Chapter 20: Vendetta ll

-- SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 2006 --

"Is it time yet?"

My dining companion didn't even look at her watch. "Not yet."

I scowled and looked out the restaurant window. We had a great view of the San Francisco Bay from up here, all the way across to The City. And to our right, I could clearly make out the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a very pleasant evening, with no major fog or other obstructions, but I wasn't enjoying the scenery. I was too anxious, and I was more interested in calculating the angular declination of the Sun. I could've sworn it had dropped another few degrees on the horizon. Well, I knew that it had, but apparently it hadn't dropped enough. I checked my watch and then glared at Sasha, who was thoroughly engrossed in her chicken and pasta dinner. "You said it would only be a few more minutes," I growled.

Still looking down at her plate, Sasha shrugged and replied, "Well it'll be a few minutes more. I'm not done with my dinner yet."

Annoyed, I slid my plate an inch or two across the table toward her, my prime rib only half-eaten and the vegetables barely touched. This was supposed to be a one-on-one "date" for Sasha and me, a nice evening out for which she'd taken the night off from work. But I was only too aware of today's calendar date and the not-so-subtle excuse for me to be out of the house.

Today was my birthday, and the Tri-Delts were planning something at home.

They didn't try to hide it. Andie told me point blank to drink lots of fluids, including one of Lakhi's special milkshakes, and to expect lots of sex when I got back. Peyton had been the one to shove me out the door with Sasha, explaining that my roommate already knew the specified time to bring me back home. And Sasha had apologized from the very beginning, stating that she knew absolutely nothing else about what the girls had planned and it was therefore useless for me to try and grill her.

Of course, I tried anyway, but she'd been telling the truth: she honestly didn't know.

The one thing Sasha DID know was what time she was allowed to bring me back. But while Sasha knew that particular little detail, she was adamant about not telling me. And while I'd done my best to be calm and cool about the situation throughout the first half of dinner, I'd pretty much resorted to the time equivalent of "Are we there yet?" for the last twenty minutes.

In retrospect, I should have known. After all, there was a fucking SIGN posted in my foyer with the specified time. True, it wasn't a sign that necessarily applied to my birthday, but it was a sign nonetheless. And so it was 6:59pm when I finally pulled the Mustang in behind Andie's Lexus ES in my driveway, having to work around all the cars parallel parked up and down the street. And it was 7:00pm on the dot when Sasha put her hand down and allowed me to finally put my key into the door.

You remember what happens at 7pm, right? It's a time of day I very much enjoy around the house. Andie even set the alarm on her phone to go off at 7pm every day, and instead of some annoying alert sound her phone played "Beep" by the Pussycat Dolls. I knew my girls had heart, and brains, and were very nice people overall. But at 7pm each night, I was looking at their beep and checking out their beep and feeling up their beep. Everyone knew that my overnights were reserved for Andie, Jamie, and Sasha. But from about 7pm to 10pm, it was open season. And I think the girls had even more fun than I did as they stripped down and got flirty.

Most nights at 7pm there were between six and eight girls left in the house. Some were only in the house to study or hang out with their friends, but everybody stripped and everybody flirted. A few merely removed their outerwear and continued on doing whatever it was they'd been doing. Most made a tease out of it, being sure to get my attention and flaunt their curves for my appreciation. But every night was a good night for me because of it, and yet none of those nights could compare to tonight.

Sasha and I walked in tonight to find my living room decorated from top to bottom. A "Happy Birthday" sign made of individual letters linked together dangled across the archway and made me duck underneath it. Streamers and an additional birthday banner adorned the walls. And balloons had been tethered to a variety of surfaces all over. But I didn't notice the decorations right away. Why the fuck would I notice the decorations right away? There weren't six to eight lingerie-clad girls in my living room today, there were more than twenty.

In fact, there were twenty-three of them. That's forty-six breasts for you math whizzes, all of them put on quite the display. A few of the girls even wore tops that were more or less see-thru. And as Sasha and I walked into the living room, twenty-three Tri-Delts threw their hands into the air and yelled, "WOOOO!!!"

I smiled and opened my arms grandly. And I wondered if any of them had noticed the wireless webcam I'd told Andie to put on top of the china cabinet in the corner of the living room.

Adrienne was gonna have a fun night tonight.

-- MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2006 --

It was a damn good thing I didn't have any Monday morning classes, seeing as how I slept in until past 11am. My exhaustion was understandable, given how busy I'd been all night. Whatever Lakhi put into that 'milkshake' had me rolling well past 3am. And only then did my dick go limp and my consciousness go so completely black that I don't believe I even dreamed.

I'd contemplated not leaving the house at all, just staying in bed and trying to start up my life again on Tuesday. But Sasha came back to the house to collect me and bring me to lunch with our friends.

"Hey there, strangers," Bert greeted us, offering a fist bump as Sasha and I staggered into our usual lunch café. My elbow was linked with Sasha's, which was pretty typical for a Monday. But I was using that elbow to lean on her quite a bit. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I would have made it onto campus without the help.

"Hey guys, long time no see," Paige said with a smirk. "Have a good birthday party?"

I snorted. "You should know. You were there."

Paige's eyebrows went up and she smiled. "I was at your very tame get-together at Lynne's apartment yesterday for lunch. You know damn well I wasn't at the 'party'. I only WISH I was at that one."

Sasha smirked. "Yeah, you should have come, Paige. I don't think there were enough girls at that one."

Bert was already shaking his head. "You're walking funny. Did the Tri-Delts finally break you?"

"Nah. I just think I strained something." Catching the looks from my friends, I quickly added, "No, I didn't strain that. I meant my hamstring. It's a little sore."

"I'll bet ... So seriously, how'd it go?" Bert asked.

I gave him a strange look. "You really want to know?"

Bert shrugged. "Humor us."

I glanced at Sasha, who shrugged and waved me on. Turning back to my friends, who leaned forward quite eagerly, I took a deep breath and said, "Nope. Not happening."

"Aww, come on..." Bert whined.

"You want to know, you shoulda been there yesterday."

"Seriously," Sasha laughed. "He could have used the help. You WERE invited."

Bert held ears with both hands and closed his eyes, muttering over and again, "Think of Lynne, think of Lynne, think of Lynne ... Ignore any thoughts about what depraved things Ben could do with twenty-something Tri-Delts for his birthday ... Think of Lynne, think of Lynne, think of Lynne..."

The other three of us laughed.

"We played games, mostly," Sasha finally explained. "Kids games, really. It was a lot of fun. I know your heads might be spinning from the possibilities, but really, there's no way Ben can have sex with twenty-four girls all at once. It's physically impossible, no matter what enhancements the girls might try to give him, alright?"

"Fine, whatever." Bert shook his head wryly before arching an eyebrow at me. "Kids games?"

I shrugged. "Bobbing for Apples. Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Spin the ... okay well Spin the Bottle isn't really a 'kids' game."

Bert and Paige chuckled. Sasha and I exchanged a glance. I was telling the truth ... technically. Except that I'd really been Bobbing for Nipples and playing Pin the Prick in the Doggy-style. Then there had been Seven Minutes in Heaven, and seriously, why did all these games involve having me blindfolded? At least Spin the Bottle gave me full use of my eyes. Of course, I needed to see which girl the bottle spun to, given that there had been 24 of them in a circle around me waiting to see who I'd end up fucking for 60 seconds at a time.

