't pissed, he was just confused.

"No, seriously man, what the fuck?" he continued. "I mean, I'm used to people not seeing me, but that's when I'm supposed to be invisible, not when I'm in the middle of a conversation with them!

It's like, as soon as you pulled into the drive way, I stopped existing. Just poof, no more alien in the back seat. And don't try to pretend that you didn't just spend the last half hour getting laid, because that girl's attention was locked on your dick like a heat seeking missile aimed at the sun."

"Okay, yes, I just got laid," I said as I backed us out onto the road. "But I don't understand it any more than you do. I mean, if it had just been a thank you kiss or something? Yeah, sure. But as soon as we got inside she went full on Arabian Nights on me. The strangest thing is, I could have said no. Hell, I probably should have. But when it came down to it, I couldn't. It was like I was following a script I hadn't bothered to rehearse."

Kelk thought about that for a moment. "Disney or Dreamworks version?"

"Neither," I said, shaking my head. "Skinemax version."

"Ooooh, kinky. Did she do the thing with the veils and the half twist and the saber?"

We came to a red light, giving me the opportunity to turn around and give Kelk a puzzled stare. "We barely had enough time for her to pull her tits out, and that was with them being on easy access menu and all that. Where the hell was she going to get twenty-one veils and a saber from?"

Kelk twisted his head back and forth; I guess a xenomorph's shoulders aren't really designed for

shrugging. "I dunno, but you have to admit, it would have been kind of hot if she had."

I just shook my head and waited for the light to turn green. The rest of the drive was taken up by small talk, as Kelk tried to catch me up on what he had been doing for the past few weeks. He described all sorts of strange planets and alien races I had never heard of, talked about fighting in wars and battles in places that couldn't possibly exist. It all sounded like so much nonsense to me, but then I was the one driving around with an alien in the back seat.

It was still light out when we got back to the house, and the first thing Kelk did after crawling out of the car was to pop the trunk and remove a large red suede suitcase. He didn't even wait to go inside before opening it up and removing what looked like a human corpse. Tarenth are kind of strange looking, even taking into account that they're aliens. They normally stand about six to seven feet tall, but only because they have reverse-jointed, bird like legs. Stretch them out to their full height and they actually reach between nine to ten feet tall. Their bodies are covered in short grey fur, and their arms seem freakishly long depending on whether or not they are standing up straight. Their heads are oval shaped and their foreheads sort of tilt backwards. Their eyes are vertical, rather than horizontal, with cat-like pupils and no iris. They also have no nose, but instead of two pairs of mandibles that frame their mouths, which are triangular shaped and lined with razor sharp, shark like teeth meant to shred their food rather than chew it.

Well, at least I think that's what they look like. Kelk is one of the only two Tarenth I've ever met. The other, Uluin, spends all his time living in suits of constantly modified battle armor. If that sounds strange, well, there are two thing to know about the Tarenth. First, as a race, they are almost ridiculously paranoid. A long, long time in a galaxy far, far away the Tarenth sort of picked a fight with their version of God and both sides won, but they also nearly got wiped out in the process. The survivors swore never to end up in the same situation again, and have done everything they can to make sure it doesn't. Stealth technology, shield technology, transwarp technology, you name it, they have it. They also make a point of "losing" a new colony every year, normally by reprogramming a planned colony ship and launching it to the ass end of nowhere. Then they just write it off until if and when the colony decides to phone home. The other thing to know about the Tarenth is that they spend most of their lives dead. Tarenth don't shuffle off the mortal coil the way a human does, but rather their spirit sort of lingers around. It isn't as great as it sounds, though. The spirits can only really make sounds and cause some electrical interference in their natural state, so until the Tarenth developed the proper technology most of the ghosts spent the majority of their time slowly going insane from boredom, resulting in an entirely new species of psychotic poltergeist. Kelk is actually about two thousand years old, and the bodies he carries with him are his own self-designed creations.

One second the xenomorph was standing on its hind legs, and the next it was crumpling into a lifeless heap as the corpse picked itself up on wobbly knees. Kelk's head spun in a full three-sixty and he waggled his arms and legs as he reacquainted himself with the nerve relays of his body. Once he was sure he had everything under proper control, he picked up the xenomorph and stuffed it into the suitcase. It might not have looked like there was enough room, but there wasn't even a bulge in the suede as he zipped it closed. He then picked it up and held it casually over one shoulder before turning to ask me, "Going to show me inside?"

"I suppose I should," I said. The house was quiet as I opened the front door, so I yelled out, "Is anyone home?"

"I'm in here, getting dinner ready!" Momma Fey called back from the kitchen. Kelk and I

dropped our bags on the couch and went to say hello. It looked almost like a scene from one of those classic 50's sitcoms. Momma Fey had pulled her hair back into a tidy little bun, and then wrapped it in a white and blue checkered scarf. She was busy rolling dough to bake into rolls for dinner, and even had a smudge of flour on her left cheek, which was the closest thing to a mess I could see. The counters were spotless, the table was spotless, hell, even the rolling board was spotless save for a perfectly shaped flour ring. She was whistling while she worked, a happy little tune that I couldn't quite place. Her apron was white, with little yellow and blue daisies embroidered around the edges.

