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Subject: {ASSM} Gonna Getcha Good! (MF, piv) TBD
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:10:05 -0400
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There is no zoosexuality in this one.  However, there is mention of an
offscreen character who is a zoo, and everyone is pragmatic enough to
be accepting of her.

note:  I wanted to see if I could write something that maintained a
fast pace.  The title was inspired by a Country song.

The same song inspired the attempt at pacing this one faster than I
usually make my writing.
------


Gonna Getcha Good!
----

"You're gonna sleep with me tonight, so you'd better chuck the drink
in favor of something with a lot of sugar in it."

I looked up from my screwdriver--and my jaw dropped.

"Look, lady.  I don't know who the fuck you are, but even if you think
you're drop dead gorgeous, which you are,  and hornier than a mink in
heat, what makes you think we're going to be fucking each other
tonight?

She casually skinned out of her dress, to reveal she wasn't wearing
anything else, then cupped a breast in each hand.

"These?"

"Not good enough."

Her hands moved to her crotch, she leaned backwards, and spread
herself for me.

"Both of these holes, any time you want them?"

"Nope."

She let go of herself and straightened to stand proudly.  "Damnit,
Jerry. You're worse than I thought.  First man who gave the right
answers.  You haven't changed a bit."

She took a deep breath.and sat on the stool next to mine.  "Ok.  Let's
get serious about this.  I'll make my last offer.  I'll give you the
full package deal.  My tits, my cunt, my ass...  Me, goddamnit!

"And one more thing.

"Whatever money you need to get your company going."

I stiffened, and made no effort to hide my sudden interest.  "What's
it gonna cost me?  Other than tonight, of course."

"Ten percent partnership."

"I need a million, just to open the doors."

"You're stupid, Jerry.  I've seen the workup, and researched it.  Five
million.  To start.  More if that runs out, but I don't think it
will."

"What about repayment?  What's the interest going to be?"

"No repayment.  The ten percent will take care of it within three
years, if we're both right.  The interest?  That's different."

She jabbed her hand into my crotch and started fondling me through my
pants.

Then she grinned.  "One prick and two balls."

I stared at her, then I realized that grin was familiar, and she'd
said I hadn't changed a bit.

I searched my memories and when I got to grade school, I realized I'd
found a match for her face and mannerisms.

"GODDAMNIT!

"Barbara?!"

"So you DO remember me."

"Where the fuck have you been all of these years?  Get over here and
on my lap where you belong."

She giggled, took my dick out, then sat on it and snuggled against my
chest.

"Here and there.  Hell and back a few times.  Three marriages and two
divorces.  Third one lasted until he got killed, because he happened
to be on his way to work on the freeway, and a couple gangs got into a
shootout with him in the middle because he couldn't get out of the way
in time as they came up on him.

"Right after we moved, mom and dad divorced and mom got custody even
though she turned into a crack whore to survive.  Her pimp started
talking about adding me to his string, so I bolted and never looked
back.  Wiggled my ass a few times, then let the personnel manager of a
major corp fuck me.  Once I was hired and working for someone who had
the balls to tell him to fuck off and make it stick, I got serious
about the job and worked my way up the ladder until I was running a
secretarial pool as an EA.

"By then I was on number three, and we'd made some good investments.
One of them was a bunch of folks who helped startups.  Your proposal
crossed my desk and was stamped approved, with a note attached:
'Barbara, miss this one and I'll quit.'

"I was about to hand it to my secretary, and the name on it triggered
some good memories, so here I am.  I had to find out if it was really
you."

I shook my head at the fast pace of her explanation.  "Still don't
slow down, do you?"

"Only when I sleep, or my man wears me out.  Want the job?"

"Marry me, Barbara."

"Pay your tab and let's go.  We can be in Vegas in about 5 hours or
so."

"Get off my lap and put your dress back on.  No tab.  They have my
card number, and the drinks are paid for before they get handed to
me."

"So why the proposal, if you're that rich?"

"Can't get my hands on the cash I need to start it right.  If I don't,
it will never take off and someone else will have time to see what I'm
doing, then cut me off at the knees.  FundCorp is reputable, and I
figured they wouldn't pass it on to someone else without asking me for
permission, first."

"Thanks.  I catch anyone doing that, they never work in the industry
again, and we shut down the person they gave the info to.  Nice to
know that policy has paid off."

"Will pay off.  I'll take your money.  If you know a halfway decent pr
outfit, we might be multimillionaires in a couple years."

Then I shrugged and kissed her.  "Sorry.  I'll be a multimillionaire.
You'll just get richer."

She giggled and grabbed my hand after she put her dress back on.
"Let's go. My limo is waiting."

* * *

As soon the door on her limo closed, we stripped and were all over
each other.  My penis jabbed her cunt, and we rutted while our tongues
danced with each other.

She didn't orgasm when I did, so I just slid down and started tonguing
her clit and doing other nasty things to her, until she screamed.

I kept working her, she moaned some more, then started pushing at my
head, if you can call a light, barely noticeable pressure on my
forehead, a push.

I pulled away, slid up her body, then kissed her tenderly.

She finally stopped her ragged breathing and hugged me.  "Gods...  I
can't believe you haven't forgotten what I liked.  I wasn't expecting
that.  You've improved, too."

"Man doesn't forget his first fuck, especially when she's like you
were. Thanks.  I've had a lot of practice since grade school.  Had
them standing in line by the time I was in junior high.  I was worn
out by high school, so I took a break and got serious about life for
nine years.  Didn't stop getting laid, just kept it to a reasonable
pace to keep the edge off."

She rolled us over, then snuggled.  "Ever get serious about a woman?"

"One, in high school.  She looked like I remembered you being.  Not as
wild though, and she liked things slower, which suited me fine."

"I know that tone.  What happened?"

I winced.  "What else?  Some jock couldn't deal with the prom queen
running with a nerd, so he raped her.  Then, to show her who was in
charge, he stuffed his fist up her ass and ruptured her colon.

"She was dying when he dumped her in her front yard, and she was dead
by the time the paramedics showed up."

"There's more, isn't there?"

"Yeah.  It was prom night, and I showed up about thirty minutes after
the jock abducted her.  I was there when she was dumped.  She died in
my arms and her last words were 'I love you, Jerry.  Always."

"Shit!"

"Yep."

"The jock?"

"Cops had a couple of unmarked units staking the place out.  The kid
panicked and they shot him when he grabbed a tire iron and went for
them.

"He was dead before he hit the ground, and Georgia had heard the news
before she died."

Barb took a deep breath.  "Good."

"Yeah, it was, because it saved me from myself.  I knew who it was
because I'd seen him when he dumped her, and as far as I was
concerned, once I had the chance to get away from all the cops and
stuff, he wasn't going to see daylight again."

She kissed me lightly.  "Thinking with your prick or your heart?"

"Both, but mostly my heart.  We'd agreed to get married once she'd
finished two years of college and had her AA so she could help pay my
way until I had my PhD."

"In?"

"You saw my proposal.  Small business management."

"That explains the quality of your proposal. 95 percent of them are
half baked wishful thinking.  Another 4 percent are ivory tower stuff
that comes from another world.  Yours was from the last 1 percent,
those written by professionals who have good contact with reality, and
have the balls to admit that to get their ideas to work, it would take
dedication, years, and money, lots of it, just to get started."

She suddenly looked out the window and then hit the intercom.

"We past Lenwood, yet?"

"No."

"Good.  We need to eat, so pull off there."

"Dine in, or take out?"

"Hang on."

She smiled at me.  "You heard the question.  I don't feel like getting
dressed, but I'll leave it up to you, this time."

I chuckled.  "Take out, then.  You choose."

She nodded and turned her attention back to the driver.  "Take out. In
and Out.  Once you give us ours, park this tub, then take a break for
a couple hours and take care of yourself."

"It will have to be at least four.  Log book says I'm too close to my
limit for it to be less."

"Damnit!  Find us a motel, then, and we'll call it a night."

"Yes, Ma'am.  Honeymoon suite, again?"

I chuckled when she blushed and let up on the button.  "Had him a long
time?"

"Wedding gift from my first husband.  Can't get rid of him."

"Can't, or refuses to leave unless you fire him?"

"Refuses to leave, and I haven't managed to drive him away.  Quit
trying."

"Good man, then?"

"Very good."

She sighed and hit the button a last time.  "We'll get the honeymoon
suite in Vegas.  You know my preferences.  Make the arrangements."

"Church wedding, or chapel?"

"You know how I feel about Jerry."

"Yes, Ma'am.  I'll start looking for a church.  The usual invitation
list?"

"No.  Intimate friends and family, only.  If Jerry is as organized as
I think he is, we'll have his list by tomorrow afternoon, and then you
can tell Julia to make arrangements to get them all in the same place,
and on time.  I'll call the office to let them know we're giving Jerry
a five million advance to get him started, and make the appropriate
arrangements.  They'll know what to do.  Since we're stopping for the
night, get us a full meal of some sort."

"Consider it done.  Mind if I get the rooms first, and then hit the
truck stop for your food?'

My eyebrows shot up, but she ignored me.  "You know me too well,
Henry.  Take as long as you need to relax and eat before you deliver
our food.  the usual routine.  That's it."

"Got it."

She finally looked at me, then laughed.  "Hope you aren't body shy.
He'll keep a key to our room, of course, and walk in on us as long as
we don't set the security lock.  Sees all, says nothing.  Part of his
job description.  He put it in years ago, and I agreed with his
decision."

"How come you've never married him?"

Her eyebrows shot up.  "Know a lot about women, don't you?"

"Yep."

"Henry is my anchor.  Unflappable butler type, with a wickedly cutting
sense of humor.  I offered him a job as my secretary, but he turned me
down.  I don't want to risk losing him, so we keep it the way it has
always been."

"Got it."

Then I grinned at her

"Well, give me some time to get my legs moving, and I'll see if I can
keep up with you again."

She sobered.  "Keep up?  You were the one who taught me how to run, by
staying ahead of me.  I learned the lesson, too, because I never look
back to see who's trying to catch me.  Too busy chasing the ones in
front of me."

I laughed.  "Chasing?  Or running them over if they're too slow to get
out of your way?"

She giggled and kissed me again.  "I don't run people over.  I dodge
them and let them wonder who went by."

"Well,  you cut it a little close this time, because you snagged me in
your slipstream."

"Nope. Went fishing and hooked you.  You going to fight me?"

"Nope.  Been gaffed, and I know it. so you can just haul me out of the
water and add me to your trophy collection."

She winced, then decided to laugh.  "I suppose it does seem that way,
doesn't it?  You were teasing, weren't you?"

I sighed.  "Yes, I was, but let's face the truth.  Anyone after number
two is going to start wondering, if the others are still alive."

She touched me lightly.  "Works both ways.  Number three lasted the
longest, and showed all the signs of being the last, if that helps
any."

"It does."

"Thank you."

I took a deep breath and held both of her hands while I studied her,
then I nodded.

"I have some things to say, and I ask that you hear me out before you
try to respond.  Ok?"

"Yes."

"Good.  I'm old enough, and experienced enough, to know that both of
us are going to be making comparisons to past lovers.  I don't have a
problem with that and I want it in the open from the beginning.  So,
if you whisper someone else's name in my ear while you are half
asleep, or even shout it during a moment of passion, or speak one
during a moment of stress, I'm ok with it.  As strange as it may
sound, I *want* to hear other men's names.  Or women's.  If you were
the type of woman who could turn her memories on and off, I couldn't
let myself continue loving you, as I have always loved my memory of
what we shared as children.

"That leads me to the next part of this speech.  I don't demand this,
but I would like to know ahead of time what memories I am competing
against.  Good ones, bad ones, they don't matter.

"With that in mind, if we are in bed together, or even at a board
meeting, feel free to say 'He did it this way, and I'd like for you to
do it that way, too'.  I'd like to think that usually, I will go
along, because you are successful, and know what works.  I do not, and
I am willing to learn."