Really, though, the games were less about sexual fulfillment and more about sexual titillation. I never really got to pound anybody long enough to get either of us off. It was a night of fun and games and every now and again I'd get fed up, invoke my seize and inseminate charter, and command someone to "open sesame". I'd finally get myself off, the girls would get me hard again, and then we'd go back to the games.

It had been a good night.

-- TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2006 --

"I don't know if I can do this," Peyton whimpered.

I held her cheeks in my hands, bent over, and kissed her. She swooned into my arms for a minute, and looked at me dreamily when I finally released her.

"Look at me. Look into my eyes," I said sternly.

Obediently, she complied. Clearly, she was still a little nervous.

"You'll be fine," I stated evenly. "We've been studying like crazy and you've really got the material down now, understand? Our little pop quiz last night went great."

"I know, but..." She sighed. "What's the point? He's just going to screw with my grade anyway."

"Because your real grade on this midterm will very much matter."

"Does it? Don't I deserve an 'A' for getting screwed around like this?"

I shook my head. "An undeserved 'A' would be almost as unfair as bending over for it. If all goes well, we nuke Rutledge, we get you an independent grade review over all your homework and all your midterms, and your real grade comes out. No special favors, just pure honesty. That's what's really fair."

Peyton pouted. "I just don't know that I can do this."

"Yes you can." I suddenly had an idea. "How about I incentivize you. How about, when this midterm is done and you can honestly tell me you gave it your best shot, I'll take you out on that date we never had. A real date."

Peyton smirked. "The whole 'date' thing was YOUR idea. All -I- wanted was a Big Ben Experience."

"Psht. You got that already. Multiple times, including last night after your pop quiz."

She grinned and licked her lips. "Then I want another BBE. Right after class."

"Right after class? You mean before lunch?"

"Uh-huh. I'm gonna race out of this midterm with my panties on fire, meet you at your house, and then flop onto my back with my heels pointing to the sky begging you to take me around the world, m'kay?"

I chuckled and shook my head, grabbing Peyton and hugging her to my chest. "Okay, deal. But you HAVE to put your best into this test. Got it?"

"I'll ace it."

"Attagirl."

-- THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006 --

"So? How'd it go?"

Peyton's face fell as she crossed her arms over her chest, more or less hugging herself. Eyes downcast, she mumbled something I couldn't hear.

"I didn't hear that. What score did you get?"

She picked her eyes up to me, green eyes dull. "73."

I blinked. "Hey, that's C-minus territory!"

"I thought I'd do better than that."

"You probably did. Hey ... don't get down on yourself. This is exactly what we thought would happen. No matter if you deserved a 100 on that midterm, Rutledge would never let you pass this class on your own. Whatever numbers he's crunching in the computer, a 73 is probably the max you can get while still staying firmly in the 60s overall. He HAS to have that leverage over you for your next meeting."

"But I really thought I did better."

"I know you did, and I still have hickey marks from yesterday morning in my neck to prove it."

Peyton blushed at that and kicked my shin. I recoiled. Her pointy heels rather hurt. So I reached out and kicked her shin back.

Peyton looked shocked. Her jaw dropped, her eyes went wide, and she gasped, "I can't believe you kicked me!" And she kicked my shin again.

So I kicked her back, still not hard, but enough to make contact. "Hey, you started this!" I laughed as we both began dancing right there outside of the classroom, flailing with our feet toward each other's shins and not really impacting each other.

"Benjamin, please be more discreet..." Viktoriya Isakova suddenly said behind me in passing. "Best you do not let Professor Rutledge see you two like this before the matter is resolved, no?"

Immediately, Peyton and I separated, blushing deeply. We were both breathing hard and couldn't help but smirk at each other. That had been fun.

But then Peyton looked at both Professor Isakova and me. "He didn't ask for a private meeting. I don't even know if he will."

"He will, be sure of that," Viktoriya replied.

"Eventually, maybe," Peyton said. "But when? I don't know if I can keep this bottled up inside any longer. The whole thing is stressing me out."

"What about this afternoon?" I thought aloud. "He's got office hours, right?"

"Yeah, but Samantha's in there. He won't say anything in front of her."

Viktoriya spoke up. "I'll talk to her. She'll make some excuse to leave. Why don't you stop by my office right now, Peyton? I have a digital recorder you can take with you."

She nodded and started to follow as Viktoriya led the way. I went along as well, at least until Viktoriya stopped, turned around, and leveled a look at me. "Goodbye, Benjamin."

Groaning, I nodded and went the other way.

There was a knock at my bedroom door, but I didn't answer. I was still lost in my thoughts, sitting in an armchair and staring out the window to the street. But despite my lack of response, the door swung open anyway. And moments later, Sasha reached up and touched my shoulder. "You okay?"

"Not really," I replied without looking back at her.

"She'll be fine. She's a big girl and used to taking care of herself."

I sighed. At this very moment, Peyton was in Professor Rutledge's office. She'd gone to extract a confession from him and get it recorded so that we'd have evidence of his sexual predations. While she was in there, I wanted nothing more than to be just a few doors down in Viktoriya's office, ready and willing to come to her rescue if needed or at least be there when she came out. But there was no justifiable reason why I'd be at Cheit Hall this time of day, and nobody wanted the risk of Rutledge running into me just before he spoke with Peyton, so I'd agreed to wait things out here at home.

I HATED it.

"How do I know he's not doing something to her right now? What's to stop him from bending her over and just taking her right then and there instead of saying something incriminating?"

"Then she'll resist and we'll have audio of him attempting rape. Slam dunk conviction."

I scowled. "A digital recorder won't stop him from succeeding in raping her. I'd rather he NOT get convicted than actually get his dick into her."

Sasha rubbed my shoulder. "Then it's a good thing she's doing this during office hours. Samantha won't leave them alone for too long, and in fact she'll probably come back to the door and listen at the crack. At the first sound of violence, you know she'd go running into that room."

"Do I? Fact is: I don't know Samantha at all. Viktoriya seems to trust her, which is definitely reassuring. But I don't necessarily know what either of them could do to rescue her."

"Most likely she won't need rescuing. Most likely, she'll get the confession you need, and this will all be over soon."

"Yeah ... but maybe not." I sighed, feeling my shoulders tighten.

Just then, there was another knock at my bedroom door, and this time I turned away from the window and said, "Come in."

Andie and Jamie both poked their heads in. "You look stressed," Andie said glumly. "Can I please give you a blowjob to take the edge off?"

I blinked twice, momentarily nonplussed by her offer. It was so out of left field and yet entirely sincere, and I had to chuckle at the earnest girl. "Thanks, but no thanks, cutie."

She pouted, but I waved both girls in. As they approached, I wrapped my left arm around Sasha's shoulders and then pulled all three girls into an embrace, Andie under my right arm and Jamie directly in front of me. Putting our heads together, I squeezed all three of them the best I could. And then I sighed and said, "I love all three of you, do you know that?"

"Really?" Andie chirped.

"In your own ways, unique ways, yes I do. We've talked a lot about the lack of romance in our relationships, because quite honestly romance is something I don't want to deal with right now. Thank you all for accepting that so far."

"And for as long as you need us," Jamie chimed in. "We're happy to be here for you."