It was also the only thing she was wearing. The rather large bow tied over her ass just sort of

emphasized that fact.

Kelk let out a quiet whistle. "Damn, man, you really have scored the jackpot. Why the hell didn't you call me earlier?"

"Because I just got here?" I said equally quietly. A little louder I said, "Hi, mom! Sorry, I probably should have called, but I ran into Kelk at school and he was wondering if he could crash here for a couple of days."

"Oh!" Momma Fey turned around in surprise, and I heard Kelk's breathing quicken as he got a

better look at the front. The apron was tied fairly tight, the better to emphasize her cleavage. It was also

cut fairly low, so every time she moved the lace around the edges would shift, offering teasing glances of her nipples. It was damned distracting, and I could feel my body responding. Honestly, that was more than a little worrying. Not that I was reacting, but the fact that I was able to still react. I'd already had three goes, one of which had been less than ten minutes ago, and I could still get it up. We're not just talking about half-mast either, but slap a sail on and go around the world, I was that hard and ready. It didn't even ache. Say what you will, but bad pornos aside the penis is still a muscle, and like any other muscle it can be exhausted if it works out too long. This was just surreal.

"I'm sorry, boys, I didn't realize you were there," Momma Fey said with a smile.

"Holy Theiss, may your name be ever blessed," Kelk whimpered. I smacked him in the stomach with the back of my hand.

"That's okay," I said, before Kelk could get another word in. "Hey, is it all right if Kelk spends a couple nights here? He just got into town and he hasn't had time to find a place of his own yet."

"Of course!" Momma Fey's smile didn't seem to move. It was like it had been plastered to her

face, like some creepy porcelain doll. "He can use the guest bedroom next to the living room for as long as he needs! It's not like we've been using it for anything else, now have we?" She turned to look at Kelk. "Don't think you're imposing on us, dear. There's a small bathroom right next to it, so you won't have to worry about sharing a bathroom with three women in the morning, unlike the poor fool dating my daughters. "

"I do suppose I resemble that remark," I said. On the other hand, considering their tendency to wander around without any clothes on...

"Speaking of which, do you know when the girls will be home?" Momma Fey asked.

I shrugged. "I'm surprised they didn't beat me here, actually. I know Max had one more class,

but I sort of got detoured dealing with Kelk."

"And other things," Kelk said with a bit of a snigger. This earned him another backhand to the stomach.

"Oh, they must have gone shopping then," Momma Fey said as she turned back to her rolls.

"Probably just wanted some new outfits for the new school year or something like that. I'll give them a call and tell them to hurry it up so that they're not late for dinner. You two can go and make yourselves comfortable, there are cokes in the fridge if you would like some."

"Thanks, Momma," I said as I opened the fridge to fetch out a pair of bright red cans. "We'll just leave you to it then?"

"Of course, dear, have fun!"

I led Kelk to the back of the house, following a set of phantom memories to a largish sitting room. The wall with the door was decorated with panels of dark brown wood coming up to about waist height, before giving way to solid black paint. Then in front of the wall someone had placed a rather complex looking entertainment system, with at least half a dozen speakers occupying their own individual cabinets, with four more speakers occupying the corners of the room. The TV at the center was sitting on the floor, as it was easily as tall as Kelk and equally as wide. The attention to detail was so great that it was not only possible to pick out an actor's nose hairs, but to count each one individually as well. A battered old leather couch sat ten feet back from the TV, flanked by a pair of equally well used reclining chairs, with standing lamps occupying the corners formed by their arrangement. The other three walls weren't decorated, but were instead occupied by floor to ceiling bookshelves, stocked with everything from leather bound classics to cheap paperback novels. There wasn't an empty space to be had, nor was there a speck of dust to be seen. It was possible that someone was dedicated to preserving the books, or that they each got read so often that there just wasn't time for dust to collect on them, but a suspicious part of me couldn't help but wondering if they just hadn't been there long enough...

"Well, you definitely found yourself one hell of a pad to crash in," Kelk said as he picked one of the chairs and flopped into it. "This is going to make for a great vacation home. And even better, I won't need to worry about Lilok stopping by to drag me off for another mission! Absolutely perfect!"

"Who is Lilok?" I asked before taking a sip of coke. It was pleasantly cold and crisp as it slid down my throat. I couldn't stop myself from guzzling it, and let out a thunderous belch as I set the empty can

"Thank you, we shall be serving all afternoon," Kelk said hoisting his own can in

acknowledgement. "And Lilok is my wife. Great in the sack, and I love her dearly, but my god does the woman have an obsession for war. I don't mind getting my own hands dirty, but I have always been

more of a lover than a fighter."