Then I laughed.  "And finally, while I am sure we have both explored
our sexuality quite a bit, I know I haven't yet explored mine
completely.  If you've never done something, and want to experiment,
no matter how... bizarre it might be, ask.  I would like the same
freedom to ask, but it's up to you.  Every woman is different, and I
know enough about my preferences to be content with whatever you
decide to give me.  As for outside relationships, generally speaking,
I am monogamous once I commit to a relationship, unless we both agree
to bring other people to our bed."

She waited, and then nodded slowly.  "Anything else?"

"I'll probably think of something else later, but these are things I
feel strongly enough about that I want them in the open from the
beginning."

Her smile was bittersweet.  "I understand.  The easiest one to answer
is the one about what they were like, and the memories you will be
competing against.

"Many of those memories will be the ones you see in your mirror every
day. When I was serious about a man, I compared him to my memories of
you, and the dreams I had created as I tried to figure out who the man
was, that you'd grown up to be."

"Now that you face the reality of who I am?"

Her smile changed to a grin.  "The reality is close, I'll admit.  But
it is also surprising, in a very significant way, a way that says we
should grow old together."

"Oh?"

"My first three husbands demanded that I put my previous lovers out of
my mind, as if they'd never been, even though they knew those lovers
had helped make me who I am."

She grimaced.  "Fred, who was number two, put it the most succinctly.
'They were past mistakes.  You learned from them, so now you can
forget the mistakes themselves, as long as you remember what you
learned'.

"The implication being, of course, that he was not a mistake.  It took
me several years to realize having him in my life was perhaps the
biggest mistake I had ever made, and once I internalized that
unpalatable discovery, he was removed from my life.  Not painlessly,
but eventually, completely.

"I do have many good memories of those few years together, and I have
good ones from my time with my first husband, in spite of the way he
abruptly left me for a shorter--and much slower--skirt."

I laughed at her astringent tone.  "Another secretary?"

"From a rival company!  Unfortunately for them, while they did get his
boardroom skills, which were formidable even that early in his career,
they got only the ideas he was championing and not the mind that had
created them. I later heard she was very disappointed, and made him
pay for that disappointment when she filed for divorce a few years
later."

We felt the car stop and then shift slightly as Henry got out, so she
sighed. "We'd better get our clothing on."

I chuckled.  "I'll put all of mine on, just to make it look proper.
Which reminds me.  Are you successful enough that the media chases you
and looks for scandals?  And oh, yeah...  Couple more things now that
my prick fired and I can think again.  Do I need lots of condoms or
should I get cut, and do you have any kids?  I don't, as far as I
know, and I've kept track of most of my ex lovers and casual fucks for
at least 10 months after the last time I fucked them, just to be sure
there weren't any lingering mistakes."

She had to stop wiggling into her dress because she'd started giggling
too hard.

"Oh!  Jerry!  I knew it!  You wouldn't have stayed single if you'd had
kids at some point, and I remember you as being paranoid about
pregnancy, even though supposedly it was impossible for me to get
pregnant when we fucked as kids."

I chuckled and finished sorting out my own clothing before I answered
her. "Paranoid was a good way to put it.  Several cunts tried to nail
me for someone else's kids, but the tests proved the kids weren't
mine, and in all but one case, I was able to point the proper people
at the man most likely to be responsible.  I'm anal retentive when it
comes to record keeping.  My 'black book' is a huge set of encrypted
files on a usb stick drive."

"Heh!  Still got those 3x5 cards your used to use as a kid?"

"No, just the scans of them, and the data has been transferred, of
course."

"Figures.  Anyway, as soon as I could afford it, I had all my eggs
removed, and stored.  No kids, for obvious reasons, and no plans for
any.  Nice to visit them, but I don't want any around 24/7.  I'd make
a rotten mother, and I'm too damn busy to take proper care of them,
because I'd want to do it myself.  I've seen what money does to kids
and families who hire other folks to be artificial parents."

"With that attitude, I don't understand the storage."

"Money.  Sometimes I let myself be persuaded, for *large* amounts of
it, to sell one of my eggs.  Nothing improves the selling price like
success."

I shook my head but I was smiling.  "Ok.  Is it safe for me to assume
none of those buyers are going to come back to haunt you?"

"I'm an anonymous donor to anyone who asks.  The egg bank knows who I
am, of course, so they can contact me if someone decides they are a
good match with the sperm being used."

"Greedy bitch."

"Well matched, aren't we?  You feel presentable, yet?  How do I look?
I'll talk about the rest once we get inside, ok?"

"You look...  Ravishable.  Disheveled, too.  Not at all like the
proper business woman, unless your business routinely involves motel
rooms.  Since you're willing to walk to our room, looking like that,
I'll assume we don't need to worry about the media for now."

"Keep it up, and I'll start feeling slow.  I think you were lying to
me about getting your legs up to speed."

"Maybe.  Been living in a synchrotron until I built up the knowledge
and money I'd need to get moving straight again."

"And that five million will push you over so you can escape to hit
your target.  I should be ashamed of myself for daring to think you'd
slowed down."

I sobered.  "I did, Barb.  I damn near stopped the night Georgia was
raped and killed."

She stiffened and studied me.  "Gods...  All these years, and I can
hear the anger, as if it just happened."

I sighed.  "Help me move on, ok?  I loved her as much as I loved you."

She reached and touched my face.  "I'm back, Jerry.  I never stopped
loving my memories of you.  Got good at fooling myself, and hiding it,
but it's always been there.  Ask Henry, if you need proof."

"I don't need to ask him, and I don't doubt you.  How could I, after
what you did earlier?"

Then I reached and pulled her into a quick kiss before I pulled away
so I could watch her again.  "Or do you always strip when you're
telling a client you've ok'd the loan?"

She blushed, then laughed throatily.  "Special case.  As soon as I
knew it was you, all I could think of were those crazy quickies we
found time for, after we gave each other our virginity."

It was my turn to blush, and I knew I was still red when I recovered.
"Well, at least *that* wasn't done in a hurry!  I still think it was a
miracle we had hours, instead of minutes."

She smiled.  "It *was* a miracle, and it has made it almost impossible
for my first fuck with a man to be casual.  I need the emotional
connection and lots of gentle foreplay.  After that, of course things
can get wild, like we've been so far."

"Thanks, Barb.  I wish I could say it's been like that for me, but it
wasn't, especially after you left, and the girls knew I was
available."

Her eyes went wide.  "Goddamnit!  No wonder I hurt for so long after
we moved away.  We were a fucking couple!"

I snorted.  "And you'd spoiled me.  Believe it or not, if I wanted to,
I could count how many girls and women I fucked before I met Georgia
and we clicked on the same level you and I had.  About the only real
difference was that she was...  I guess you'd call it slower than you
were, but that was fine because I'd settled quite a bit and wanted
stability as part of my long term plans.  Can't get that when you're
fucking a new partner every week or so."

Before she could respond the car rocked slightly, so we tabled our
catching up.

Henry's voice came over the intercom.  "I got us adjoining executive
suites at the end of the hallway, so we'll be less likely to get
bothered by people walking by.  Do you want to be delivered to the
elevators, stairs closest to the rooms, or should I park and let you
show off to the truckers?"

I choked back my laughter while she sighed and reached for the switch.
"Since you're looking forward to the show, park and we'll walk.  Jerry
needs a good dose of smug complacency, and frankly, I'm feeling pretty
smugly satisfied, myself."

His voice was droll.  "Yes, M'Lady.  Will there be anything else,
M'Lady? Your teapot, perhaps?"

I lost all control and roared my laughter.  "Another fan!  No wonder
you've kept him!"

She glared at me before she responded to Henry.  "Six douche kits will
be fine, Henry.  I'll take them with dinner."

"Very good, M'Lady.  Will Sir need anything?"

She grinned at me and held the button down.  I grinned back.  "See
that we have an appointment for STD screening before the wedding."

"Of course.  Do you wish to use the limo, or should I arrange for more
mundane transportation?"

I smiled.  "The limo will be fine, if M'Lady approves."

She nodded at me, then spoke calmly.  "I do.  See to it."

She let go of the switch and collapsed into the back of the seat
before she laughed so hard she was still crying when the limo stopped
moving and Henry opened one of the doors to let us out.

She got out first, I joined her, then laughed when she faced the truck
parking area and did a full body stretch with her arms over her head.

I chuckled, then held out my hand to Henry.  "Since Barb neglected the
formalities. I'm Jerry, and pleased to meet you."

He smiled and shook my hand.  "Henry, or Hank to the men, sometimes.
I'm a professional driver, cross trained as a bodyguard.  Fortunately,
so far, I've never had to show off my non driving skills."

My eyebrows went up a little, then I nodded.  "Glad to hear it.  If
anything happens, take care of Barb first, then yourself."

Barb didn't bother turning her head.  "He can't do it that way, if
you're with me.  Passengers first."

I sighed.  "Ok.  Should I get recertified with weapons?"

She spun to stare at me.  "Recertified?"

"Relax.  It was part of being on the University shooting team.  School
policy had us all take the full battery of courses, and that included
a few times through the police academy course, as well as the military
ones.  We weren't target shooters all the time.  Sometimes we did the
target discrimination courses for score.  After the last competition
before graduation, I put everything away and let my certs lapse."

She didn't answer me directly.  "Henry?  Your call."

He studied me thoughtfully, then sighed.  "I think I'd better be
wearing protection when I test him.  He has a 'Look' to him, but it's
not one I've seen before."

Her eyebrows went up quite a bit, then she shrugged and wrapped an arm
around my waist.  "Lead us to our rooms.  We can worry about his other
moves later."

He smiled, then chuckled.  "I'll make sure to get balanced meals for
both of you, along with some energy snacks.  I made sure we have an
option on the rooms in case we stay over."

She blushed.  "Thank you, Henry.  Hopefully we'll be gone before check
out time."

"I suspect it will take at least a few days to organize the wedding
and make arrangements to get the guests there."

She glanced at me, then squeezed slightly.  "Is that your way of
saying you feel it would be wise if we stay here for a couple days?"

"Yes.  You need a vacation."

She sighed.  "What about you, Jerry?"

"I was waiting to find out what your decision would be.  No pressing
projects right now."

"And all of mine never stop, so a few days isn't going to matter in
the long run."

She sighed again.  "You win, Henry.  I'll have the office send a
courier with all the paperwork for funding Jerry's business, so we can
get that out of the way, then we'll let you decide when we should go
to Vegas."

"Thank you, Barbara.  Now, if you'll follow me?"

* * *

He made us wait in the hallway while he checked out both rooms, then
he handed us all of the key cards and shrugged.  "Chain the doors and
all that stuff. Ok?"

Barb nodded.  "And nobody gets let in, unless it's you and we do the
recognition stuff to let us know you're not being coerced."

He chuckled.  "Just making sure the hormones haven't flushed your
common sense."

She laughed, then pointed at the door and spoke imperiously.  "Go!"

She secured the door behind him, then settled in one of the chairs and
kicked her shoes off before she grinned at me.

"Congratulations, I think.  You're the first man he's met that he's
said he wants to be wearing protection gear when he checks out what
you know in the way of self defense."

I settled on the bed and leaned against the headboard.  "He's got good
eyes, to spot it.  I'm supposed to look ordinary, but not so wimpy I
act like a victim.  The idea is for people to decide there are easier
victims out there, without really knowing what made them decide to
pass me up."

She shrugged.  "Sounds like a defensive style."

"It is."

"Good.  I've had enough of the basics to defend myself against the
average rapist or overenthused drunk.  Another gift from my first,
since he  knew we'd meet execs who figured a body like mine meant they
could take liberties."

I snorted.  "You're just too damn beautiful, Barb.  But then, I'm
biased, so I'm not the best judge of that."

"Thanks...  Kit."

I groaned.  "You would remember my first name.  Dad and his
fascination for space opera.  I haven't used it on anything except
legal documents since early high school."

She giggled.  "From what I remember, it sounds like you might have
grown into it."

"Yeah,  Maybe.  Let's hope I don't have to use any of the appropriate
skills. That routine we just went through had the feel of being normal
when you travel."

"It is.  So's riding around in the limo, or letting Henry do all the
driving. He's going to tear strips out of my hide for being impulsive
and not waiting for a second bodyguard to join us.  He's probably
already called backup in, and a team in a plain car will show up
before he brings dinner."