"I'm sorry that I don't give you more," I sighed.

"You give us enough," Sasha intoned. "You give us what we need, and you've got nothing to feel guilty about."

"Thanks..." I said with another sigh, squeezing all three of them again. "Thank you all so much."

And then my phone rang.

"So that's it. 7pm tomorrow. He's expecting to have me ... well... 'have me' ... in his office."

Peyton was hugging herself again, and staring out the same window I'd been staring out before. She looked so small. Even though at 5'9" she wasn't the tallest of girls, and I'd certainly met taller, she had such a force of personality around her sorority sisters that I mentally thought of her as being much larger. She was an Amazon in temperament, if not quite in stature. At least, she was around people other than me.

In my arms, and in bed, the lioness practically turned into a kitten. But at the moment, standing by the window, she wasn't a cute kitten that invited my amusement. She was a lost kitten that desperately needed a hug.

So I hugged her.

My arms went over hers, squeezing her self-hug even tighter. She sobbed just then, and bent forward slowly until her forehead touched the glass. And then the dam burst and the tears truly came forth.

I didn't say anything for a long time. For months now, Peyton had felt the lecherous intentions of her Corporate Finance professor upon her. She probably didn't think much of it at first; just another guy infatuated with her physical beauty. But as her grade situation became more and more grave, and his innuendoes about exactly how she could resolve said situation became more obvious, I knew she had begun to contemplate just how far she was willing to go to graduate.

She'd told me that when push came to shove, she would have gone through with it. I didn't judge her for this; I merely acknowledged it. But even when she said so, she hadn't truly come face-to-face with such a horrible decision. The notion that she'd bend over for a grade had still been far off in the distance, to the point of this third midterm if not all the way to the class final.

But now it wasn't so far off anymore. D-day was tomorrow, and it even had a time: 7pm.

The fact that Peyton had no intention of actually letting him fuck her didn't matter. The IDEA that he expected her to do so tomorrow did matter. It was enough to make her skin crawl and goosebumps to form beneath my fingers. This moment was as close as she'd yet gotten to actually whoring herself for a grade.

Not for the first time, I wondered what had been going through Dawn's mind when she'd found herself in this very situation, and I wondered how things might've turned out differently if she'd have let me try to help.

"I don't know if I can do this," Peyton muttered quietly. "I know I HAVE to, but I don't know if I can."

"You don't have to," I reasoned. "We have the recording you took today and it sounds pretty bad. It's enough, plus the grade discrepancies, to go to the department and get a formal inquiry."

She shook her head, still crying. "But we don't have him red-handed. I still don't have an actual confession on tape. He was too careful. If anything, he outright rejected the idea of trading a grade for sex."

"And then promptly encouraged you into private tutoring. It's quite suggestive."

"But not confirmation. I HAVE to go back there tomorrow ... but I'm scared."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just go in there and actually demand private tutoring. Make HIM make the first move."

"He's not going to do it verbally. He's going to do the same thing he did this afternoon: Park himself in front of me, spread his knees, and practically dare me to unzip him."

"You can get him to say it. Tell him you won't do it unless he says it. And once he does, run the hell out of there. I won't be here at the house tomorrow, I'll be right outside, I promise. And I'll break down the damn door with a fire hatchet if I have to."

That brought a smile, and Peyton turned in my arms to face me. "You really would, wouldn't you?"

"Damn fucking straight I would."

She shook her head slowly, and then beamed up at me. The moisture in her pale green eyes made them shimmer, and reaching up with one hand, she caressed my cheek. "And you still wonder how I could be falling in love with you?"

I shrugged and said, "Sorry."

"You have nothing to ever say sorry to me for." And then she kissed me.

It wasn't a passionate kiss; it was a tender kiss, full of yearning and affection. Peyton's kisses usually went straight to my loins, inspiring erections and fueling my lust to throw her onto my bed and take her the way she always begged to be taken. But this kiss went straight to my heart. Well, not straight to my heart. It sort of had to search around the gaping maw in my chest where my heart used to be, and then dart around the room for a bit searching and searching, and finally get up onto that mental shelf where I'd put my heart away for storage. And only then did the kiss ignite a tiny spark in my long-dormant organ, trying desperately to fuel a fire.

It nearly did. But just then somebody knocked at the door. Peyton and I separated abruptly and looked over to it. And once I realized our little moment had been broken, I turned back and sighed, "Come in."

Casey McCahill walked through the door.

"Casey?" Peyton gawked in confusion. "What are YOU doing here?"

The peroxide-blonde grinned and tossed her hair. "The obvious, of course. I want Big Ben here to fuck my pretty little brains out ... again."

"Again?" Peyton darted her eyes to me. "You've hooked up with Casey?"

"And Carolyn. And Chevelle," Casey added helpfully. "Pulled a Big Ben Experience on all three of us at the same time if you can believe it. He's also had me solo and just me and Carolyn as a threesome a couple of times."

Peyton looked to me for confirmation, and I shrugged. "It was after I broke up with my last girlfriend, before Tri-Delt West formed actually. Don't you remember Natalee talking about the 'Assfuckxiation' thing? That all started with her."

"Oh, riiight."

"Yeah, and Natalee told me about the little harem you built here," Casey commented. "Quite the nice setup for any guy, especially you."

Peyton rolled her eyes and muttered, "First rule about Tri-Delt West is that you don't talk about Tri-Delt West..."

"Kinda like Fight Club," Casey chirped.

Peyton muttered again, "Natalee is sooo busted."

"Hey, don't take it out on her. I figured it out when Ben stopped calling me for booty calls. We went on a couple of dates and everything was going swimmingly. But then all of a sudden I get no more calls and when I start to check out the situation I find out the Tri-Delts have moved in. Even saw that sign you girls put up on the front door before it moved inside." Casey's eyebrows arched. "Seize and inseminate? Really?"

Peyton sighed and shook her head. Exhaling slowly, she parked her hands on her hips and drew herself up to her full height. Although only about an inch taller than Casey, she also wore four inch heels and had that perfect Amazonian posture I was mentioning earlier. I actually watched some of Casey's bluster fall away beneath the baleful glare of an annoyed Peyton Kent. And when she was fully aware of having Casey's undivided attention, she asked coldly, "Whatever you came here for, now isn't the time. You're friends with Natalee and so I'm being nice to you. But Ben and I are busy with something and it's best that you leave."

But Casey wasn't going anywhere. Clearly, there was something she knew that Peyton didn't, and she relished that knowledge while her dark eyes flashed dangerously. Folding her arms across her chest and cocking her head, she stared right back into Peyton's icy gaze and asked just as coldly, "So has Professor Rutledge offered to raise your grade for sex yet?"

Peyton's jaw hit the floor.

Smirking triumphantly, Casey beamed. "He has, hasn't he?"

"What the hell do you know about that? Did Natalee tell you something? I swear to God that if she spilled the beans about--"

"Relax, relax." Casey gestured downwards with her hands. "Natalee's got nothing to do with this. I figured it out completely on my own."

Now Peyton had crossed her arms over her chest, and her eyes narrowed. "Figured it out how?"

"Well for starters, I was underneath his desk giving him a blowjob when you came into the office back in March and asked about extra-credit. Tell me, has he done the thing where he just sits on the desk in front of you and spreads his knees so that you stare at his bulge?"