A frown worked its away across my face. How could Kelk be one of my oldest friends and I not remember that he had a wife? But if he wasn't my friend, how had he known what was going on in my memories? The only way for him to have known what I was thinking about was if he had been there himself...or had some way of reading my mind. The alternative was that someone had somehow managed to give him my memories, which was an entirely new sort of terrifying. On the flip side, I knew all about the Tarenth. So if someone had been plugging memories into his head, that meant they must have been plugging the same memories into my head. If that was the case, why hadn't they done a better job? If they were that powerful than there should have been no reason to leave behind the gaps I was still trying to fill in. All they would have needed to do was make sure that I had a perfectly tailored backstory to make me into the perfect little puppet, content to dance to whatever tune they wanted.

There were only two conclusions I could come to. Either I knew something they didn't, and therefore they couldn't give me a straight brainwipe without overwriting that to, or there was something they wanted me to do, something that required me to have my own will behind the matter. That made Kelk either a carrot or a stick, I wasn't sure which, but either way I knew I was going to have to be more wary around my newfound alien sidekick.

Before I could say or do anything, however, the girls came bursting through the den door. Their arms were loaded down with shopping bags all filled to the brim with clothes and accessories, though both Summer and Max moved as if they weren't carrying any weight at all. Max had changed outfits and was now dressed in a brown leather half jacket, left partiallly unzipped to reveal that there wasn't anything on underneath, and a pair of matching spray-on leather pants. Summer, in contrast, had gone for a sheer white blouse that hugged her tits and a white mini-skirt that wasn't tight enough to avoid riding up as she sat down on my lap. She started squirming as she faked trying to get comfortable, a not-too-subtle hint that she wasn't wearing any underwear. I was beginning to wonder if this world ever wasn't about sex.

We talked for another half hour or so, while the house slowly filled with the smell of wonderful foods. Summer and Max weren't exactly the most polite hosts, however. They would talk with Kelk, but they wouldn't engage with him. They would reply or comment if I talked to him, or if he addressed them directly, but any time he tried to change the conversation away from things they wanted to talk about then they would close up without an extra word in sideways. They would at least answer direct questions, though they seemed to do so robotically, and never bothered to elaborate or explain their answers unless he or I pressed the issue, even something simple like, "How was your day?"

Instead they spent the entire time fawning all over me, taking any and every opportunity to flash me a bit of skin, give me a brief touch, offer me a peek down their shirts, or just rub up against me like a pair of cat in heats. They acted like Kelk wasn't even there, just as Kirsten had done.

Momma Fey more than made up for it, however. Once she had dinner on the table she was all over her alien house guest. She laughed at every joke, no matter how corny, and kept offering him extra helpings. Kelk, having an artificial stomach and no good way to say no, was eating it all up like a starving man who'd just come through the desert to discover that he'd won a lifetime free access to an all-you-can-eat buffet. A few odd thumps under the table were enough to tell me they had taken to playing footsie, and by the time dessert was served she was sitting on his lap with her apron at a very strange angle. I was half tempted to yell, "Hand check!" or would have been, if Max and Summer hadn't been giving me just as much attention. One of the girls sat on either side of me, and they both proved to be rather adept at eating one-handed, while their other hand fooled around inside my pocket.

They could barely wait to get me upstairs once dinner had been cleared away. We left Kelk to flirt with Momma Fey over huge cups of Irish coffee. By that point his hand was well inside her lap, and she was making no effort to push it away. Summer pulled me up the stairs while Max pushed, not that I offered much resistance. They shoved me through the door to my room, and Max slammed it closed behind us as I bounced on to the bed. I turned to face them and assumed the fiercest look of mock sterness I could muster. "Now, see here! Just what do you two wenches think you are up to, to manhandle me so?"

"Wench, is it?" Max asked as her eyes rose. She turned to Summer. "Are you a wench?"

"Oh, I am quite the saucy wench," Summmer replied, rolling her hips with a dancer's flair. She pulled her shirt over her head and threw it at me. "A saucy, excited wench as you can clearly see!"

So I could. Her nipples were already erect, their dark flush standing out beautifully against her pale skin. It seemed to me that they were begging to be sucked on, and my mouth watered at the thought of giving in to those demands. Her hips shimmied as she dropped her shorts, and then there she stood in all her naked glory.

"Saucy is good," Max said with a nod. "But what if he would prefer a bit of spice instead?" She started taking off her own clothes, but at a much more leisurely pace. She started with the zipper on her jacket, tugging it all the way open while leaving the rest of the jacket in place. She reached for her belt next, an intricate bit of leather held together by a row of backward facing C-hooks caught on a steel bar. She clicked it open and let it hang loose as she reached for the buttons closing her pants. All eyes were on her as she popped them open one by one. The weight of her belt slowly peeled her pants down, exposing a neatly trimmed triangle of hair. By any legal standard she was still clothed. By any standard of decency she was as naked as the day she was born, and my cock ached at the thought of seeing more.

"So, what will it be?" Summer asked. "Saucy or spicy?"

"I think I will have the spice sauce,

please," I answered. Both girls groaned at my cheesy reply, so I stuck out my tongue at them. "Hey, you started it!"