She frowned, and held up a hand to stop me from saying anything.
"Change that.  There's a backup in place already, or he wouldn't have
left us by ourselves."

She seemed to sense my nervousness because she smiled wryly.  "Relax.
It's all routine, and we've never had problems.  Nobody is out to get
me, or use anyone who is close to me to get to me, that we know of.
It's all part of having access to the money.  Henry and others are
paranoid for me, so I can focus on my job."

I sighed.  "I've always wondered what it was like to be on the inside.
I'll get used to it."

She matched my sigh.  "When we fund a project on the scale you
proposed, the protection includes whoever handles the money, so
there's only one way to escape all the restrictions."

"Find someone who'd give me that much money without insisting I hire
my own bodyguards?  Not in today's business climate."

She nodded.  "You'd have to forget about your dreams."

I shook my head wearily.  "Not after all these years, when I'm this
close to seeing if I can make them reality."

She laughed.  "At least you're still as obsessive as I remembered.
Now, I need to make a call, then we'll do something to take our minds
off all this real world crap, and be selfish, ok?"

She reached in her purse, took out her cell phone--and frowned at it.
"Where's my head at?  Don't you answer that!  Give me your cell number
so I can send you a few text messages with some special numbers you
need to know. There are others, but these are the most important
ones."

I gave it to her, she sent the messages, and I added them to my phone
book with names and notes, after she explained what each one was for.

When I had them entered she settled back in the chair.  "Now, it gets
a little silly.  That second number I gave you should be the one to
contact our new shadows, assuming Henry was his usual efficient self.
You'll have to set up your own verbal codes, but for now just pay
attention and use mine if something happens."

I laughed.  "Can't fool me.  You're enjoying yourself."

"Yes, I am.  I hope I never quit, because if I do, we're going to be
in trouble."

She made her call and when a woman answered she spoke calmly. "Because
she was bored."

"Why did the bitch bark in the night?"

"Nice to hear your voice, Felice.  Who's with you this time?"

"Keith and Jennifer."

"Both of them?"

"One for each of you, so Henry can do the driving.  Julia has already
booked a floor, and will be looking for a church, tomorrow.  Hang on.
Keith wants to talk to Jerry."

"Hello, Jerry."

"Hello, Keith.  What can I do for you?"

"Two things, both are requests, not demands."

"Sounds reasonable.  Let me hear them, then I'll let you know."

"Be gentle with Henry when you take him down.  You can't afford to be
without the services of the best driver we have, and Barbara would
probably kill you herself, if you put him in the hospital.  Once we
knew you were going to be number four, we did a more thorough
background check.  He's good, but you're better."

I chuckled.  "And you have a betting pool, right?"

"Maybe.  Mostly it's our bruises and destroyed egos motivating our
request.."

"Got it.  The other request?"

"Appreciate it if you give serious consideration to teaching, and make
your first student Barbara, if she's willing."

"I'll think about it, and we'll discuss the possibility, eventually.
We have other things on our minds, so we're going to have to depend on
you folks to keep things under control.  Honestly, I was hoping that
sort of stuff was gone from my life after I put it away when I
graduated."

"Understood.  This is the only time it will get mentioned.  Thanks for
listening.  I'm turning the phone over to Felice."

"Barb?  We're going to leave you alone, so if it isn't Henry who
knocks on your door, ignore whoever it is, and call us in."

Barbara smiled.  "I thought you knew better.  At least one of you is
settled where you can see our doors, and someone else is covering the
windows, right?"

"Good girl!  We're being low key, so we can't stop someone from
reaching your door, but at least one of us won't be far behind them."

Barb laughed.  "I better not see anything except the room charges on
your expense voucher.  Thank you, Felice."

"You're welcome.  See you in the morning."

Felice hung up and Barb shut her phone off, then stretched again and
let me see her smile.  "They're dears, all of them.  Especially
Henry."

"Sounds like it.  You  move in some pretty fast company these days,
don't you?"

"Yes.  I can afford to be choosy, and only the best get sent out to
keep an eye on me.  Henry makes sure of that.  Been awhile since
someone has shared my umbrella."

"Sounded like I have my own umbrella."

"You do.  I think Keith is happy to have you around."

"I'll have to think about that teaching.  I was being honest when I
said I thought I was done with all that stuff."

"They'll accept no when it comes to teaching them."

"Which implies I'd better teach you whatever you can learn?"

"Yes.  Later.  We have more important things to deal with."

She giggled.  "Given a choice, Keith and Jen would rather be in the
room with us."

I sighed.  "What about you?"

"I gave my word that Henry is the only person I'll let in the room.
Once he's back, and confirms things are fine, then yes, I don't have
any problems with them being inside with us.  Been living with them
for so many years, they're portable furniture and I ignore them."

"My life would be easier with them present, wouldn't it?"

"Safer.  Easier is debatable."

I got off the bed and stripped before I leered at her.  "Let's see if
we can run out of hot water."

"I like your style!"

She got up, stripped, then grabbed her phone and brought it with her
when we went to share a shower.

Once we agreed on the water temp, we soaped each other and took the
time to slowly explore and get familiar with our bodies.

She slid her hands over me, then shook her head.  "If you have any
fat, I haven't found it.  You an exercise fanatic?"

"Probably haven't had time to lose all the gains I made when I studied
The Art."

"The Art?  I don't think I'm going to buy that 'haven't lost it yet'
stuff. Bodies like yours don't come without a lot of hard work."

I sighed.  "Ok.  It's hard to call something fanatical when I've been
doing it as a habit almost every day ever since half way through my
first year of high school."

I fell silent and she hugged me.  "Never mind, Kit.  The motivations
don't matter.  I would have come on the same way no matter what sort
of body you had."

"Thanks, Barb.  All I did was decide I wasn't going to let myself be
pushed around by any muscle bound idiots who needed to feed their
egos, and who were pissed because their being a jock didn't get them
the girls they tried to steal from me."

She kissed my chest and then watched my face.  "I guess that means you
had to break some bones?"

I chuckled.  "It wasn't that bad.  Only bruises for bruises.

She giggled.  "Did any of them ever gang up on you?"

"Yeah, once, before I started the classes in The Art.  Six of them
jumped me one night."

I bent and traced a long scar on my left leg.  "That's where this came
from. They broke it in three places before they were done with me.
Happened during my freshman year.  It's what made me decide I wasn't
going to let it happen again.

"I started studying more than academic stuff, and once word got out, I
was left alone.

"What about the ones who broke your leg?"

"The usual slaps on the wrists and a couple of game suspensions
Assault with intent to commit great bodily harm on their records, now.
A couple had good college hopes that got derailed.  Cost five of them
their girlfriends and any chances of getting laid, unless it was one
of the school sluts who didn't care what the prick was attached to, as
long as it worked.

"As soon as I was able to have visitors, I was getting sympathy blow
jobs, and one girl had her friends hold her while she managed to fuck
me without disturbing my leg."

"Wish I was there for it.  What about what happened to Georgia?"

I sighed and hugged her again.  "I'd like to think it wouldn't have
happened if you were there, because we would have been locked in to
each other by then and I wouldn't have been so casual about who I was
fucking.  It was all mostly feel good stuff we did because we enjoyed
the sex, and liked each other anyway.  Sort of a share amongst friends
thing.  Nobody was jealous, and we all had hunting licenses.  Most of
the time we'd fuck for a few months, and then drop it from our lives
and be 'just friends', until Georgia and I linked up during our junior
year.  

"Our first few times were scratch the itch.  Didn't take long for us
to figure out we had a link, and we got serious about each other
because we were both a little cynical about being casual, and were
ready to get serious.

"The jerk who killed Georgia was a transfer, and used to being the
biggest dog.  People warned him, but it didn't matter because he'd
been getting away with all kinds of shit at his old school, and the
school and coaches had always bailed him out.  He decided Georgia was
going to be his, and that was the end of it.  I guess he hadn't
learned how to take no for an answer. Funny thing is, if he'd gone for
me instead of the cops, I could have stopped him without killing him,
if I'd wanted to."

"Did you want to kill him?"

"Yes.  I wouldn't have hesitated."

She sighed.  "Turn around, and I'll massage your back.  Let's get you
relaxed a little before we do anything more."

I hugged her before I turned and braced on the wall.  "Thanks,
Barbara."

"You're welcome.  Just do me a big favor if some asshole puts the
moves on me in front of you and doesn't get a clue when I tell him no,
gently.  Let Henry, Jennifer, or Keith deal with it if they are there.
They're licensed bodyguards, and they've been trained to deal with
that sort of thing in ways that don't land us all in court."

"If they aren't there and I am?"

She laughed and started massaging my back.  "I know how to scream real
loud while I'm kneeing their crotch.  Broke an idiot's nose, once,
before Keith and Jennifer tossed him in the pool to cool off while we
waited for the paramedics.  By the time my lawyers got done with him,
he had to pay all his medical expenses, because his insurance company
decided he wasn't covered for injuries sustained during an attempted
rape, and he had enough money that he wasn't qualified for any of the
free coverage usually provided when the system wants a perp to stand
trial."

She laughed deeply and maliciously.  "Word's out.  Casual flirting is
ok, but when I say no, it takes a newbie or a serious drunk to push
past that.  It isn't only men who can use their money to destroy
lives.  I'm not greedy, so I let them live as filthy rich registered
sex offenders."

I laughed.  "You, Barbara, are an evil woman."

"I know."

Her hands moved to my butt and one of them eased between my legs so
she could fondle my testicles  "Now, let me show you what I'll do to
the Devil when I go to Hell..."

"Mmm...  I'll be good, then, if you promise to be amused when some
over perfumed bitch tries to bed me.  I'm not in your league, but I
have enough to know that money is a hell of an aphrodisiac to some
women.  Men, too."

Her hands stopped moving and she sighed.   "I think we'd better hold
off on those lessons until I've calmed down about having you in my
life again. Nobody who works for us will cause problems, but there are
men and women who will go out of their way to try and break us up,
just as part of the usual corporate games, and to say they were able
to.  We can't avoid them for very long either, because the social
circuit is an essential part of how I do business.  Anyway, I'll do my
best to be good when someone starts in on you."

"Ok, Love.  We shouldn't have to worry about me over reacting, unless
someone does something stupid like grab my shoulder and jerk me around
while they're yelling at me."

She laughed and leaned against my back before she wrapped her arms
around me. "I'll be careful."

I laughed and turned in her arms so I could kiss her.  "I've never
hurt a lover yet, no matter what they've done to surprise me."

"Good!"

She slid down my body until she was on her knees, then her mouth
engulfed my prick and she started working me.

I grunted and managed to stop myself from letting go and fucking her
throat, then she solved the problem by using her hands to brace
herself and move me while she did most of the action by bobbing her
head at different speeds and massaging my dick with her tongue and
throat.

I made sure the wall was behind me, then I leaned against it and
managed a chuckle.  "You've gained some experience, too."

"Mmmph!"

Then I relaxed and let it happen without saying anything until I felt
my orgasm was getting ready to explode through me and I grabbed the
back of her head.  "It's coming..."

At my first spasm she slammed me down her throat and proceeded to milk
me until she had to come off for air.

After she caught her breath she fondled me again while she licked my
penis lightly, then she stood and hugged me.  "Thanks.  Do you want to
get me off here, or in the bed?"

"I suppose it depends on if you want to sleep on wet bedding."

"Mmm...  How long before you can fuck me?"

"Couple hours, probably.  Miracles do happen sometimes, so it could be
sooner."

"Eat me here, then we'll snuggle for a nap and some afterglow, if
Henry hasn't appeared with our food by then."

"Maybe you should let him know you'll call him when we're ready, so he
doesn't get worried if you're in the middle of your orgasm when he
knocks on the door."

"Damn!  I forgot about that problem.  How long have we been in the
shower?"

"Not a clue.  If we were at my home, we might have run out of really
hot water by now, and that can take about forty five minutes."