Peyton clapped a hand over her gaping mouth in surprise.

"Relax. I'm not going to tattle on you. In fact, I'm kinda pissed off at the guy right now."

"Pissed off? Why?"

Casey sighed and walked past us. She paced around my room for a few seconds, staring at the bed and the walls and the armchairs before coming back to look at me for a long moment. Then, her eyes returned to Peyton and she explained, "He wants you. Badly. Badly enough that he's moaned out YOUR name while fucking me. Twice."

Peyton found her voice. "So you're fucking him?"

Casey shrugged. "Haven't done a single bit of homework or written more than my name on any of the midterms, but I've had a solid 'A' locked up in the course until now."

Peyton looked shocked. "You ... You're sleeping with him for a grade?"

Casey snorted and waved us off. "I've been sleeping with him because he's a good lay, and because YOU stopped calling me." She paused and pointed a finger right at me.

"But you're sleeping with him for a grade?" Peyton repeated a little more shrilly.

Casey shook her head. "The grade is a nice side benefit. He's a hunky enough guy that I'd have slept with him anyway. I certainly haven't had to fuck him and suck him as often as I've been doing just for a grade. But that's all there is to it: sex. It's not like I'm falling in love with him or anything, and actually, I'm getting to the point where I don't even like him."

"Why not?"

"He's getting clingy, and a little ... entitled. It was fun when I could initiate everything, to seduce my prof. I'd scare him half to death by pulling shit that would nearly get us caught, like blowing him under the desk during office hours when you walked in. But in the last month or so he started ignoring Samantha and he'd call me at all hours of the day asking me to come by his house and he just got sooo needy! And the final straw was when he moaned out 'Peyton!' while cumming in me! SUCH a turn-off."

Peyton and I exchanged a glance at that.

"Anyway, the point is that I've seen you two get all cloak and dagger around his class, along with Professor Isakova and Samantha. Something's up, isn't it? Well I want to know."

Peyton and I glanced at each other again.

Casey scrutinized Peyton. "You're not gonna fuck him for a grade, are you?" She'd asked a question, but her tone was more of a statement.

Peyton replied quietly. "No, I'm not."

"But you're at the point where you'd need to in order to pass the class?"

Peyton nodded.

"So what? You're just going to fail? Somehow I don't think so. You've got something on him, don't you?"

Peyton looked at me to answer, and I took a deep breath. "Something like that," I answered.

Casey studied me. "Is he going to get fired for this?"

"Probably."

Casey's mouth set in a hard line. "Is this going to open an inquiry into his grading scheme?"

"Probably."

Casey blinked and scowled. "So I'm not going to get my 'A', am I?"

I took a deep breath. "It's possible that the department won't look into anyone's scores but hers. If so, you'd keep whatever marks he's put in there. At the very worst, you could claim that you lost all your homework and midterms, and they'll have no choice but to keep your existing scores so far. But you'd have to take the final without his help, and there's always a chance that he'll blab about improving your scores for sex. I'd think that would only incriminate him further, but he might end up telling everything about everyone. I figure he's the kind of guy that wouldn't mind dragging a few names through the mud alongside his if everything went pear-shaped."

Casey mused on that and started pacing around the room again. She scowled and didn't seem to like the situation, and she returned to us twice before changing her mind and pacing away again. But in the end, she parked herself right in front of us and asked, "What do you actually have on him?"

"Why should we tell you?" Peyton shot back immediately. "For all we know, you're just going to run straight back to your precious 'Henry' and tell him everything you know about us."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Hardly. I'm done with that bastard, especially if I can line up someone better." Now her eyes fixed on me, gleaming in the evening light.

"What are you suggesting?" Peyton asked roughly.

"I'll bet you don't have an actual confession of wrongdoing, do you? Like, you haven't gotten a recording of him offering to improve your grades for sex, have you? If you had, you'd have busted him already."

Peyton and I looked at each other, Peyton wincing.

Casey caught the look. "I can get it. I can get him to confess."

My head picked up sharply. "Excuse me?"

Casey grinned at me. "I can get him to confess. Guaranteed. But I have a price."

Peyton stepped closer to me, suddenly nervous. I wrapped my arm around her protectively, but Casey just started laughing.

"Relax, princess. It's got nothing to do with you. Isn't it obvious? I've only ever wanted one thing: sex. And that's my price. Ben, I want you to fuck the everliving shit out of me. Right here. Right now. And then tomorrow I will go and get you your confession."

My eyes went wide, and Peyton was suddenly gawking back and forth between us. My first instinct was to say 'no'. No way. The whole point of this was to AVOID whoring oneself out for any reason, period. Now Casey was asking me for sex in order to literally purchase her help? I didn't think so.

But then again, it wasn't like I hadn't slept with Casey before. Also, she wasn't misusing some position of academic authority to manipulate me into an impossible situation. Plus, as the guy involved, it's not like I had any moral hang-ups about driving my dick nearly eight inches up all three of Casey's holes and rutting away for my own damn pleasure.

And above all else, having Casey get the confession took Peyton off the hook. Just moments before Casey had come into my room, Peyton had been scared out of her mind about walking into Rutledge's office alone tomorrow evening. We'd talked about rescuing her with fire hatchets for Pete's sake. The normally cool and confident girl was anything but confident about her ability to elicit a confession of wrongdoing from a man she detested, all while pretending to go along with his sick perversions. She was worried that she'd have to choose between letting him actually touch her in order to get the confession or walking away empty-handed and without the proof we needed to really bury him, and here was Casey ready to do it for her instead.

When I looked into Peyton's eyes I could see the plea there. She WANTED me to take her off the hook, but at the same time she knew she couldn't ask me to do the equivalent of "bending over" to get what we needed. It was okay, she didn't have to ask. I already knew I'd do it.

I only hoped I could deliver.

"You should know," I explained, "that I'm not actually that great of a lover when I'm coerced into the situation. You should talk to Chevelle about our first time. It was a disaster."

Casey shrugged. "I talked to her both times. The quote 'disaster' wasn't BAD sex, it just wasn't the greatest sex EVAR. The second time, on the other hand, WAS the greatest. I want that one, and I'm pretty confident in my ability to put you in the right mood."

I sighed and raised my eyebrows at Peyton. Then I looked back at Casey and said, "How about this? You do what you need to do tomorrow and once you're successful, I'll give you every inch of me you're asking for. As good as we've done before, if not better. I'll be grateful for the help you've given and I'll be in a mood to properly thank you."

"How do I know you won't take it back once you have what you need?" Casey asked skeptically.

"How do -I- know YOU'LL still get the confession tomorrow if I boink you tonight?"

"You don't, except that I will. But I have one more request."

"What's that?"

"Leniency. You're in tight with Isakova and the power brokers of the program. You're their superstar, and they'll listen to you. If Rutledge goes down and doesn't mention me, then I'll do what I can with my final exam and whatever grade I get is what I get. But if he squawks and they try to turn my score into a zero, you tell them that I helped you and they have to let me drop the class instead of getting an 'F'. Capisce?"

I blinked. "I can't make promises for what the department will do with your grade."

"I know you can't. But I trust that you're a man of your word and if you say you'll put in a good word for me, I'll believe you."