"So? What are you going to do about it?" Max challenged.

"This," I said, shrugging. I leapt off the bed long enough to seize both girls by the wrist, then threw myself backwards, pulling them down with me. Both girls yelped as they tumbled into the bed, each landing to one side. Summer recovered first, twisting towards me to break my grip before rolling on top of me so that she was straddling my face. Her bare cunt was only a few short inches from my lips, and the smell of her arousal was nearly overwhelming. Summer, however, was in total control. She grabbed me by the hair and pulled my head forward, shoving my mouth against her pussy. Normally I like to take my time with these things, but if she was that eager then who was I to argue? I grabbed her by the ass, squeezing tight to hold her steady, and thrust my tongue into her swollen folds. Delicious, simply delicious.

Summer began to twitch as I ate her out, her entire body trembling like a leaf in the wind. Her legs squeezed against the side of my head, and her fingers pulled at my hair until it began to hurt. It was worth it, though, especially when her self control broken enough that she began to whimper in pleasure.

I was just about to push Summer over the edge when Max struck. I had been too distracted to notice her removing my jeans, and it was just as much a surprise when she swallowed my cock. There was nothing subtle about her approach. Two long swallows was all it took for her to have her mouth sealed around the base of my dick. My entire body shook as she sucked hard, letting her throat do all the work of massaging the sensitive ridge around the crown of my penis. I tried to thrust to meet her, as if it would be possible to actually go any deeper, but she was using all of her weight to pin me to the bed. All I could do was growl into Summer's cunt, which she matched with a delighted squeal.
"Ohshit, ohshit, ohshit," Summer gasped as she came. It was a good thing she wasn't a squirter, or I would probably have been dead by drowning. It still might have been bad if she had just dropped on to my face, but she had just enough presence of mind left to sit back on my chest instead. She bent over and kissed me, then ran her tongue over my lips to lap the last traces of her juices off my skin.

Max gave her head one last shake, which nearly caused me to blow then and there. Instead she pulled off me with a wet, pop. "What, done already?"

"No," Summer gasped as she shook her head. "But that was one hell of an appetizer!"

I groaned in frustration. "Enough of the food references! You're going to make me hungry!"

"Then I just need to give you something to eat, don't I?" Max taunted. "Come on, Summer, switch places. Just don't let him come yet!"

"Aww, but I want to watch and play!" Summer pouted. "Ooh, I know! Face me when you're in position, ok?"

Max nodded, and one girl went left while the other went right. It was a well practiced maneuver, and I soon had Max squatting over my face. She was much more insistent, and began rocking her hips back and forth in anticipation. The lips of her pussy were swollen and slick and I couldn't help but steal a taste while Summer was still setting up. Max moaned appreciatively, which got us scolded by Summer. "Hey, no fair starting without me!"

"Sorry," I mumbled through a face full of Max.

"She is tasty, isn't she?" Summer asked as she stepped in front of Max.

"Mhmm." I couldn't really speak with my tongue tucked into Max's pussy, so I sort of hummed it instead.

"Oh!" Max squealed as a body shaking tremor ripped up her spine. "Don't do that!"

"Mhmm."

"Hey, what did I say about starting without me?" Summer insisted.

"Mhmm."

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Summer bent down and grabbed Max by the wrists, sliding her girlfriend's hands up her legs and place them on her ass. Summer spread her legs to grant Max access to her cunt as she ordered, "Hold me steady."

Max's only response was to bury her face between Summer's thighs and get to licking, nibbling, and sucking. Summer groaned as raw pleasure started flickering across her nerves. Taking a deep breath to recover some semblance of self control, she then slowly bent backwards so that her body formed an arch connecting the three of us. She carefully raised her legs over Max's shoulders, then crossed them so that her ankles were resting against the other girl's back. Her arms locked as she placed the majority of her weight on her spread hands. That meant she had nothing but her tongue and lips to grab my cock with, and I couldn't stop myself from making it twitch out of her reach. Her only response was to blow it on it, causing me to freeze as a shiver ran down my spine. She seized the moment and dipped her head forward, only for my cock to bounce off her nose instead.

Her initial failure pushed her over the edge. She lunged forward a second time, sucking my dick into her mouth...and then clamped down on it with her teeth, threatening decapitation if I continued to resist. I immediately went still as she pushed my foreskin back with her tongue, exposing the sensitive little where skin joined to muscle. She was absolutely merciless as she ran her tongue around over it in spasm inducing circles, and I hissed as little white shocks of pleasure started exploding behind my eyes.

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Max wiggled her hips for emphasis. I quickly went back to eating her out.

It was hard to focus with my attention split between both girls, so I decided to stick to tonguing Max's clit as she continued to nibble on Summer, who continued to suck on me. Their breathing grew harsher the longer we stayed like that, with only the occasional gasp or whimper to warn of our impending orgasms. I felt my balls begin to tighten as Summer drove me past my breaking point, and I tried to cry out a warning that only came out as a muffled moan when Max pressed harder against my mouth. Fortunately, I wasn't that deep when I came, and Summer managed to catch most of it in her mouth. Only a tiny little bit trickled out between her lips to land on my thigh, which she dutifully licked up.