"No on demand system?  That's what I have had for years.  Never mind.
Deal with it later, since we haven't decided how we're going to manage
the living arrangements.  Would you have any problems with an
audience?"

I laughed.  "I've been in piles of wiggling bodies before, so my only
problem might be getting used to them not joining in."

"Ok.  Since Henry hasn't shown up yet, and I told him two hours, I'd
better call Felice and let her deal with the change in plans.  She's
in charge anyway and it's always best if I follow proper procedures."

She went and picked up her phone, called Felice, and after Felice
answered, she laughed.  "We're fine.  Some serious scratching of
mutual itches going on, so intercept Henry and tell him I'll get in
touch when we're ready for company.  And if you hear me screaming,
don't panic."

Felice was droll.  "We've all heard your orgasmic screams before,
Barbara. What do we do if Jerry screams?"

"Take notes later, when you start working the details out of me.  Best
I've done so far is extremely heavy breathing followed by some pretty
impressive grunts."
  
"Be easier if Jen and Keith were in the room."

"I know.  Wasn't thinking when I gave Henry my word after he asked us
to set the locks and wait for him to get back."

Felice giggled.  "I promise not to sell that information.  Enjoy
yourselves, and I'll take care of things out here."

"You're a dear.  Remind me to put another gold star in your file."

"Count on it.  Will you want your travel kit when he delivers the
food, and does Jerry need anything?  By the way, one of our crews
collected his car and put in your garage for now, so he can relax
about it."

She looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

I chuckled.  "Thanks.  Since we're going to be here a few days, and
then in Vegas for an unknown amount of time, there are some things I'd
like to have brought to me.  Can you have a courier come and get my
keys and a list?"

"Of course.  Barbara?  Did you take notes?"

She blushed, then recovered.  "If you aren't used to anticipating my
impulsiveness, maybe it's time you started training your replacement."

"Julia should have your usual travel stuff loaded in the mobile office
and be waiting for the movement order.  Does Jerry have any people he
wants with him, or should I have her assign him an EA?"

I sighed.  "I'll call my office in the morning and give them the good
news before I dump them in the deep end.  By the way, I think it's
time I started using my real first name, to avoid problems later, so
you can pass the word that everyone should start calling me 'Kit'.
Since at least one of you enjoys doing background research, I'll let
you folks figure out why I haven't been using it, except on legal
documents."

"Do we get a hint?"

"No.  And have Julia assign me an EA."

"Male or female?"

"Hang on.  I'd better consult about that."

I looked at Barb and she was frowning, then she grinned and held up a
hand to silence me before she spoke at her phone.

"I hope your protoge' is fully trained, Felice.  Don't bother
mentioning this to Julia, except to tell her to do all the paperwork
involved in promoting you sideways, and into a job you've deserved for
years, but I couldn't give you until now."

There was a long silence, then Felice let us hear her sigh.  "Kit? Are
you certain you want to actually live with this manipulative young
cougar?"

I laughed.  "Yes.  I did it for several years in grade school, and who
do you think helped her learn a lot of her moves?  I'd appreciate it
if I could count on your help.  None of my people are qualified to
work at this level, and they'd be the first to tell you they're
focused on a smaller picture."

"Damnit, Barb.  I knew I shouldn't have made those noises about
knowing my days were numbered as a bodyguard.  Yes, I'll attach myself
to Kit's hip, and micro manage the business details while you take
care of the rest of them. I'll contact Josh and get him here as soon
as I can, then I'll go get whatever Kit needs and bring back a second
mobile office unless you change our plans."

"Thank you, Felice.  You're a dear, and now, you'll get the pay you're
really worth."

"Go back to the important stuff, Barb, and we'll organize the chaos
you've created--yet again."

She hung up before Barbara could say anything.

She set her phone down and smiled wryly.  "I should have known I
wouldn't be able to put anything over on her.  Plus, this way, her
salary won't be coming out of your startup funds."

"Thanks, Barbara.  I have the impression she's going to be a good
match for Henry in the 'manage our lives' department."

"Yes.  She'll also look over your people, and let you know what she
thinks of your system.  How will they react to her stepping in as your
EA?"

"My office staff are temps I hire from an agency when I need them.  I
assumed it would be smarter that way, instead of hiring people and
trying to train them, then find out they weren't right for the job
after the business starts up.  There are a couple I've been
considering hiring as staff, but I've held off until I knew more about
what I would need.  The rest of my people are the core group who
helped me flesh out the basic idea I had, so they aren't going to do
more than sigh with relief when they find out I have an EA, finally.
The marriage and bodyguards will raise their eyebrows, though."

She laughed.  "I can imagine.  I'm sure you'll get spoiled and wonder
how you managed without an EA, fairly quickly."

Then she surprised me by sobering.  "I'd really like to surprise you,
but I think if I did this one it would be pushing things, so It's my
turn to ask you to listen while I say a few things before we go back
to rutting like animals."

"Fair enough."

"Good.  First, As you can probably figure out, my lifestyle has been
pretty free and easy in some ways, and pragmatic in others."

"Ok.  Go on."

"Julia started her career with us as my third husband's EA and after
he was killed, I asked her to stay as mine.  She agreed to that, for
which I am extremely grateful."

"Anyone would be, I'm sure."

"True, and she turned down some extremely lucrative salaries, to stay
with me, because she knew we meshed and worked well as a team, when
the pressure cooker got turned up.  But there was, and is, more."

I shrugged.  "Are you dancing around telling me you're bi?"

"Yes.  There's more to it.  It wasn't unusual for Nathan to invite her
into our bed, or have sex with her when he was on the road without me,
for a damn good reason.  It wasn't unusual for our afterglow to
include business related talk, and since she was there to capture
those ideas and plans, she has been far more effective than
traditional EAs are."

"Sounds like you want to have her live with us.  Also starting to
sound like your impulse to take me to Vegas was a lot more impulsive
than anyone planned for.  I'm ok with her joining us, in any capacity
you want her here."

"Thanks.  I guess you've figured out I'm giving you my approval to
include Felice as one of our bed partners?"

"Yeah, I was nearly there.  Thanks."

She blushed.  "Felice knows how it could work, even though she's only
been an observer.   You and she will have to work things out between
you.   Nathan never bedded her, but he did, sometimes, have her on his
arm during social situations."

"Not surprising."

She took a deep breath.  "And all that is what leads up to what I
could have left to surprise you.   She looks enough like me that she
can replace me and nobody except close friends will be likely to
notice."

I nodded.  "I'll assume that's another reason she's in charge of your
protection, and you will probably hear about the stupidity of leaving
without telling her your plans?"

"Yes, twice.  She'll tell me, again, that she can't act and think like
me if she isn't around me to be my sounding board."

"You do realize that by making her my EA you've just made it harder
for her to substitute for you?  If she's going to be attached to one
of my hips most of the time, people are going to notice the two of you
look alike.  There's a lot of difference between a bodyguard and an
EA. "

"Not really.  Both are invisible in plain sight, because they get
treated like furniture.  Plus, Felice is very skilled at changing the
way she moves and uses her makeup.  As a bodyguard she's extremely
severe in the way she dresses, because that's what people expect to
see.  Change her makeup, redo her hair and put her in one of my
dresses, and even folks who have known me for years have to double
check before they're certain who it is."

"I'll take your word for it, then.  So that means we'll have either or
both Keith and Jennifer with us at all times, Henry will be nearby
when we're traveling together, Julia in and out, and sometimes in the
bed or otherwise intimate with us, and Felice will be in and out too,
and possibly in that tangle of bodies on the bed?"

"Pretty much so, yes.  Of course, there's another body that will be
showing up once you tell Henry if you want a male or female for your
personal driver. They can't do their job right if they're a bed
partner, so you can relax about that part."

"This is getting silly, Barb."

"Could be worse, Kit.  The next step up in silliness is never being
able to travel together.  As it is, we can't do our own driving any
more, and we get to ride in armored cars all the time.  At least, with
the new composites, it's possible to provide good protection in almost
any vehicle.  We have the corporate fleet to choose from, and the
office vans are armored, too. Another benefit to being able to afford
the latest technology is that we can choose to ride in any vehicle
traveling with us, and still be safe enough the insurance folks are
happy."

"So anyone driving a company car is in an armored one?"

"Yes.  Turned out it saves a lot of time, because there's never any
wait for one of the armored vehicles when someone needs to go
somewhere.  Because of extensive use of the newer technology, the
weight is less in some cases.  In the real small ones the protection
isn't as good as the limos and vans, but it's as good, or better than
most of the rental armored cars.  And of course, anything is better
than nothing, because the only thing we really have to worry about is
the casual or impulsive stuff that can flare and get innocent
bystanders killed."

She slumped and came over to hug me and start crying.  "What happened
to Nathan proved that.  We converted over the next couple of years,
and the converted cars have saved the lives of several of our people
as they traveled to and from work.  Road rage is a fact of life,
unfortunately."

"You ok?"

She sighed and pressed the side of her head against my chest.  "Not
completely.  Let's work on that."

I squeezed firmly.  "Ok if I do everything but fucking, then we settle
for some afterglow before you call Henry and the crew in?"

She pulled back to watch my face.  "I'm in love again.  Nathan was the
only man who was ever able to read me so well.  Would you get upset if
I decide to eat and take some time to sort out our business
relationships?"

I smiled sadly.  "Price of living fast.  If we work on that now, we
can delegate more, sooner, and that will let us have more stolen time
for us, right?"

She had her own sad smile.  "You, too?  Business first unless you've
planned blocks of time for yourself, and then you don't hesitate to
let the business intrude?"

"Big reason I was still single.  Never met a woman willing to drop her
personal life without warning."

"What about men willing to be that way?"

"I'm only bi in a crowd, or with someone from one of those crowds.
Same problem.  They wanted to be kept, and I never seriously
considered a gay partnership because of the problems it can cause.  A
het one is bad enough for me.  What about you?"

"Business first unless the personal conditions are special.  It helps
that I have such efficient people I can depend on.  With them usually
living with me, they know my thinking if I haven't specifically told
them what they need to know.  Or haven't you noticed that we haven't
been interrupted?  Julia is used to me being impulsive, and the only
pressing business was you, which I am dealing with, right?"

I laughed.  "Good points.  Call them in and we can recharge?"

I had a sudden thought.  "Would you get very jealous if Felice and I
go for a walk by ourselves so we can talk and start sorting out the
relationship we want between us?"

"I don't want you out of my sight...  But...  Ok.  Take Keith with you
so she doesn't have to distract herself by being a bodyguard, too. It
would be easier if you stayed here and all of us sorted that out as a
group."

"Maybe.  I don't see women as objects, in spite of how casual I can be
with them.  If she's going to be my lover in addition to being my EA,
I need to treat her like one, and that means letting her keep her
dignity, and have an equal say in what we share and what we don't.
Can't do that if I take that away from her at the beginning of our
relationship."

"Are you ok with me being so dominant?"

"Yes.  Remember?  I told you at the beginning that I needed to listen
to you and learn how to do things at this level.  If she's still going
to substitute for you, I have to be able to treat her the same as I do
you, right?  Private conversations are going to be a part of that."

She sighed.  "Damn.  Nathan was just as implacably logical--and
usually right, too.  Ok.  I can match that.  We'll put her in my dress
and let her change her makeup.  Let's make it look like it's just the
passionate lovers taking a break and getting some fresh air."

I grinned.  "Does that role swapping include you pretending to be
her?"

"No.  I don't have the skills to step into her job, and since she's
'on duty' 24/7, there's no way I could pull it off.  When she's being
me, I'm in hiding somewhere."

"Maybe we can fix that with those lessons."

"I want them, eventually, but I can't go out there and pretend to be
Felice. Don't you get any ideas about getting a double and then
pretending you're him.  Our safety comes first, and you wouldn't be
safe if you were out there and needed to protect me, no matter how
good you are.  Content yourself with a backup role and self defense."

"I understand.  Maybe we can work it so we can take time to be a
different couple, just to be able to pretend once in awhile."

"Wouldn't work unless we had a second set of bodyguards and drivers.
Do you think this crew will let us get away with that?"

"Oh.  Anyone seeing them, will know who we have to be, won't they?"