I sighed and nodded. "Fine. Deal. And you have my word you'll get your power-fucking tomorrow night, with one more catch."

Casey arched an eyebrow. "What's that?"

I grinned. "I get to keep your panties."

Casey laughed. "I'd have given 'em to you anyways."

-- FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2006 --

Getting a confession out of Rutledge was surprisingly easy. There were just two more deals to hammer out, but both worked out.

The first was that Casey refused to have her meeting with Rutledge recorded. She said she'd been burned by an ex-lover filming them and releasing the sex tape on the internet, and nudged me in the ribs saying that I could probably relate. Even though she knew we'd never plan to release such a recording of her, she still didn't want her interaction with Rutledge in any permanent format, and she wouldn't carry Viktoriya's expensive digital recorder. Instead, she offered to use her cell phone and keep an open phone line to Viktoriya's desk phone.

Viktoriya countered by saying that wrinkle required her to bring Gerald Siegel, the head of the department, into the loop. She requested that he come to her office at five o'clock this afternoon, and he would hear everything, including the real possibility that Casey's own grade-manipulation would come to light. Casey reminded me of my promise, and she agreed.

So Casey, Peyton, Viktoriya, Professor Siegel, and I all collected in Isakova's office. Siegel's admin arrived too. Viktoriya began explaining the situation, and just then Samantha knocked at the door and came in.

Samantha sighed, looking sad. "He's all yours."

Casey shrugged and pecked her T.A.'s cheek. She called Viktoriya's desk, everyone verified that we had a good connection, and she stepped into the hall, testing to make sure we could hear her while Viktoriya muted her side of the line. And then Casey headed down to Rutledge's office.

Professor Siegel scowled once he realized what Casey was doing. It might have been the first time he'd ever heard someone getting a blowjob over a phone line. But then Casey asked whether or not Rutledge had manipulated Peyton's grades, and the rat bastard replied, "I had to. She'd be in the mid-70s if I hadn't, and would be passing the class on her own. Like I said, she's not THAT bad. Not great, but not that bad."

Siegel stepped forward. "I've heard enough. Let's get Miss McCahill out of there before this gets any more explicit than I want to hear."

As a group, we all left Viktoriya's office and walked the few doors down to Rutledge's office. But before we got there, the door opened from the inside. Professors Siegel and Isakova, Siegel's assistant, Samantha, Peyton, and I all stood there, shaking our heads in disapproval at the sight of Rutledge leaning back against his desk with his pants around his ankles and his half-hard cock rapidly going soft.

Peyton snapped a photo with her cell phone.

And then Rutledge fainted.

Sometime after 8pm, within the safety of my home, Peyton shook her head slowly, staring off at nothing. She sat up on my couch, her left leg folded beneath her and her right heel on the edge of the seat cushion, which raised her knee up to be the perfect perch for her outstretched right forearm. Her hand dangled off the end palm-down, her fingers only just managing to maintain a grip on her glass tumbler, still half-full of vodka/cranberry.

"You did it. You actually did it," she mumbled quietly.

Casey chugged the last of her own tumbler and then smirked. "You said that already. You've said it a LOT of times."

"I'm still in awe that you did it," Peyton replied, still staring off to nowhere. But then she turned her head to the other couch and focused right in on Casey. "I still can't believe it. And I don't know how to thank you."

Casey shook her head. "Again, I didn't do it for you, so you don't have to thank me. I did it for me. Better to switch sides than go down with the ship."

I chuckled and shook my head. "So does this mean you'll turn on me at the first sign of trouble?"

Casey smirked as she looked over to me. I reclined in the far left corner of the couch, my feet up on the coffee table while Peyton reclined against the right side of my chest. The peroxide-blonde's eyes evaluated me up and down before saying, "That depends on how tonight goes."

I smirked and replied, "I'm a man of my word. And I AM feeling grateful right now. Peyton's getting her true grades re-assessed. Siegel let you drop the course. And Rutledge will never teach here again."

And you exacted some measure of revenge on the man who put Dawn in that situation. Someday you'll have to tell her that. Someday soon.

I looked away, fighting back the upwelling of emotion climbing my throat. I took a sip of my vodka/Red Bull to wash it back down.

Andie and Jamie looked at each other, both of them holding their own drinks. "I still can't believe a Professor would DO that," Jamie said sullenly. "I have to admit, I've harbored a few 'seduce my prof for a better grade' fantasies of my own from time to time. They seemed kinky and dangerous and ... exciting."

"It was..." Casey sighed, planting a hand against the side of her head.

"But to know that a Berkeley professor actually falsified your grades in order to PUT you in that situation?" Andie said in horror. "It's..."

"Scary?" I offered.

Andie looked at me. "Terrifying."

The five of us were all that were left in the house. After the whole episode at Rutledge's office, Casey, Peyton, and I had come back to the house just in time for dinner. The rest of the harem had gone out this Friday night. Jamie and Andie had made lasagna, and we all settled in to a good meal. The two Tri-Delts were the only two who didn't know what was going on, and when they noticed our somber mood, Peyton went ahead and volunteered the explanation.

She also called Annette and Natalee, her two best friends. The pair of them came right over and talked with Peyton while I helped Andie and Jamie clean up in the kitchen. Casey just sort of hung around, lost in her own thoughts. And when Peyton assured her friends that she was fine and sent them back on their way, the five of us settled into the living room while Jamie pronounced, "This is a night to get drunk."

Everyone agreed.

About a half-hour later, we all had a nice buzz going and Casey wanted her "reward", but the mood was still melancholy. Fortunately, she found the right way to improve it.

"I still can't believe you posted that photo of Rutledge with his pants down on the 'Net," Casey laughed, sipping at her latest drink. "By the way, thanks for not having me in the shot."

"You're welcome," Peyton replied. "Every time I start to feel sick to my stomach over everything that's happened, I think of the look on his face in that photo and it always makes me smile."

The rest of us all chuckled at that as well.

"Still, I can't believe we can't throw the rat bastard into jail," Peyton commented bitterly.

"He didn't touch you. And everybody involved is 18," Casey explained. "He violated school policy, but unless one of the other girls comes forward and says she was coerced into sex, he might very well get off scot free. He'll never teach again, and anyone calling for a reference is going to be told why he was dismissed, but he just might get away without any claims of abuse of power or malfeasance laws."

Peyton shot upright. "So if someone he DID coerce into having sex came forward, we could still put him in jail?"

Casey shrugged. "It's a long shot, but it's possible."

Peyton mused on that. "Something to think about."

"Think about it tomorrow," I suggested, reaching up and pulling Peyton back down against my chest. I hugged her briefly and let my fingers trail down over her breasts, which caused her to giggle. "Take your mind off things and just relax for now, alright? McDouche is gone, and he's never going to come back here. The guy is a pervert, and he wasn't above abusing his position to convince girls to bend over for him, but he's a coward at heart and he's just going to run away. Be rid of him. Enjoy the moment here with me."

Peyton smiled warmly as she turned to look at me. "With you." And then she kissed me.

"Get in line, sister," Andie drawled haughtily.

Peyton cracked up immediately, then pulled back and smiled at Andie. "Fine then. Come over here and you go first."

Andie didn't wait to be told twice. She bounced out of her seat, set her drink on the table, and then climbed into my lap. Holding my head with both hands, she tilted her face and sealed her lips over mine.