"Oh, fuck," Max gasped as Summer pulled away. Summer wasn't done, however. She used her feet to push off the headboard into a handstand, then tucked back the other way so that she was crouched on hands and knees over my legs - all without spilling or swallowing a drop of my come. Summer then straightened up and slid forward. She moved so that she was straddling my hips, the better to grind her cunt along the length of my still-hard shaft. It was so close to my orgasm that my senses nearly whited out from overload. I almost missed it as Summer pulled Max in for a kiss.

"Mmm, tasty," Max sighed a moment later. "Thanks for sharing, love."

"Any...time," Summer panted as she continued to squirm on top of me. Her hands pressed against my chest, so that between the two of them I was utterly pinned to the bed. Didn't mean I couldn't use my arms, though, and Summer was pretty light. It only took me one hand to grab her by the ass and lift her up long enough for my free hand to guide my dick into her pussy. She let out a squeak as I let go, allowing gravity to the

rest of the work of impaling her.

"Gods you're tight," I gasped. It felt so good to be inside of her. I wasn't suffering from the confusion that I had been earlier that morning, so I was in a better position to savor the feel of her hot cunt wrapped around my pole. Summer went limp as I slid my hands up her hips, letting me do all the work as I guided her up and down in time with my thrusts. She had perfect muscle control and would tighten down every time I slid into her, keeping us to a slow and steady pace. I didn't mind. Not only had I just come, but it also gave me the perfect opportunity to make up for my abbreviated performance earlier that morning. It wasn't fucking but making love, and for the first time that day I finally found myself at peace with everything that had been happening to me.

"You two look so beautiful together," Max whispered as she curled up next o us. She began to slowly stroke Summer's back with one hand, while the other was busy between her legs.

"We love you, too," Summer promised as she leaned over to kiss the other girl. Her entire body began to tremble as I pushed her towards orgasm. I knew she was there when her grip on me tightened but didn't relax. She didn't scream or cry out, but got this dazed, almost drugged look on her face. Her entire body went limp as the moment passed, and for several moments just lay on top of me, breathing hard as she waited for the haze to clear. I was still stiff and inside of her, but I refused to move, not wanting to spoil the moment for her.

"Uf," Summer finally moaned as she pushed herself up and sideways. She had just enough energy to get clear of me before collapsing back onto the bed and curling up in a ball.

"You okay?" Max asked. She sat up to get a better look at Summer, obviously concerned.

"Now? Yes!" Summer giggled. "Ask me again in the morning, though. Slow and steady doesn't just win the race, it stretches a girl, too!"

"Gods, I hope so," Max moaned as she lay back down. She grabbed my arm with both hands and spread her legs by way of invitation. She reached between us as I climbed on top of her to guide my cock into her slit. Her legs wrapped around my waist, pulling me in as she bucked her hips up to meet me.

Sex with Summer had been slow and gentle. Sex with Max was all energy, and even when she was on the bottom there was no question over who was in control. All I could was grip the head board and bend my head to lap at her tits as our bodies slammed together. Max probably wasn't quite as tight as Summer was, but I didn't notice. Her skin burned like it was on fire, and I swear she was purring as her nails raked my back. Our hips rolled together as one, so that I was always sheathed at her deepest point. She screamed when she came, a sound like a proud wild cat as her body started to convulse. She was loud enough that I clamped my hand down over her mouth in fear that she might disturb Kelk or Momma Fey, but that just seemed to excite her even more. Then it was nearly my turn to scream as she sank her teeth into the palm of my hand. I managed to keep it to a shocked hiss and pull out just as her body went limp the same way Summer's had.

"Did you come?" Max asked between breaths. She pushed herself up on her elbows, seemingly needing less time to recover than Summer.

"Not that time, no." I gave her a small shake of the head.

"We should do something about that then, shouldn't we?" Summer asked as she sat up as well. She crawled behind me and wrapped her slender arms around my body. One hand encircled my cock as the other began to fondly my nipple. My shaft was slick with both their juices, making it easy for her to find her rhythm as she jerked me off. Max looked me in the eye as she began to play with her own tits, squeezing them together and tugging at her nipples, offering them targets. It wasn't long before I felt the familiar pressure begin to rise once more. I grunted when I couldn't hold it any longer and then it all came shooting out, landing on Max's skin in thick white puddles.

Summer slipped past me as I sat back on my heels. She dipped her finger in the fresh come, carefully gathering it into one place, and then began to spread it around Max's stomach. When she was done she had sketched something that looked like a stretched and inverted S, flanked on each side by two broad, vaguely wing-shaped designs. When the drawing was completed she placed her hand over it and recited:

"Bound by the Seed of Life,

Through Time and Space eternal,

Never thwarted by the Divine or Infernal,

And beyond the pale of Death,

Our Souls now enjoined,

'Til the Infinite's fateful breath."