"Exactly."

She went and got her phone.  "I'll call them in."

She made the call, went through another one of those 'silly'
recognition rituals and Henry came in and set our dinners on the
table.

The smells made me realize I was hungry, so I focused of the food and
didn't look up until a female hand was stuck in front of my face.

"Hello, Kit.  Sorry to interrupt.  I'm Felice."

I swallowed, wiped my hand off, then took her hand and finally looked
up.

Both of us flinched, then she shook her head slightly after I glanced
at Barbara.

I nodded just as slightly.  "I can see why Barbara lets you be her
double. You do look quite similar."

"Thank you.  She mentioned that she wants to put me in costume so you
and I can talk a walk?"

"I'd appreciate the chance to speak with you privately.  She also
wants us to take Keith with us."

She frowned.  "It's not going to work.  We'd need Jen or Henry, too.
Then if anyone noticed that you arrived with only Henry, they might
start wondering where the extras came from."

Barbara spoke tartly.  "I'll be good, now that you've caught up with
us. People are used to you folks catching up with me on the road.  You
were planning on making Keith and Jennifer ride with us, weren't you?"

Felice sighed.  "I don't like it, but it will have to be Henry if we
want to keep the charade going.  Only way to use Keith is if I go out
there as myself."

I interrupted them.  "I don't mind, either way, if you still want to
be my EA.  I'd like to use this as a chance to get used to treating
you like I do Barb, before we get involved in something critical and
can't afford to make mistakes."

Felice sighed.  "Henry?"

"You're the boss, Boss."

"Thanks, I think.  Barbara?  Still want me out there as you?"

"How serious are things out there?  Should I be worried?"

"Worrying is part of my job description.  Were you planning on
checking in?"

"Of course.  Oh.  Never mind.  Go as yourself and take Keith, which
I'm certain is the way you wanted it all along, right?"

"I like simple.  I leave the complicated, twisty stuff to people like
you and Kit."

"Thank you.  That's what I like about you.  You know your limits.  Now
that's over, I'll be serious.  You know how things can work with an EA
around me. Kit and I have already had our talk, so you can relax and
listen to your heart out there, if logic isn't enough to help you make
your decisions."

"If I'm going to be his EA, there will be times I have to keep his
secrets from you, just like Julia kept some of Nathan's for him."

"And she'll have to keep some of my secrets from Kit.  Part of the
price of who we are.  We don't like it, but we'll live with it."

Felice sighed and pulled her hand free.  "Well, Boss?"

I winced when it all landed on my shoulders.  "Where's Keith?"

"Right here."

"Are you going to give me any reason to stay close if I ask you to
maintain enough distance you can't hear what we say to each other?"

"Shouldn't be a problem as long as you walk slow with the wind at your
back."

One more person to consult with, so I turned to watch her and sighed
again. "Barbara?  I'll share as much as I can, ok?"

"You'd better.  Same promise from me."

"Good!  Thanks.  Would it make life easier on us if we merged my
business in and made it a division of yours?"

"No.  Too different.  Good point.  Going to be a lot of people
wondering about interlocking and all that insider stuff, as it is.
Julia and Felice are going to have to be able to go under oath and be
honest about us keeping them apart.  Didn't have that problem with
Nathan, of course.  Just made all this separation easier on me."

"Glad to hear it.  Making it easier for me, too.  I don't feel as
guilty about the speed of things.  I expected longer for us to be
ourselves. Wishful thinking, wasn't it?"

She laughed.  "We can be ourselves again, when you get back."

"Thanks, Love."

I wiped my hands and face, then stood and gestured at the door.
"Felice? Keith?  Let's take that walk and get this over with.  I have
some unfinished personal business I want to get back to as soon as
possible."

* * *

Before we separated I held my hand out to Keith.  "Barbara told me how
things will be working, and the only problem I'll have is getting used
to having watchers in the room with us, and not participants.  As far
as teaching, that's tabled until she decides she has enough emotional
distance she won't do something stupid when some woman puts the moves
on me."

His eyebrows went up.  "You two are that serious about each other?"

"We gave each other our virginity in grade school and only stopped
fucking like rabbits when her parents moved and took her with them.
Lasted a few years, and we never thought about getting serious about
anyone else.  Never forgotten each other."

"Ah.  That explains the vanishing act this afternoon."

I laughed, then he gestured.  "Wind's blowing that way,  You folks go
first and I'll give you some distance, then we'll check and I'll
adjust until I can't hear you."

"Thanks, Keith."

He let us get started, then he matched our pace.  "How's this?"

I glanced at Felice and spoke in a normal tone of voice.  "I can hear
you fine."

"I'll back off some more...  What about now?"

"Can still hear you ok.  What kind of a man was Nathan?"

"A good one, of course.  A lot like you in some ways, but not as
driven. I'll back off some more...  Can you still hear me?"

"Faintly.  In and out when there's noise."

I didn't hear a reply, so I glanced back, gave him a thumbs up, and he
nodded.

"So.  How good is he, Nancy?"

"Good, but not in your class, 'Killer'."

"Killer?  Me?  I still have the dented crotch cup as a reminder.  I
couldn't function for a week after you bent it during that unlimited
demo we did."

"And I have the bent breast shields, to remind me.  My boyfriend was
very upset with you because he couldn't fondle my tits until the
bruises went away."

We laughed together, then she sobered.  "I was hoping we could get
some privacy, after I recognized you.  Nobody knows how good I really
am.  If they did, I'd be forced to teach.  Too much hate in me, still,
for me to have the patience to be a good teacher."

I sighed.  "I wasn't expecting that request.  I still keep in shape,
and practice by myself, but I put the rest of it, including the
competition mindset, in the closet after the last competition before
graduation."

"I was wondering where you went.  Most of us expected you to stick
around long enough to take at least a state championship."

"I was doing the competition so I wouldn't have to find myself ready
to kill another jock.  Some of them can't accept that an academic
student can 'get the good looking girls'."

She giggled.  "You going to chase your EA around your office?"

"Up to her.  Reason we're out here is because before she called
everyone in, I convinced her that if you decided to be my lover, I
needed to treat you like one and let you have the dignity of making
your decisions under truly private conditions.  What we discuss, and
the real reasons for any decisions we make, will stay between the two
of us unless you decide to tell someone else.

"She told me about Nathan and Julia, and now her and Julia.  I don't
have a problem with that situation.  Already told her I want to learn
how to play with the really big people, so I would have accepted it
even if I did have problems with her being non-exclusive and bi."

"Suddenly, I wish you'd convinced me I should be out here as Barbara.
I want to wrap you up in a lover's hug.  Nathan was never that
thoughtful with Julia.  The casual fucking was something they were
doing before he met Barb. He told her about it, and she decided she
didn't care, because she and Nathan really did have a good enough
connection so that sort of stuff, as long as it was in the open,
wouldn't cause any problems between them.

"Julia noticed how alike we looked, and she convinced us to dress as
twins for a costume party.  It worked so well, we started using it for
more serious things, like getting her away so she could close deals
without people finding out she was closeted with someone, or so she
could go get herself laid when she needed something other than what
she got from Nathan, or when he had to be on the road for a long
time."

I sighed.  "Do I call you Nancy, or Felice?"

"Either one, when we're private.  Everyone knows Nancy is my middle
name. Got several Nancys working as secretaries, so most of the time I
use Felice, to prevent problems in emergencies."

"I'll get used to Felice.  Does anyone know about your past?"

"Not that I know of.  I cross trained in another style, and used that
when I took all the tests."

I sighed.  "I can see where this is headed.  Do you want me to teach
you and Barb at the same time, to give you an excuse to revert without
admitting to your past?"

"I hadn't thought about that possibility.  Let me think about it
before I decide.  In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you act like
we've never met before today."

We stopped and stared at the field next to the motel, then she wrapped
an arm around my waist.  "You won't need to chase me, Kit.  Just treat
me like a woman you love, and I'll fall over for you."

I touched her hand lightly.  "Are you in love with me already?"

"No, but I probably will be after the first time you bed me."

"Ah.  Don't ask me to stop loving Barbara unless you're wearing
protection. I'm as irrational about her as I was when we were kids
fucking each other any time we could get a few minutes of privacy.

"But you will love me?"

"I have ever since you kicked me in the crotch and slammed me into the
wall. There's something about a woman who knows who she is, that
bypasses what little rationality I have."

"If you'd asked after that demonstration, I would have been all over
you.  As it was, as soon as we got to his apartment, I was all over my
boyfriend, and when it was over we both missed school the next day.
Slept through the alarm."

I laughed.  "So, Felice, before we go back and you start reorganizing
my life, do you think we can make our personal lives work so any hurts
are small ones?"

"Didn't she tell you yet?  Barbara enjoys threesomes with her man in
the middle, as much as she enjoys being the center of attention.  Not
sure how she's going to be with a foursome, though.  Knowing her,
she'll  use it as an excuse to get more creative in bed, and in the
boardroom."  

I chuckled.  "I'll take that as a yes.  One more thing.  I'm supposed
to decide if I want a male or female driver.  I would prefer a female,
of course, but, realistically, what are the odds we'd find a female
driver who is as efficiently detached yet aware, as Henry seems to be?
I don't want anyone worrying about my driver losing focus on their
job, and wanting to join in."

"Do you want one capable of dealing with the raunchy innuendo and not
scream sexual harassment?"

"They'd have to give and take equally well, without thinking any of it
was a promise for the future.  Being able to make Barbara blush would
earn them a bonus, of course."

"That narrows them down quite a bit.  How do you feel about having a
dog in the front seat, if it's a protection trained one?"

"I don't have a problem with that.  People are more likely to leave us
alone if it's there, right?"

She laughed.  "Henry will have fits about the dog hair, if you accept
her as your driver and they have to ride with him."

"Let him have fits, then, or Barbara can start riding with me, and
Henry can ride with us as her backup when he isn't driving one of our
chase vehicles. You can tell him that for me, too.  Or is that a non
problem, because Barb and I should start traveling in separate
vehicles?"

"It's far too soon for that sort of paranoia, and you'd have to be the
one to sell the idea to her right now.  After what happened to Nathan,
she swore nobody who worked for her would ever travel in anything that
wasn't armored. As for her husband...  I'll leave her comments about
how often she'd let him travel without her, to your imagination, then
you can multiply whatever you come up with by ten, because it's you.
She never forgot you, and we've heard all about you over the years.

"Right now I'm the newest addition to her personal staff.  Nathan was
killed about three years ago, and I doubt if there's anything about
her past with you that I haven't heard, because I was working for her
a couple years before they got married."

"What about Keith?"

"He was Nathan's bodyguard when it happened.  He took Nathan to the
floor and covered him as soon as he realized what could happen.  One
of them had a machine gun, and wasn't paying attention to how fast
they were overtaking people.  Kid pulled the trigger and was walking
it up the other car when they passed Nathan's.  Everyone took a couple
hits.  One bullet took a bad bounce and went in through Nathan's left
ear.  Nathan died before the paramedics got to him."

I winced.  "Thanks, Felice.  Should I tell Barb you told me the
basics?"

"I'll tell her."

"Ok.  Thanks."

"Welcome.

"You ready to go back?  The rest of the personal stuff, I'll be
telling Barbara."

"Just one more thing.  I was stupid in high school.  The miscarriage
was due to a genetic defect in me.  It hurt, but after I talked it
over with my parents, we had them sterilize me.  Everything works but
I'll never be able to have children except as a host mother."

Her calm revelation caused me to slowly turn her until we were facing
each other.  "Now...  What would make you provide that last tidbit?"

She blushed.  "Partly because what I earned as a host mother put me
through college."

"How many times?"

"Once, and it's part of my official history."

"I've read that a lot of host mothers have problems giving up the
baby."

"I didn't have any.  They knocked me out, and the genetic parents were
in the room when I gave birth.  I woke up later, liked being my usual
weight again, and decided I'd never do it again, unless I was
desperate for the money, which would be even more, now that I was
proven to be a good host."

"Partly?"