"My turn! My turn!" Jamie chirped, tapping Andie's shoulder. She must have come over as well.

Andie sighed and moved aside. For anyone else, she might have lingered. But she and Jamie had bonded has best friends in the time they'd been my constant companions.

Leaving Andie in my lap, Jamie merely turned my head while she crouched beside the armrest, pulling my head around for a kiss. And then Jamie physically rotated my face back over to Peyton, pushing forward and encouraging me to kiss the Tri-Delt President next.

"Move aside, girls," Casey suddenly announced as she got up off the couch. "It's my turn next and I went through a lot of trouble to get it."

Peyton willingly moved aside, and Andie slid off my lap. Casey took her place, grabbed my head, and shoved her tongue down my throat. This was the kind of kiss that went straight to my loins, as she ground her crotch down against me and shoved her tits into my chest. And after tongue-sparring with her for about a minute, I pushed back on her shoulders, sat up, and then wrapped my arms around her torso while inhaling sharply through my nose and REALLY kissing her back.

The alcohol flooded my system, mingling with my hormones to wash away the melancholy of the earlier conversation and replace my mood with pure lust. But just when I was about to take my kiss with Casey to the next level, her head was suddenly pulled away from mine.

I gasped in surprise, blinking my eyes open just in time to see Peyton swoop in and seal HER lips over Casey's. And then I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor to do anything else.

When Peyton pulled back, it was Casey's turn to blink in surprise. "Well that was nice..."

Peyton blushed. "I really don't know how else to thank you. You got the confession I needed and wasn't sure I could do myself. I kinda owe you."

"You're lending me 'him'. That's the only payment I asked for."

Peyton smiled. "I don't have any hold over Ben. He's not mine to 'lend'."

"Tell that to the way he looks at you," Casey chuckled. "But nevermind. Thanks for the kiss. It was sweet."

Peyton's eyes flared. "Oh, I don't mean to stop at a kiss. You're right: we made a bargain for how to repay you for your help. But you see, I'm the Tri-Delt President and we have an entire chapter of our orientation book dedicated to the Big Ben Experience. And if there's one thing I learned from that chapter, it's that the Big Ben Experience is so much MORE when a woman is partnered up with him. So you see, I'm going upstairs with both of you, and together we are going to ensure you are paid in FULL."

Casey blinked rapidly and smiled.

"Me, too!" Andie chirped.

Peyton raised her eyebrows at the Junior Tri-Delt. "Now remember, sister. This night is about our guest's pleasure. You remember the pledges you made during your initiation."

"Of course, Mistress," Andie recited.

Casey grinned and turned back to Jamie. "Anybody else wanna come give me pleasure?"

Jamie clapped her hands together. "This is gonna be FUN."

-- SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2006, SENIOR YEAR --

I felt something tickle my balls; and with a start, I jerked awake.

"Mmph!" a girl moaned and I realized I'd just shoved my dick an inch into somebody's throat. She gagged, popping her head off and coughing. The sound was enough to make me crack my eyelids open and peer down to see a dark-haired girl trying to catch her breath while bumping her fist against her chest.

"Sasha?" I asked drowsily.

She coughed again and looked at me through moist eyes. But after a few moments, she got her breathing under control and panting, she commented, "Wasn't expecting you to buck up like that. How do those girls take it into their throat so easily?"

"You'd have to ask them," I replied, still sleepy. "I can't do it either. Not that I've tried or anything..."

Sasha giggled and then glanced down. "Whose pussy do I taste down there?"

"All of them. But as for which of them was last..." I wracked my brain for a moment.

"'All' of them?" She glanced down to see find Andie still sleeping on my left and Jamie on my right, but no one else. "How many girls did you have last night?"

"Just the four. Peyton and Casey went downstairs together."

Sasha shrugged. "Pity I missed that. Must have been quite the celebration for taking down Rutledge."

I smiled and reached out with both hands to Sasha. She interlaced her fingers through mine and allowed me to pull her on top of my body. Immediately our lips found each other's, and I slid my hands beneath the waistband of her pajamas to grab onto both of her butt cheeks and direct her crotch against my morning wood. "It was a nice night," I finally said once we parted for air. "But don't feel left out. I'll make it up to you right now."

"Mmm ... me too..." Jamie added sleepily. Sasha and I turned to see her eyes still closed but a smile on her face as she twisted and stretched.

"And me..." Andie sighed from the other side of us.

Ten minutes later, Sasha was riding me cowgirl-style while suckling on Jamie's D-cup tits and with Andie's tongue up her ass. That's when my bedroom door opened and Peyton and Casey stuck their heads around.

"This a private party?" Peyton asked with a grin.

Casey finished for her. "Or is there room for two more?"

"Ohhh ... myyy ... gawddd..." Sasha let her head fall back over the edge of the bed, her palms covering her eyes and forehead while her elbows jutted off to the sides. The puffy brown nipples of her big breasts pointed upwards, and then outwards, and then rubbed against each other, manipulated by Peyton's skillful hands.

Meanwhile, Peyton's equally skillful mouth and tongue worked over Sasha's pussy, driving my roommate up the proverbial wall toward a fresh orgasm. The Tri-Delt President's face twisted left and right, changing the angle of her attack. And every so often, her entire head pitched forward, driven that way by the movement of her entire body from my cock thrusting deep into her ass.

Holding onto Peyton's hips, I groaned while watching my thick dick split the dirty-blonde babe's asscheeks. I held myself at full depth, relishing the sight of her sphincter being stretched wide by my penetration. My gaze then drifted up my lover's naked spine, pausing to watch her head wriggle as she vibrated her tongue against Sasha's clit. And then my gaze drifted higher still to observe the way she manipulated Sasha's breasts and made the busty brunette literally scream out in pleasure.

The three of us were the only ones still going. Casey had insisted that this morning was a continuation of her "payment", so the other four of us had ganged up on the peroxide-blonde and proceeded to completely destroy her. Sasha had brought her own toy box into play, and dear Miss McCahill had passed out with my dick up her ass, Peyton wearing the strap-on up her cunt, Andie's pussy in her face, and Jamie suckling at her tits. She actually woke up about ten minutes ago, but rather than attempt to join in, she'd curled up in an armchair whimpering that she was a self-proclaimed insatiable nymphomaniac, but we'd finally found her limit.

Casey wasn't even masturbating right now while watching Sasha, Peyton, and me still go at it. She simply sighed and smiled, enjoying the view but too worn out to do anything else. Andie and Jamie, on the other hand, had gone downstairs to prepare breakfast for all of us. And I figured that once I busted my final nut, we'd clean up and go get food.

Once I busted my final nut ... but that hadn't happened yet.

Presently, Sasha finished screaming into her own palms and then went limp, her legs falling to the sides and her arms dangling off the edge of her bed, the extra weight threatening to slide her entire body off and onto the floor. Meanwhile, Peyton pushed herself up on her arms, using the leverage to start fucking her ass back at me.

The change was nice, but not quite nice enough. Peyton's feet were planted on the floor just inside of mine, and I reached down with my left arm, hooking it around her naked torso and grabbing onto her right breast. Gripping it firmly, I stood Peyton upright while bending my knees to maintain my entry up her colon. I wrapped my right arm around her waist and then sliding my left hand a little higher, I grabbed her throat and squeezed it gently while really using my calves to drive my cock up into her nether cavity.