Summer then lay down on the bed as Max scooped up the remaining semen and poured it on to Summer's skin in order to repeat the ritual. When Max finished, I swear I heard a single musical note, one that sounded like the taste of chocolate and wine. Everything around me suddenly clearer, more in focus, like a TV that had started getting a stronger signal. I wasn't just sitting next to the girls, but could feel them sitting next to me. The best I can describe it as a sort of spiritual/emotional gravity between the three of us. There was a new awareness of each of them in the back of my mind, and with just a little bit of concentration I found I could feel their emotions. I couldn't read their minds, not exactly, but I could tell that both girls were as content as the cat who had finally caught the proverbial canary.

"Wh-what did you do?" I stammered. I wasn't exactly comfortable with yet another change to my already battered grip on reality.

"Its just an incantation Grandma Marilyn taught us when we were younger," Summer explained. She struggled for a moment to contain a yawn, gave up, and then continued. "It was supposed to bind us together, supposedly. Even if one of us were to die, we would all end up reincarnating together."

"I'm not sure I want to test that particular aspect," I said. I started to unfold my legs, and winced as they were suddenly overcome by pins and needles. I sank into the mountain of pillows resting against the head board. For the first time that day the sex had actually managed to get to me, and I could feel my strength fading fast. I spread my arms wide so that the girls could cuddle up to me. Max lay her head on my stomach, while Summer turned the joint between my arm and shoulder into a pillow.

"I wouldn't want to test it either," Summer murmured as she began to stroke Max's hair. This time I was sure of it. Max was purring. She was also already half asleep. "But with Kelk around, I just figured we were safer than sorry."

"Oh?"

"Don't think we didn't hear about your little fight this afternoon," Summer giggled quietly. "Or that you drove off with Kirsten in the front seat. I just hope that she gave you a proper thank you."

That brought me out of my daze. "You don't mind that we...?"

"What? Fucked? Screwed? Summoned the beast with two backs?" Summer laughed when I blushed at her teasing. I still wasn't used to my new Super Stud status, and judging from how warm my face felt it must have been pretty obvious.

"Quite the opposite," Summer eventually said. "Its entirely up to you, of course, but the more the merrier. Well, at least as we remain your primaries. Not only is that an ego boost for us, but its a pretty nice status boost as well."

My nose wrinkled in confusion. "Not following."

"A guy who can keep multiple partners sexually happy?" Summer reached between my legs. Despite my exhaustion, she still managed to get half a response. My dick gave a half-hearted attempt at getting vertical before she let go and put her hand back on my chest. "You are a Grade A physical specimen, buddy. Most girls would want a piece of that, even if they're just looking for a quick breeding. But that you can keep them emotionally satisfied as well? Then we've got nowhere else to go but up in this world."

I shook my head. "Still not following."

"You passed home economics in high school, didn't you?"

"Sure." I dimly remembered Home Ec. We had made badly stuffed pillows and learned how not to burn water. That had been back in wherever the hell I had come from, though. I was beginning to suspect the version I remembered and the version Summer had been taught had more than a few differences between them.

"And then I bet you took something silly like transtemporal engineering or something." Summer sighed in exasperation. "Ok, economics one-oh-one. You make fifty grand a year, out of which comes all your expenses. I also make fifty grand a year, out of which come all my expenses. Combined we make a hundred grand, but have comparatively less expenses. That leaves us with more money for other things, either upgrading to better quality goods, hobbies, etc. Follow?"

"Not really."

"Ok, then all the way from the top. You make fifty grand. You spend two of that on food, two on bills, and ten on housing. You've got thirty-six left over. I make fifty grand, and have about the same expenses. I also have thirty-six grand left over. If we combined that, then we would have seventy-two grand.

"But if we're in a relationship together, that changes the dynamics of things. We might still be eating the same food, but where individually we spent two grand a piece, doing things together we only spend three and a half. Other things, such as housing, become individually more expensive, but cost less overall. We need a slightly bigger apartment for all our stuff, but we don't need two times the actual space. We don't, for example, need two kitchens or two garages. So instead of spending twenty grand at ten a pop total on housing, we only spend fifteen. By the end, instead of having seventy-two grand left between us, we end up with seventy-eight. That's an extra six grand, which we can use to either improve the quality of our lives or for hobbies and luxuries. The more people we add, the more negligible the added costs become. Eventually you reach a critical mass where some partners don't even need to work outside the family."

"That sounds a little too good to be true, don't you think?"

"Well, there is an upper limit," Summer admitted with a frown. "The more people you add to the circle, the more strain it places on the relationships, and it has to be a circle. If you try to form subrings it just adds stress that causes the community to implode faster. Just because two people click with one another doesn't mean they'll both necessarily click with a third person, and that's where you start running into trouble. It also requires a more authoritarian leader the larger the group becomes, in order to keep arguments and debates from getting out of hand."

"What's the largest grouping you've heard of?" I asked. Just how far was this world willing to let this sort of thing go?