"I doubt if she will get that silly, but if she does, and decides she
wants a child of yours, I want her to have the option of reducing her
personal risk. She means a lot to all of us, and the company.  She
kept it all from falling apart when Nathan was killed.  Still don't
know how she managed to do it."

"Thanks.  I don't plan on encouraging her to think she might want a
child. We're both too obsessive to make good parents, but we're just
old fashioned enough to insist on doing all the parenting ourselves if
we have kids. Everything would suffer at that point.  Kids have never
been a fantasy of mine, anyway."

"I won't mention it again, unless the discussion gets turned to
hosting, by someone else, and it would be appropriate for me to
discuss what I know about it."

"Same promise from me.  Anything else?"

"No."

"Let's go back, and let Barbara ream us out for being away from her
long enough to come up with some really juicy secrets we can hide from
her."

She giggled, leaned in to kiss me, then held my hand while we walked
past Keith and he fell in behind us.  "Headed back?"

"Yes."

"I'll let them know we're on our way."

"Thanks.  Keith?"

"Yes, Kit?"

"Sometimes a man does his best, and fate takes a hand and seems to
make it meaningless.  If you weren't alive to remind me I have a duty
imposed by my background in The Art, I wouldn't have decided to
someday hold classes. Barbara wants to learn after things have
settled, and I've already agreed to see what I can do to help Felice
shift her methods from aggressive to a more passive style, in keeping
with her new position as my EA, if she thinks it would be a good
decision.

"You'd be welcome, of course, but you'd better do some serious
thinking about how a reactive style is going to affect how you think
and react.  If you're still that serious, there are people who teach a
more aggressive style that is a mix of The Art and several other
aggressive methods of attack.

I stopped and faced him.  "Which doesn't mean shit in this day and
age, does it?  People are too fond of bullets and other remote forms
of destruction, and the fanatics don't concern themselves with the
bystanders, except as human shields that let them get closer to their
real target."

He winced. then nodded after he checked out the area.  "All true, of
course. A lot of your life will involve social situations now, and
anything I can learn to make my job easier, is something I should
learn.  I won't mind looking passively lethal, if it prevents
problems."

I laughed.  "You'll be there anyway, and I won't ask you to stop
keeping an eye on things.  You have my permission to join in, if you
have someone there to cover your job."

"Thank you, Kit."

"Welcome.  Anything else before we confront the Cougar in her tree?"

"No."

Felice knocked on the door, then she and Jennifer went through a
recognition ritual, after which, we were allowed in.

Barb was settled on the bed with her phone next to her ear.  She
looked at me, smiled, then went back to her conversation.  "Julia, I'm
sure he has things you could go collect, if you want to face a
breaking and entering charge, since none of our people are authorized
entry to his place, yet.  Even a day isn't going to matter, right?"

"Good.  For now, put a spare...  Hang on."

She focused on me.  "What OS do you use?"

"Depends.  Ubuntu running virtual machines that have Windows and the
latest Mac OS.  Give me a bare bones machine with at least two gigs of
memory, that boots from a USB port, and I can work from my stick
memory, since I carry an encrypted image of the boot drive that's on
my main machine."

She laughed, then talked to her phone again.  "For now, bring an extra
laptop with four gigs of memory, and make sure it can boot from a USB
stick."

"What?    Oh.  No, we haven't got that far yet.  He was out there
seducing Felice, so let me see if she kept him anchored in reality,
enough to help with that problem."

She looked up and grinned.  "I don't see any obvious bruises, so I'll
assume she's going to be your EA, at least.  However, we can discuss
the rest of it later.  Julia wants to bring a second mobile office,
and she wants to know who she should get as your driver."

I shrugged.  "Ask Felice.  She seems to have someone in mind, based on
the type of person I'll need."

"Felice?"

She turned slightly so she could see Henry.  "Molly."

He gasped and glared at her.  "Molly?!"

She was all innocence "And Thruster, of course."

He groaned.  "Dog hair everywhere!"

"Yep.  Kit said to tell you that Barb can ride with him, and if you
aren't driving a chase vehicle, you can ride along as Molly's backup."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes.  Anyone better?  He wanted a female version of you, and she had
to be able to mix it up with him and Barb while remembering that the
innuendo is always going to be that, never anything more."

He sighed.  "No.  There's no one better than she is.  Only problem I
have is that you just forced me to start training a new backup and
replacement for *me*!"

"Oh, Lord!  Sorry!  Nobody knew."

"You weren't supposed to.  If nobody knew who it was going to be, they
wouldn't think of getting to her and turning her.  Not..."  He smiled
oddly as he tilted his head slightly.  "That anyone would expect her
to be put in such a position as head driver."

Felice surprised me by blushing.  "Would you have suggested her?"

He sighed.  "I don't know.  I haven't asked her who she's been
training as her backup.  Has to be a short list.  Only a handful of us
are qualified to drive anything we have, faster than 120 mph."

He sighed again.  "I hate to admit it, but with her looks, and that
attention magnet on his leash next to her, Keith is probably going to
find himself getting bored, because everyone will be ignoring whoever
she's delivering. If she's willing, use her with my blessings.  Should
I call her and give her the news?"

Felice turned back to Barbara.  "Well?"

Barbara didn't answer directly.  "Julia?  Tell Molly that she and
Thruster just got a raise and a new set of worries, then give her the
keys to Kit's mobile office and tell her she can make any changes she
feels she needs to make, to make it suitable for her and Thruster's
special needs while they are traveling."

"Yes, I said Molly.  Felice and Henry actually agreed on her, more or
less. At least they both feel she's the one who is the best choice to
be Kit's personal driver."

"No.  She doesn't need a bodyguard.  She has Thruster, and he's
comfortable wearing his muzzle while he's working at her side."

"Ok.  See you and Molly, tomorrow."

She hung up, looked at me, then lost it and giggled.  "Molly and
Thruster! That was genius!"

Felice blushed again, then decided to do some giggling of her own.
"Kit wanted the impossible, a female driver who wouldn't start
thinking she could get him in bed.  Can I help it if I have a twisted
mind when it comes to providing what my Bosses need?"

I looked around and realized everyone else was smiling and nodding
their heads, so I assumed whatever the conspiracy was, it probably
wasn't malicious.

"Ok.  I feel slow..  You say Thruster is protection trained, so I
guess Molly has had some training as a handler and bodyguard, right?"

Barbara nodded.  "All of the drivers get the basics.  Company policy.
Molly and Thruster aren't the only human and dog team that works for
us, either. Molly is the only dog handler who is also a driver, and
Thruster has his own quick release safety harness that is portable and
hooks into the standard seat belts.  When he can't be in the front
seat, he's used to riding in the back with the rest of us, sucking up
attention and any food he can con people out of."

"Ok.  So Molly is professional enough to keep her social life and the
job separated?"

Barbara sobered.  "It's more than that.  She enjoys working around
people, but she isn't interested in them socially.  To her, being
sociable is just another job requirement, and something she's learned
to do well because she has to.  Otherwise, she keeps to herself.  Most
of the time, she loves being a driver, because it lets her travel with
Thruster at her side, and she doesn't have to pretend to enjoy all the
normal games, because of Thruster's presence.  He is, after all, not
supposed to relax around strangers, and that means she doesn't have
to, either."

I shrugged.  "It's usually men who aren't social, but I've met a few
women like that.  Will she be ok with being included in the usual
teasing and innuendo?  Or will I have to watch what I say to her?
Felice did imply she won't scream 'sexual harrassment' if she gets
teased."

Barbara laughed.  "I should let her surprise you, but neither of you
deserves that treatment."

"That isn't telling me...  Oh.  She's het and leads a very private,
but active sex life, with Thruster, doesn't she?"

"Yes.  As far as any of us know, she's never told anyone the reasons
she's the way she is.  She was already that way when she applied for a
job, knew it could become a problem, told me, then gave me the names
of several sexual therapists I could talk to about her.

"I talked to all of them, had her take the tests, and when she passed,
hired her after she agreed that the information should be 'inner
circle', unless she told us she'd told someone else.  As far as any of
us know, the only people who know for certain, are in this room, plus
Julia, of course.  I think Nathan never knew."

"Can she can break free of an anal tie if she has to?"

There was silence and then head shakes before Barbara sighed.  "None
of us know.  You'll have to ask her.  You're taking this well,
considering."

I shrugged and faced Henry.  "Your replacement, if things go to shit,
or you decide to retire?"

"She's better than I am, even though we've never admitted it before
today. On the speed course, she ran out of car at 275.  I ran out of
nerves at 230. The certificates for both of us say 'qualified to drive
with passengers at over 200 mph', because so few ever make it that far
in an armored limo, or anything else."

"Thanks."

I turned my attention to Felice.  "As a bodyguard?"

"Excellent control when she spars for practice and she doesn't have
Thruster present  to worry about.  When they work as a team and she
knocks someone down, Thruster has the muscle to shake them hard enough
they don't have any control.  Give them some more time and a good
enough sparring partner, they will be a killer team."

My eyebrows rose, and she nodded.  "I mean that.  She's capable of
taking an aggressor out with one blow, if she has to.  I think I'm the
only person on staff, who can push her to her real limits.  Anyone
else, she has to hold back if they want the bout to last."

"Do you know enough to be able to assess what the possibilities are if
I start working with her?"

She sighed.  "I got a verbal summary at the same time Keith did.  We
know about you competing and making it to the regionals while you were
in school. Your styles are different, and I assume you haven't done
any competition since, so I can't make a realistic assessment of what
could happen now. She's never been in competition, but based on what I
know of my own abilities, I think you would have been able to
consistently beat her when you were competing.  At the worst, I think
you would have made her earn her win."

"Thank you, Felice.  I'll need three to six months of sparring with
people who know The Art, before I want to do any sparring with people
who know other skill sets, or I settle into teaching.  Besides, I have
a business to get started, and I won't have a lot of free time after I
do that all day and then make sure I spend time with Barbara."

"I understand.  I'll do what I can to help, of course."

"I'll treasure any of it.  My people are all workers, and the core
group that I will use to build the business around.  I'm the closest
thing we have to a manager and planner, and I've never tried to run
anything this big."

"Well, if you lean on me too much, I'll just lean on Barbara if you
aren't in my way."

I chuckled.  "Good enough."

I studied Barbara, then sighed.  "You ok with an animal fucker taking
over as your personal driver?"

"Yes.  I trust Henry's judgment and if he says she's the one, I'll
treat her the same way I have Henry."

"That's clear enough.  I'm inclined to say yes, but I'm worried about
the repercussions if the media finds out about her.  As long as her
lifestyle doesn't degrade her work, I'm pragmatic enough to ignore it.
Still, if she's ok with it, I'd like to have a genuinely private talk
with her so I can get a feel for the person she is."

"You're going to give her a choice?"

"Yes.  One on one, or in front of all of us."

"Ah.  Now I understand.  A comfort level test, right?"

"Mostly.  Plus, just like I did for Felice, I want to let her hang on
to as much of her dignity as she can, considering the awkwardness of
the situation."

"Interesting attitude.  To most people, and I'm thinking of my first
three husbands in particular, every one else is a replaceable part."

"What about you?"

"Everyone is eventually replaceable, but sometimes not in your own
lifetime. That includes myself, of course.  On the other hand, I tried
replacing you, and the replacements were never as good as the
original.  I feel the same way about the rest of my people.  I'll try
working with them before I seriously consider replacing them.  It's
not cost efficient to replace something that usually works smoothly.

"It's an old fashioned attitude these days, but I believe loyalty
earns loyalty.  If nothing else, it gives me an almost unbeatable edge
when the people I'm dealing with think people are interchangeable."

I chuckled.   "Makes sense to me.  Most of us linked up in college. It
started as one of those class project things where the instructor
tossed us in groups and told us to work together.  Most of the
business concepts are mine, and we've been doing odd jobs while
spending our free time fleshing things out in case one of us found the
money.  After that...  Well, we all know what we want to do, so
hopefully any changes will be of the minor sort that couldn't have
been anticipated."

I grinned when Barb's jaw went slack and she stared at me.

She finally recovered and glared at the rest of the people before she
got comfortable on the bed.