"Aww ... fckk..." Peyton whimpered, closing her eyes and absorbing the sensations as I sodomized her standing up. Her whole body jerked hard enough so that she was elevated onto her toes with each thrust. And I felt her muscles tensing up as she rapidly approached orgasm.

Just then, Sasha re-entered the picture, sliding to a seated position on the edge of the bed directly in front of us. She was at the perfect height to not only suck on Peyton's exposed boob, but she also slid a thick vibrator up Peyton's snatch as well.

"Oh ... SHIT!" Peyton gasped as she felt the fake phallus enter her. And her head lolled back as she felt herself falling over the edge into orgasm.

I also felt the new constriction from inside the blonde's other channel, and the increased tightness and friction added to my pleasure as well. I fucked Peyton harder and harder, my thrusts now jerking her body completely off the floor. And then all of a sudden, all four of her limbs shot out to the sides as she screamed and came.

"AAAUUUUUGHHH!" Peyton shrieked.

"AAARRRRRGHHH!" I bellowed. And I ejected every last drop of spunk I had from my body into hers.

What felt like a minute later, I set Peyton back down on her feet. I hadn't even realized I'd bent my spine back so far that I kept her elevated in the air, gravity ensuring my dick had gone as deeply up her ass as it would ever go. But now my muscles screamed at me in agony, and it was all I could do to not drop her entirely. Instead, I managed to semi-support her body as she pitched forward and fell right on top of Sasha. And then both girls were giggling and exchanging the occasional kiss while Peyton lay atop the brunette and I slowly extracted my cock from the blonde's ass.

Only then did I realize my cell phone was ringing. Panting for breath and still feeling the ache of that last move from my muscles, I turned and scanned the room for the source of the ring. I usually left my phone on the dresser along with my wallet and keys, but the ring was coming from the sitting area.

Casey noticed my gaze and waggled my phone. She held it out to me, saying, "This is the second time it's started ringing. You were kinda busy the first time, so I went and picked it up. Display says it's Kim."

Buck naked and sweat steaming off my overworked body, I stood in the middle of Sasha's bedroom with the door closed and the phone pressed to my ear. I hadn't managed to pick up the incoming call in time, and now I listened to the ever-so-sloooowwww rings as I anxiously hoped Kim would pick up my return call.

She did.

"Hello? Ben?"

"Kim! Ohmigawd it's such a relief to hear your voice, your real voice that is. I haven't heard you speak other than a recording since your dad kicked me out of your house."

"I'm sorry about that. It couldn't be helped."

"Please tell me what's going on. Are things better now? Has he calmed down at all? Can I come visit? Seriously, I can be there in like 40 minutes. It's Saturday and there's less traffic and I will drive as fast as I have to in order--"

"Ben, Ben!" Kim interrupted me. "I can't talk long, and there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh, shit, sorry. Shutting up now."

She waited a beat, making sure I didn't keep on rambling. I heard her take a deep breath, and then in a quiet voice, she said, "It's a boy."

I blinked. "They can tell that already? I thought you couldn't determine the sex of a baby until sixteen to twenty weeks? Paige certainly didn't find out this fast."

"It's been fifteen weeks, and that's apparently close enough. With girls it's harder to tell, but with boys ... well ... I have an ultrasound photo of a penis. It's the 'angle of the dangle', or so my doctor said. I just found out yesterday."

"Ohmigawd. That's great news! A boy!"

"I thought you should know. My dad agreed with me."

"Your dad agreed? That's even better news." I took a deep breath. "Kim ... I really want to see you."

"I know you do."

"Bert's been trying to keep me in the loop, but even he doesn't find out all that much. You pretty much stay in the house all day? Your dad won't let you out?"

"He thinks it's safer this way, for me and for the baby. There's really no NEED for me to leave. Everything is provided at home."

"But still..."

"I'm fine. My dad loves me. He's protecting me the best way he knows how."

"But protecting you doesn't have to exclude ME. What, does he think I'm going to somehow cause you to trip and fall?"

Kim sighed. "It's ... It's important to him for you to stay away. You're a threat to him, not because he thinks you're dangerous but because he knows how much I love you. I still do, by the way."

"I love YOU."

"I know you do."

"Does he know that I do?"

"I think so, yes."

"Then why the hell can't I come visit you?"

Kim took another deep breath. "Because he knows you'll argue on my behalf, to convince him to let me out of the house or to convince ME to WANT to leave the house. He knows you'll only be trying to do what's best for me, but ... well ... he doesn't trust you."

"I suppose I haven't given him much reason to trust me."

"Unfortunately, no. As far as he's concerned, you're the boy who first broke my heart and then impregnated me. That you asked me to marry you takes some of the edge off, but that I won't marry YOU has been a sticking point."

"Maybe you should marry me."

"I won't. You know why."

"At least to start," I hedged. "Marry me, be happy, and let us raise a family together."

"And what, you'll divorce me when you find your soulmate?"

"I may never find anyone but you."

"You will. At the very least, you'll keep looking. I'm sorry, and I know you mean well, but that's not a marriage."

I couldn't really refute that. "What do I need to do to be able to visit you at least?"

"You can't."

"What if I drive down there and stand on your front lawn holding up a boom box playing 'In Your Eyes'?"

Kim giggled. "Then my dad really will get a restraining order on you. I'm serious. One of his best friends is a lawyer."

I sighed. "Seriously? This is where we are? I can't see you and have to wait until the baby's born? What if he changes his mind and thinks I'm a bad influence even AFTER the baby's born?"

"Oh, he will."

"But he'll let me see you both?"

"I..." Kim sighed. "I think so."

"You think so?"

"It's complicated."

"No it isn't. I'm the father. I LOVE you, and I swore I'd take care of you!"

"But you don't 'LOVE me' love me. We both know it."

"I still swore to take care of you both."

"You don't have to. I'm with my dad."

"He'll always be your dad. I was supposed to be your Master."

Kim sighed. "Right now, I don't need a Master. I have him."

"You need more from your life than just your dad. Is he going to stay up with you in the middle of the night to change diapers and feed our baby? Is he going to help you handle all of our boy's baby needs? I realize that there are a lot of single mothers out in the world, and I know you were raised by a single parent, but parenting would be so much easier with TWO of us, don't you think?"

"Ben..."

"I'll move into your house if I have to. He can supervise me if he needs. But I WANT to be a father to our little boy. I'll commute to BioGen from Sunnyvale. Easy."

"You're taking the job? I thought Viktoriya convinced you to get your MBA?"

"I did accept the MBA, but I'll do whatever it takes to be there for both of you. I can always defer a year, and if I call Amir he'll take me back at BioGen. Period."

Kim sighed. "We'll see. It's possible I can convince my dad to let you move in with us and help raise the baby. But it's more likely that he won't, and you would only be able to visit from time to time."

"From time to time?" I groaned. "Kim ... seriously ... maybe you should just move out and be with me. Be together with me and raise this child with me! I know he's your father, but he can't stop you from leaving."

"Yes he can."

"No he can't. You're twenty-one and a legal adult."

"This isn't about legality. He's my father. If he wants to stop me, he stops me."

"And what if I 'commanded' you? Huh?"

"Then I'd refuse."