"Two hundred? Two-fifty?" Summer wagged her hand. "I'm not sure the sociologists ever got a firm answer on that, and I know they didn't bother to count the kids. It was some commune out in Alabama, something like three guys for every woman. Lasted about thirty years before a riot started over milk."

"Milk?"

Summer nodded. "The problem with group relationships is the balance between authority and devotion. Max and I would walk into Hell naked for you or for each other. There is no guarantee that another girl could say the same about us, even if she says it about you. Then if we get into an argument, you need to pick sides. That's not only added stress on you, but what if one side is right more often than the other? What happens if two different emergencies occur at the same time? Each small problem builds into the next big one. That eventually leads to anger, bitterness, and resentment. The riots didn't happen because of milk, the milk was just the final catalyst to set everything on fire. So if you do want to add someone, pick well, yeah?"

"I will," I promised and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Good. Love you."

Love you, too," I replied as she snuggled in tighter. A few minutes later she was sound asleep. Remarkably, so was I.

***

The week that followed went by quickly and without note. There was plenty of great sex - the girls never seemed to get enough, and I never had a problem rising to the occasion - but even that quickly became routine. On top of my creative writing and human sexuality courses I had also apparently enrolled in Stellar Politics 101 and Intro to Transtemporal Mechanics.

The first was simply fun. Since I didn't really have any background at all with any of the topics, I just waited for the majority of the class to a pick a side then gleefully hopped on the band wagon for the other. It helped that the only time moral issues came up, such as how to deal with slavery or genocide, we just had to come up with solutions to the problem. Usually the class would decide that some sort of First Contact inspired mix of hand wringing and economic sanctions were the proper course of action, whereas I would quite vociferously argue that the best way to deal with barbarians was to treat them barbarically. There were a few who converted to my way of thinking, but I was often up against superior numbers, which is just how I preferred it.

Intro to Transtemporal Mechanics, on the other hand, was just a steel plated bitch. Everything was math, math, math, but there wasn't a number in sight. I'd make a lame crack about most of it being Greek to me, except that most of it was in Greek, or at least Greek letters. Only the theory work came easy, almost as if I was already familiar with it. I managed to struggle along with it, however, enough that I could at least hum the tune and fake a few steps when called on in class.

Oddly, I didn't see Kirsten anywhere on campus. I had half expecting her to come looking for me, but there was no sign of her. I made a few half-hearted inquiries, but they didn't turn up anything, either. I couldn't track down anyone who would admit to being a friend or a classmate, which, considering she was the head cheerleader and dating the captain of the football team, seemed more than a little strange.

On the other hand, my questions were only half-hearted. There really wasn't much time for anything else. Homework ate up a lot time, both at school and at home. Sadly, the human sexuality material wasn't so much practical work as it was bookish. Detailed anatomy sheets went hand in hand with quizzes on various chemical reactions and nervous system interactions. Combined with the endless math needed for my engineering work, the daily opinion pieces for Stellar politics, and the twice-a-week stories demanded by Castle, I had more than a full enough plate to deal with. Kelk helped with some of it - thought the my teachers for Transtemporal Mechanics weren't too happy when he started correcting the textbooks - but he spent more time taking off and exploring the world as well. He seemed to having a knack for going unnoticed, and was often ignored by those he wasn't dealing with directly.
Finally, there was the issue of my big date on Saturday night. Unlike Kirsten, I had run into Aly a few more times on campus. Max had made it a point to move her seat next to ours for Sexuality, though Max hadn't quite managed to convince the other girl to toy around with me as blatantly as she did. We'd eaten lunch a few times together as well, so I was less worried about feeling awkward come the weekend. Oddly, it was so far my only relationship that hadn't also pushed towards the physical. Aly and I hadn't even held hands, though I had learned far more about her than Max or Summer. There was just one thing standing in the way...

"You are not wearing that on your date," Max declared as she watched me get dressed.

"What's wrong with what I am wearing?" I challenged. I had found a credit card under my name, one that had a rather...substantial balance attached to it, and put it to good use ordering things online. Ok, I may have actually just gone a bit nuts over all. I'd decided to keep a few of the polos and khakis, mostly as rainy day clothes or events wear, but the rest had been dropped off at a Salvation Army box during my scant free time. The rest had been replaced by various t-shirts and hoodies, mostly ordered online, and a few pairs of jeans, purchased after I had dumped off my donations. There were now far more black t-shirts with sarcastic slogans such as, "Support your local medical examiner! Die strangely!", as well as the various demonic, undead, and fantastical mascots of multiple heavy metal groups. Rounding out the collection were anime characters, tastefully posed. And I actually mean tastefully posed, not the ones where one or more female character has had her tits blown up to five times their normal size and then squeezed into a bikini three sizes too small.

And ok, there may have been a few airbrushed dragons, as well.

It was actually one of the dragons that Max was objecting to, a large silver with a ruffled crest, staring down at its reflection in a pool of cave water.

"Your shirt is hideous," Max said.

"My shirt is cool," I replied with as much dignity as I could muster.

"Its got a dragon on it."