"Ok, Kit.  I'll ask the dumb questions just so my...  Our people, can
gloat."

I nodded.  "Go ahead."

"One of my teams tore your proposal apart, and the consensus was that
it's so tightly knit together that if you have problems, they aren't
going to be 'minor' and easily adapted to.  That's the main reason we
decided on five million startup.  It takes money to buy the ability to
adapt on the scale anticipated, when something goes wrong."

"But you think we'll be able to make it work, right?"

"Yes."

"The plan I gave your people was one of our worst case scenarios.  We
figured that if we sold it to someone, we could keep them happy later,
by trotting out our *real* business plan, the one that is more 'real
world' and what we are most likely to run into."

I grinned at her slightly stunned look.  "There was another reason you
got that plan.  If I'd handed you the one we plan on using, you
probably would have wanted thirty to forty percent.  One of the things
we anticipated, was the greed of our financial backer."

I got silence.

It was finally broken by Felice's awed whisper.  "You did it!"

I grimaced.  "Sounds like you're admitting we already know each
other."

It was her turn to grimace.  "Oops.  This hasn't been some sort of
conspiracy with me as the insider.  I met Kit when we were in college,
and lost track of him when he graduated."

Barbara finally sighed.  "I have the feeling I've been sandbagged.
Since it's Kit, I'm not upset.  I *would* like to know how, though.
That business proposal will work, even though it's more ambitious than
most people would attempt."

I nodded.  "First, Felice and I knew each other more or less casually,
because we went to different schools."

Felice giggled.  "For our academic stuff.  Let's get it in the open."

I chuckled.  "I'll let you tell it.  Barb's had enough surprises from
me. Time she got them from someone else."

Felice sobered.  "This is some of that 'nobody outside this room'
stuff, ok?"

She got nods of agreement, so she smiled and turned so she could watch
Henry. "Call it a working relationship.  We trained in The Art
together, and I spent a lot of time and effort trying to kick his
balls up his throat while he did his best to drive my breasts behind
my spine during unlimited demo matches, when we weren't competing.
After I got my degree in office management, I decided I was more
comfortable seeing myself as a bodyguard type, so I cross trained and
used that when I applied for this job."

Henry studied her before he nodded slightly.  "I was wondering about
his willingness to accept your evaluation of Molly.  To satisfy my own
curiosity, I'd like to know the reasons you've never asked her if
she'd like to take the full bodyguard course."

She sighed.  "You haven't figured it out?"

"Only guesses.  Normally, I do not question the decisions of a
department head, but I'm afraid I must, this time.  I have to think of
Barbara and Kit.  You, too, now that you're Kit's EA."

Felice smiled.  "The soul of discretion, as always, aren't you?
Thanks. I've never asked her, because she's filled with too much
hatred.  She hides it well, but under stress, it breaks through to
control her combat responses. She ever gains the self acceptance and
control, and I'm still around, I'll reconsider."

He frowned.  "Hatred?"

I interrupted.  "Felice knows a lot about that.  I still have the
dented crotch protector to prove it.  That was the day I fell in love
with her."

Felice giggled.  "You had an interesting way of showing it."

She glanced at me then focused on Henry again.  "He did his best to
flatten my breast shields.  Left me so bruised my boyfriend couldn't
fondle them for a week."

Henry blanched slightly, then recovered.  "If it can be done safely,
someday I'd like to see one of these demonstration matches."

Felice shook her head slightly.  "I want to keep my edge, and that
means I don't want people to know the true extent of my skills.  What
you see when Molly and I practice, is close enough.  Maybe Kit will
find a different sparring partner and you'll get to see one.  Or, we
can give you some numbers to call, and you can make arrangements to be
at one of the training centers."

Henry nodded.  "I understand."

Felice and I looked at each other, then we faced Barbara and waited.

She sighed.  "Sandbagged.  How?"

"I'm one hundred percent owner of the proposed business.  Most of it
was my idea, so that wasn't a problem with the others."

"Not enough, Kit."

"Didn't say it was.  What isn't in there, because it's a logical
extension *if* you assume success, is that within a couple years,
tops, we'll have to spin off several divisions and make the original
company the parent of interlocking businesses."

"Saw that.  It's what caused the most problems, because we felt you
should have allowed for it, but it made sense you didn't add it to the
proposal and make it look like you'd gone dreamy eyed."

"Thanks.  The people with me will own the first of those companies,
while I get nothing.  How they split it is up to them."

She sighed.  "I *knew* you'd make me feel like I was running
backwards, if I ever caught up with you."

She shifted her attention.  "Felice?  You know about his plans?  Maybe
you can explain them?"

Felice blushed.  "I knew what they were trying to do, and haven't seen
him since.  It's really simple, and I think that's the reason they
didn't talk much except to people they trusted."

Barb laughed.  "He trusted you because you tried to emasculate him?  I
can believe it.  Nice variation on the usual power game.  You must
find the normal stuff pretty tame."

"I wouldn't call it tame, but definitely less challenging.  Generally,
you don't worry about winding up in the hospital after an unusually
violent attack, although...  Sometimes you've made me wonder."

Barb blushed, then sighed.  "Explain."

"Yes, Ma'am.  Whatever business he proposed, it's not the 'real' one.
The real business is based on the software they've written, and tested
to the point they trust it.  What they have, is a real world business
growth simulator capable of gaming possibilities fast enough they
already know what could happen, and they have their responses ready.

"I doubt if getting married to the backer was part of it, but the
rest, I'm certain they gamed it all, and Kit can tell you almost to
the day, when they should make each decision so it maximizes their
chances of success."

I laughed.  "Not to the day.  It doesn't work that way any more.  It's
condition based.  More flexibility."

"Sounds like you folks made some changes in the way you think."

"We did.  Got some really strange results that we didn't understand,
at first, but eventually we figured out what they meant."

Barb studied us a bit longer, then patted the bed.  "Come on, you two.
One on each side to start, if that's ok with you, Felice?"

"I'd rather put Kit in the middle."

Barb smiled.  "I just found him again.  I'd like to have him to myself
a little longer.  You can have him back tomorrow, when the offices get
here, and we have to go back to work."

"Sorry, Barb.  I'll be good.  Maybe I should stay out of it for now."

"Thank you, Felice.  I was pushing when I shouldn't have been."

She yawned.  "Gods...  Another one of those days.  Don't bother
telling me what time it is, ok?  Kit?  Let's call it a night and these
folks can do whatever they have to, without me getting in their way."

I chuckled.  "I've been wondering if you were ever going to need some
sleep."

I stripped and settled on the bed, then focused on Felice.  "Felice, I
imagine we might be asleep when everyone else gets here, so I want you
to get together with Molly and explain that I'd appreciate it if she'd
let me have a chance to be private with her so I can get any answers
she's willing to give me.  Offer to be present, if she's too nervous
to want to be alone with me. Use your own judgment about what to tell
her about our relationship."

Felice nodded.  "Do you really want me there when you have that talk?"

"No.  Leave that choice for Molly to make."

"Got it.  If there's nothing else, I'll grab one of the other beds and
get at least a nap in."

"I can't think of anything.  If you happen to think of anything, if it
isn't critical, don't wake me up for it...  Damn!"

"What is it?"

"Hang on.  Barb?  How many spare people do you have for security work?
I just realized we're going to have to do the same for my people that
you do for yours.  There were nine of us, originally, including me.
Six men and three women.  Two of the women are married, and four of
the men.  Nine kids, ranging from one to eight years old.  How long
would it take to build a fleet similar to yours, and how much would it
cost?"

"Does that 'four married men' include you?"

"Oops.  No."

"Ok.  Is it safe to assume you all live fairly close to each other?"

I sighed.  "No.  Right now there are three of us living in other parts
of the country.  We collaborate over the net, so the distance hasn't
been a problem. Then, too, we figured some of us should establish
ourselves in places we could expand into, so we wouldn't be strangers
to the people we want to do business with."

It was her turn to sigh.  "I'm going to ream butt when I get a chance.
None of my people saw the security problems, and that's part of what
they get paid to consider."

Felice interrupted.  "Barb?  We saw it.  None of us, including you,
expected Kit to be sitting on a turn key business, so we assumed we'd
have more time to deal with that part.  Unless you've been hiding
something from us, this is the first time it's happened."

Then she looked at me.  "Did you happen to game this part?"

I shook my head.  "No.  We're programmers and managers.  Unless
someone has been idly playing around and dreaming, we didn't include
that in our own scenarios.  Security and its effects are still vague
and something we decided to add on an individual basis.  Our mindset
is data security, not personal. I'm not saying we haven't speculated,
but we've tacitly assumed we'd hire experts when we needed them, and
since security is supposed to be invisible, we've ignored it."

She nodded, then went over and sat down while she started thinking.
Eventually she looked up, and focused on Henry.  "Hank?  Are you
thinking about the same temporary solution I am?"

He grunted unhappily, then sighed.  "Probably.  Started with you, then
Molly and Thruster, so we might as well finish the job and get it over
with.  Who are you planning on making head of Kit's security
division?"

"Me, for now.  I know you said Molly is a better driver than you.  Is
she ready to be a head driver?"

At that he smiled.  "I made sure of that before I told her she was
next in line."

Felice laughed.  "Ok, so it was a rhetorical question.  I'm not sure
who Josh has been training to replace him, and I don't want to steal
Josh because that would mean whoever steps in to replace him, probably
won't be up to speed."

He nodded.  "You figuring on making his number two yours, until you
can build your own crew?"

"Exactly.  What about their drivers?"

"That is going to be a problem, at first.  Molly is tied into the
grapevine better than I am, and since she will have to work with them,
she needs to make the final decisions.  I anticipate rubber stamping
them, as long as the people she picks agree to the transfer.  I think
we'll have to tell all of our people the switch can be temporary or
permanent."

"Agreed.  What are you ducking?"

"I don't have enough people to do it properly.  Kit is covered, more
or less, and I'm assuming Molly already has a backup for her backup,
so if she does what we're doing, there will be a driver to spell her,
if she needs it.  The problem is that short list I mentioned earlier.
I said 'handful', and meant it literally.  There are five of us,
*total*, who are 200 plus qualified, and...  Last I checked, there
were twenty who are qualified at any speed up to120.  All of those
people are assigned to our own people, and I cannot, in good
conscience, reassign any of them."

"Huh.  I see the problem, because I have a similar one, magnified."

I decided to speak up.  "Maybe I can help.  We planned for regional
centers. I'm the contact man for this area.  The other three assumed
they'd be doing the contact work in their areas.  The rest of us are
home types who would rather hide in a cubical and ignore the world.
The job isn't nine to five for them, but at least they aren't
interested in dealing with people while they do it."

"Any way you could start slow?"

"No.  Once we start, if we want to succeed, we can't let anything
delay us if we have to move quickly."

"How long were you planning on taking to get set up before you opened
the doors?"

"Three to six months once we know we have the money.  The vagueness is
because we don't know how long it will take to find the right office
staff."

Barb touched my arm.  "We can help with that.  Tell us what you need,
and where you need them, and we'll do the rest.  That sort of
screening is routine for us."

"As long as we get the final say, thanks."

"Done."

Then she sighed.  "Felice?"

Felice sighed.  "If you can give me the full six months, I'm pretty
sure I can do it, and do it well enough there won't be any holes.
Can't tell you how long it will take to get all the backup people in
place, so expect us to be spread thinner than is wise, for at least a
year."

Barbara nodded her appreciation for the caveat.

"Hank?"

"Same problem.  I can get drivers fairly quickly.  What I can't do is
promise that we will be able to have enough for everyone to have the
type of driver they will eventually need."

He shook his head and sighed.  "I'll have to get together with Molly.
Between us, we should be able to find enough people to have good
drivers for the most important people.  Some of our backups will have
to cover more than one driver here, but that shouldn't be a serious
problem.  I also have some temps I'll look at for full time, and I'll
start working my contacts to find any qualified people who aren't
working right now.  You'd better warn the accountants to expect some
big bills for expedited background checks."

Barb laughed.  "Won't be the first time for *that*!"