"Refuse your Master?"

"You're not my Master now, Ben."

"But I could be. And then you'd be with me, the way you always wanted to be."

"I'm sorry, but I thought this part was clear: I love you, and I would have liked things to work out for the two of us. But if forced to choose between you and my dad ... I choose him."

Sasha, dressed once again in her pajamas, was waiting in the hall; the others had all gone downstairs. She took one look at the expression on my face and immediately wrapped me up in a hug. A moment later, still rubbing my back, she asked quietly, "What did she say?"

I sighed. "We're having a boy."

"That's great news. Not to say that it would have been bad to have a girl..."

"Of course not." I rolled my eyes and then added, "Brooke's never gonna let me hear the end of it. She always said I would have a son first, and when I asked her how she knew, she just gave me that evil grin and said, 'Because I know'. But yeah, I'm excited to have a son."

Sasha smiled. "So it was good news."

I winced and shook my head. "Actually, Kim also said that I'm still forbidden from seeing her."

"Still?"

I nodded.

"Her dad?"

I started nodding again, but then stopped and shook my head. "When it comes down to it, it's Kim's choice. She's choosing her father over me, and I can't entirely blame her for it. He's obviously had a lot more influence in her life than me, and deep down, I always knew that. I've never been completely comfortable with the idea of being anyone's 'Master'. It's just not in my nature. To be with her father at a time like this is only natural, and I honestly think it's better for her than being with me. Still, I wish there was some way I could talk him into letting me be a part of Kim's life."

"So why don't you?"

"Because if I try to contact her, I honestly think he WILL slap a restraining order on me."

"On what grounds? Have you shown any propensity for violence against her? Have you proven yourself a nuisance? The law doesn't work like that. You can't just slap people with restraining orders because you don't want them around."

"Well then maybe because I actually want to respect their wishes in some way. The guy is the grandfather of my baby ... my son."

"And you're the father."

"I know."

"And I had to bring this up, but the last time you stayed away from someone for two months was when DJ decided she wasn't in love with you anymore. Aren't you worried that Kim might come to some similar conclusion?"

"Not in love with me anymore?" I shrugged and shook my head. "Well ... maybe she'd be better off that way."

"C'mon, do you really believe that?"

I sighed. "What I believe is that this is what Kim wants. I call her, and she doesn't pick up. Ben when Bert calls her, she picks up and talks to him. Clearly, Kim is cooperating with her father's instructions to stay away from me, this one phone call notwithstanding. She sounds okay, not stressed out or miserable or anything despite being locked down in the house."

"Locked down?"

I sighed. "He doesn't let her leave the house. 'Safer' that way."

"That's horrible."

"Maybe it would be for you or me, and yet she's fine with it." I pulled back from Sasha's grasp. "As much as I want to see her and reassure myself that she's doing alright, I have to admit that she IS in good hands. Her family dearly loves her and I know her brothers are there for her as well. She's well-cared for and provided for. The fact is: she doesn't NEED me. Maybe when the baby comes and all those diapering and feeding and other caregiving duties become part of the equation, they'll welcome a little help from me."

Sasha gave me a bemused look. "Sure you wouldn't rather skip all that crap and be welcomed back into the family's arms when the boy is like ... I dunno ... six? He'll be potty-trained and capable of using full sentences and all that jazz."

I shook my head. "I would have missed six years of bonding with my son. Period. I don't mind the child-rearing. Well, it's easy for me to say that since I haven't done it, but you don't know how set I've been about starting a family and raising my child ever since DJ turned up pregnant."

Sasha looked sad for me, and she stroked my cheek. "I'm sorry, Ben."

I took a deep breath. "Thanks."

"And just for the record, you are NOT allowed to knock ME up as a way of rebounding, understand?"

I blinked and raised my eyebrows while Sasha smirked at me. "I wouldn't--" I began defensively but Sasha was already waving me off.

"C'mon ... breakfast is ready," she said, changing the subject and gesturing down the stairs.

I nodded and started walking, but just as I stepped off the landing, and still with one foot in the air, I stopped. Sasha was already following me and actually bumped me from behind, forcing me to catch myself by stepping down and grabbing the rail.

"Oops, sorry."

But I wasn't responding. Not yet. A new idea had popped into my head and I turned back to Sasha. "You know ... the most important thing so far has been that Kim's father doesn't want me to talk to HER. Doesn't want me influencing HER, because he thinks I might actually change her mind..."

"Yeah..." Sasha led me.

My mind was still churning, and I was staring at the wall. "But nobody has said I can't try to talk to HIM. Oh I'm sure he'll be rigid and strict and will tell himself he won't budge an inch. But on the other hand, I can at least TRY to talk to him and convince him to let me back into their lives. Kim said that he doesn't trust me at all, and I haven't really given him much reason to. We've only even MET twice. But maybe if we sit down and talk, man-to-man ... I'd at least have a shot, right?"

Sasha thought about that and shrugged, nodding. "Worth a try."

I grinned, feeling for the first time that I could actually DO something to get myself back to Kim. Not going down and trying to regain my position as her Master, but something concrete and natural for me: convincing him I'd be Kim's friend. Despite being worn out from the morning orgy, I felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins, and I turned around to head back into my room.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?" Sasha caught me and held me back.

"To change. So I can drive down to Kim's house and ask her dad to let me talk to him."

"Hold up. You need to EAT. Kim's fine for now and her house will still be there in another thirty minutes. You had a very, VERY busy morning and your body needs calories. The last thing you need is to show up and start rambling in front of Kim's father because you're starving and your blood sugar is low, okay?

I rolled my eyes but allowed Sasha to rotate my body back toward the stairs. "Okay..." I conceded. She gave me a little push again, this time on purpose, and I started going down one step at a time.

But I didn't get breakfast right away, and I didn't drive over to Kim's house today. Right when my foot hit the last step of the stairs, the doorbell rang. I turned and glanced at Sasha, who shrugged back at me, and then I headed down the hallway to see who had come to call.

I didn't recognize her right away. The last image I had of her was that of a vibrant young woman, supremely gorgeous and full of fire, even after getting triple-penetrated in Carter's Voyeur Room. True, it had been a little unsettling to see someone I'd known since High School get worked over like that, and I wasn't entirely comfortable with the scene Carter was running. But at the same time, she'd seemed to be doing what she wanted to do, and I'd seen no reason to interfere.

The woman before me, on the other hand, looked ... hollow ... for lack of a better word. She'd lost a lot of weight, appearing even more gaunt than DJ had become at her worst. Her cheeks had caved in, and there were dark circles around her eyes, adding to the skeletal look. Her once lustrous dark hair was stringy and matted. Her skin was pallid and the threadbare dress she wore was dirty and torn. She looked like she hadn't taken a shower in days, and that her time since that last shower had been mostly spent on the street. Life had not been kind to the young woman since we last saw each other nearly two years ago to the day, and no matter what animosities there had been between us, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic pity for the broken creature before me.

Sasha, behind me, gasped to see her. She'd likely never met the girl, but the visitor's poor condition was shocking to see.

"Elyse?" I managed to croak, my eyes darting all over the place as I took in everything about her disheveled appearance.

Closing her eyes and bending her chin down, our visitor shook her head slowly. And in a voice so timid and full of pain, she replied, "Elyse Laughton is dead."