"And dragons are cool!"

"Suuuuummmmmer!" Max yelled. She was summoning reinforcements, her standard tactic for when dealing with male stubbornness. "He won't change his shirt!"

"Which one is it?" Summer yelled back.

"The one with the dragon!"

"So? Dragons are cool!"

Of course, sometimes the call for reinforcements backfired. I smirked at Max, then reached for a pair of pants. I was careful to tuck my cock to the side before zipping up. That, on the other hand, got Max's approval.

"Do you think you'll have a reason to go commando?" she asked.

"I dunno," I answered honestly. "On the other hand, I don't see a reason not to. I mean, I'm not expecting us to do anything anyway."

Max suddenly looked horrified. "You're not?!"

"Um...no?" I was baffled by her reaction. "I mean, its just a first date. Ok, we might make out, I suppose."

"But- But-" She was at a complete loss for words. Then, once again... "Suuuuummmmmmer!"

"Now what?"

"He doesn't think he's going to get laid!"

"What? Why?"

"He says because its the first date!"

"That didn't stop him with us!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "You two are most definitely a special case. I would have had to have been dead to say no. Not to mention, you also knew me a lot longer before we got to that point, so if we wanted to hash it out I could say we had been dating for years before I got you two into bed."

"Well, that doesn't count!" Max sniffed. "We hadn't gone through puberty yet!"

"Potato, tomato," I snarked back. "I've know Aly for less than a week. Whatever happens tonight will be her decision, not mine. Seeing as how you haven't even managed to talk her into sitting on my lap yet, I don't quite seeing her clawing my clothes off and taking me in a fit of maddened lust."

"Well, if she doesn't than we will!" Max promised.

"And I look forward to it very much," I said as I leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. "But for now, I've got to get going. I've got my phone, so I'll let you guys know how things go, one way or the other."

"You better," Max pouted. "I was looking forward to sexy story time. I guess I can settle for being in sexy story time."

***

The idea was to dinner and a movie, but neither Aly and I wanted to start off on something showy or expensive, so we agreed to meet each other at the mall on the edge of town. Her work schedule meant we had to do a late showing, which meant food would have to be at a twenty-four hour diner once the movie got out. I admit I wasn't too excited by the thought of watching Batman, as the entire thing held a strong sense of deja vu for me. It was a new release, so I knew I hadn't seen it, but there was something at the back of my mind that still insisted otherwise.

Despite the late hour the mall parking lot was packed to capacity. Since I was taking the ground road rather than flying, I had to come in at the far entrance and then weave through the blocks of parked vehicles in hopes of finding an empty spot. It would have been easier to take off from there and circle until the autopilot found a place to put down, but, well, heights.

Poor me, that would have been the safe

option.

I eventually found a spot well out in the middle of nowhere, so far from the mall proper that the grass had been allowed to grow knee high and yellow, while the street lights were in desperate need of repainting and, you know, actual light bulbs. More than a couple had burned out, leaving only shallow pools of flickering luminescence to light the cracked and uneven pavement every fifty feet or so. There was even an ominous piano note for a soundtrack, at least until I hit the "Next Track" option on my music player. Then the ominous piano was replaced by an ominous violin.

I got about fifty feet before I found myself surrounded by a group of thugs, Yawgmoth in the lead. The shadows were too thick for me to get a good look at his accomplices, but Yawgy made a point of standing directly under one of the few working lights. He was holding a metal baseball bat cocked over one shoulder, and he pointed it in my direction as he stepped into the light.

"You and I have some issue we need to discuss," he announced as he began to tapping the body of the bat against the palm of his hand. I could hear the sound of metal slapping against flesh echoing around me as his goons imitated him. All together there must have been enough bats to outfit a major league team.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Hey, man, I didn't mean anything by it. I wasn't trying to steal your girl, honestly."

"What?" Yawgmoth looked confused for a moment, then shook his head. "Shit man, I don't care about Kirsten. That cunt will get whats coming to her in time. No, I'm talking about my father."

It was my turn to be confused. "Your father?"

"Oh, so the big shot hero doesn't even remember, huh?" Yawgy snarled. "You pulled the trigger on a man, don't even remember him. Does the name Daemon Sadisto ring any bells?"

"What." It wasn't a question, but a statement of pure bafflement. Daemon Sadisto didn't exist. I had made him up for my creative writing course! Pure bullshit that I had spat out in thirty seconds because Castle was putting me on the spot! How the hell could Yawgmoth possibly be related to an imaginary crime boss I'd pulled out of my ass?

"What, you don't see the family resemblance?" Yawgoth laughed. "Ah well. Folks always said that I did take after Mother more. But I got curious about you after our little run in the other day. There was something about your face, you know? Like I'd seen it before. Guess what? I had. Oh yeah, we had footage from that warehouse. It was all right there in living color, you pushing that two-bit PI out of the way and then putting two in my dad's chest."

"Aw. Hell."

That seemed to be their cue, and all his flunkies rushed in.

I never did see the bat that cracked my skull open.