She sobered.  "Ok.  Henry, you and Felice can put your heads together
with Julia and Molly when they get here.  Do what you can to be ready
to turn the key in six months, if Kit can wait that long."

"I can.  We did game various startup times and requirements.  Not
needing to worry about our regular staff will let us focus on other
details, and give us a better chance when we open the doors.  I'll let
everyone know we have the money, and I'll set the date for six months
from the day we get married. That way we can all get together without
setting off alarms in the heads of anyone watching."

"Good.  We'll do it that way.  One more thing.  Felice and Molly will
remain on my payroll but be assigned to you for now.  We can discuss
other arrangements later.  Right now, they need to be able to give
orders to my people and make them stick.  Plus, I want this to look as
normal as we can make it, and while we've never provided support on
this scale before, it hasn't been unusual for us to provide temps
while a business gets up to speed."

She sighed.  "Felice?  You and Hank can pass all this on to Julia and
Molly, after Hank gets Molly up to speed."

She nodded.  "Will do.  Any other surprises, from either of you?"

Barb laughed again, then got off the bed and stretched before she
started taking her dress off.  As she walked to the bathroom, she
spoke casually. "Only one surprise.  As soon as I get back in that
bed, and snuggle with Kit, I'm going to get some sleep!"

Everyone laughed.
-------

End of part one
======

Gonna Getcha Good!
Part Two (unfinished)
--------

I woke to arms wrapped around me, and after I remembered what had
happened to put them there, I took the time to find Barb's face and
kiss her awake.

Before her eyes opened I whispered an old greeting. "End of the
hallway so I can watch your back?"

"Kit!"

She snuggled after she got me erect and stuffed me inside her. "No.
Not this time. Slow and gentle, please."

Then she came the rest of the way awake and turned her head so she
could see the rest of the room. "I'm on vacation, right?"

Jennifer spoke without turning away from the window. "So far. We
convinced Julia she had enough to keep her busy for the next few days,
without doing more than consulting to get Kit's wedding list."

"Mmm... Good. Any surprises I need to deal with?"

"Maybe. Molly is willing to have that private talk, and she suggested
that Kit and Felice use the limo while she takes Kit home so he can
get whatever he needs. She'd like to leave you here, but that's not an
absolute demand, just a strongly expressed preference."

"How strongly?"

"Tough call. If that's not workable, and she knows it probably isn't,
she wants a chance to talk to Kit, alone, when she shows him the
mobile office and introduces him to Thruster, without anyone else
present."

"What about Felice being there?"

"Ok, as long as she stays outside and gives her word she won't try to
overhear what they talk about. Seemed odd, because she says she'll be
ok with Kit sharing any of it with the inner circle, if he decides he
should."

"What's your assement of her mood?"

"Eager. She mentioned the private talk before we could, and offered
the solutions."

Barbara sighed and kissed me lightly. "Don't move yet."

"Something wrong?"

"Unusual. One thing Molly has never been, is eager to meet a man she's
supposed to drive for."

"Got it."

Barb closed her eyes and thought for awhile. "Is she here?"

"Present."

"You understand the problem?"

"I do."

"Can you offer a partial solution? One that will make me feel
comfortable about letting go of Kit this soon?"

"It's unlikely that any of our people will be allowed into Kit's home
if he isn't there to get us past the street gates. I know some of the
teams who patrol where he lives, and they're... Not casual about
strangers who show up with paperwork saying they have access
permission. Having Kit there to defuse things would save a lot of
time."

"Have any of our people been there before?"

"Not that I know of. None since I went to work for you."

"Yet, you know some of the security people already. Explain."

"I didn't get to be one of the best protection dog handlers in the
business, by being casual about it. We all know each other, and when
we can, we train together, and against each other."

That triggered a vague memory. "Hold it Barb. I might be able to
contribute something to this."

I raised my head and looked around until I spotted a woman who had a
dog at her side...

And groaned. "Hello, Molly. We haven't formally met, but I got to
watch you and your dog take down two of the three teams set to 'hunt'
you in the field south of us a couple years ago when they were
reassuring us that our security was as good as they claimed in the
advertising."

I sighed and hugged Barb. "She got 'killed' when they were going over
the fence."

Molly blushed. "It was a dumb move on my part. We should have waited
longer and come in from a different direction. I won't make that
mistake again. That third team knows me too well, too, and he
anticipated my movements after I took out the second team in the
field."

Her eyes narrowed and she studied me intently enough that Thruster
alerted. She touched his head. "Sorry. Relax, Big T. They're all
friends."

Then she grimaced. "I guess I'd better come clean, since I already
heard about you and Felice. Can't be many men named Kit Jerome, after
all."

It was my turn to study her, thoughtfully. "Since people have called
me Jerry a lot, the Jerome is an easy name to guess, but you make me
think I should know you from somewhere."

"Barbara hasn't realized, but I've tried to avoid doing anything that
would get her wondering."

She sighed. "I hope the two of you can keep from blurting out my old
name. Kit, someone had to start calling you 'Card Master' when you
were a kid. Small world, isn't it?"

I winced. "Very small. Card number one? Meet card number two. If
Felice mentioned the main question I wanted to ask you, you can forget
about it, because I already know the answer."

She laughed, then nodded. "We still have a day to plan if Barbara
wants to get all that paperwork done."

"True, and I can't send you back alone, because they'd be especially
reluctant to let you in, if I did, right?"

"Exactly. Two ways to solve that, one short term, the other, long
term."

Barb rolled away from me and resettled so she was propped against the
headboard. "I'm not that slow. Short term must be sending the two of
you in together. By the way, it's late, but I'm glad my first
best friend is card number two."

"Thanks, Barbara. I'd tell both of you more, if I could. There are
some huge holes in my memories because of what happened to me a few
years later."

"No problem. You're ok with moving sideways and being head driver for
Kit?"

"I am."

"Good. What's this long term solution to getting people past Kit's
security?"

"Buy the outfit. Times are hard right now, and while they haven't
started laying people off, people are worried and starting to look for
other outfits they can work for. Unfortunately, everyone else has the
same problem, so the normal trickle of job hopping isn't happening.
Most of the part time work has vanished, too, because people can't
afford to pay the usual rates."

Barb nodded then shifted her focus. "Felice?"

"I've kept track, of course, since I've had to schedule Molly's time
so she can work in those training sessions. They specialize in area
security instead of personal, which would let us use them for
perimeter work and free up some of our own people for what they do
best, which is personal protection. After the checks, they're big
enough I should be able to shift people around and get he kind of
layered coverage we're used to, instead of the thin stuff we discussed
last night."

"Thanks. Molly? You suggested buying instead of leasing their
services. Must be a reason for that."

"Good security people always know more than they're supposed to. We
can't do our jobs if we do it any other way. In this case, it's pretty
obvious the owners have to be thinking about selling out, or merging
with someone else. They've been losing contracts when they come up for
renewal and the one for where Kit lives is one of the two big ones
they expect to keep, because the owners can afford to renew it. They
aren't losing out to underbidding, either. Again, it's happening all
over. The money just isn't there. FundCorp could step in and hire
them, of course, but the people in the field would rather see a buyout
come from our direction. A lot of the teams have been hinting that
they would be serious about saying yes, if we offered them what they
get paid now, plus the usual medical to match what they already have.
They're loyal, but... Most of them don't think the owners are as loyal
to them, any more."

Barb sighed and covered her eyes. "How many of those people would you
be willing to vouch for so we could put them to work anywhere we need
them?"

"None."

"That's the right answer. Thank you, again. They must know you fairly
well, professionally. Do they know you well enough you could introduce
them to Felice as our head of department, and they wouldn't give her
any problems?"

"Umm... I can't say for certain that all of them will. Some of the
senior people have asked me to relay a message to her if a buyout
became a possibility. Something about wanting a chance to see if they
can dent her shields. Apparently they want a chance to go up against
one of the best in the business, to see how good they are."

Felice sighed. "Over eager fools, but the buyout would help solve our
immediate problems, once we get the checks done. Be a lot quicker than
starting from scratch. Might even have all the bodyguards and their
reliefs in place at the end of six months."

"Thanks, Felice. Henry? That many people, there must be some we can
cross train into driving."

"We can try, of course. Might shake out one or two who are steady
enough to handle the advanced stuff, and once they pass all the other
checks, we can start looking them over more seriously.

"Worst case might be using them for outside duty and the more routine
driving chores, while we keep our proven people on the inside. I need
to check, but I think we have a few people around who used to work for
them. That's true of most of the other outfits, because we tend to get
the serious people who want to make it a career and get paid more than
just above minimum wage. Molly probably has a better read on that
aspect."

"He's got a point. Takes years for their people to get what we pay
once a person finishes training."

Barb sighed. "Kit? Any thoughts. Could you people game any of this?"

It was my turn to sigh. "We could try. We were really hoping to hold
off on that for at least a year, then work up a new program and test
it against the history of a successful security company. There's too
much we don't know, to feel comfortable about putting any usable
numbers on what we come up with.

"I do have a suggestion, though. It's probably what you figure on
doing, anyway."

"Make it."

"Use the buyout as an excuse to diversify into area security services,
then use the new division as a screening ground for people you want to
move into personal protection or driving."

"Driving?"

"Seems to me that if they have good situational awareness at slow
speed in a parking lot or housing tract, they can be trained to have
it at normal traffic speeds."

She nodded slightly. "Henry?"

"Iffy. Bodyguards and personal drivers use a different threat
evaluation system than people who protect property. I said I'd be
watching for people I can cross train as drivers, but I want to be
honest and admit I don't think I'll find enough with the right mindset
to make good drivers of the kind we need, and I doubt if Felice will
find many she can switch over to being bodyguards. Those will have to
be our own people, or people who are fresh hires."

"Felice?"

Felice grimaced. "He right. The mindsets are too diferent. That's the
main reason I'll settle for finding enough people to do area security,
so I can move some of our people back into the jobs they are trained
for."

"We *do* need both types of security, right, Felice?"

"We do. But, even there, our people have to have a different mindset.
I view anyone we use, assuming this buyout takes place, as temporary,
until we have the people from our traiing program available."

"I'm missing something. What is it?"

Felice sighed. "Our people are protecting people, theirs protect
property. Molly?"

"She's right. Their usual mindset is 'observe and report'. Ours is
'last line of defense, die if we have to, as long as it stops them',
even when we know we have a layer behind us. Their senior people are
good and they're dedicated, but the better they are, the less I want
them backing me up, because, under pressure, they are likely to revert
to that mindset and worry about their own safety, first."

Barbara studied her while she thought about what she'd just learned.
Finally she sighed. "It's starting to sound like a buyout would be a
waste of money, but you didn't think so, correct, Molly?"

"Correct. Right now, we don't have people to spare, because many of
our people are working in jobs they are over qualified for, while they
wait for openings in the ones they are capable of handling."

She bent her head briefly, then raised it to look directly at Barbara.
"It's a blunt assessment, but we need first line cannon fodder that's
expendable, to give the inside people time to get ready to do their
jobs properly. 'Observe and report'. The reporting would be directly
to the people who can handle a given situation, then, hopefully they
will have the sense to get out of the way. If they decide to mix it
up... Anyone they take down is one less for our people to worry
about."

Barbara sighed. "Felice?"

"A driver has to save themselves, to save their passengers, usually. I
think Henry is going to find more drivers than he expects to find.
Other than that, I agree with Molly's assessment. My people cannot,
and will not, depend on any of the new people in the same way they
depend on the people who go through our training program when they are
new to the job. I won't order them to take that risk, either, until
they've been through the pressure cooker together, and we know how the
new people are likely to react."

She slumped. "I still think we should give serious consideration to
the buyout, because we need the flexibility in the long run. Some of
them have trained with Molly, and they still want to work for us, in
spite of realizing how focused and lethal she is. As long as we don't
waste their skills, we should wind up with a solid core of team
players we can build on to improve our overall security."

"Noted. Final question is for you and Molly. How much of a new broom
should we use? Should we retain the original owners as consultants?
Assume they will be gone, otherwise. They've already lost too much
employee loyalty if Molly is hearing about it."

Felice spread her hands. "I'll leave that one for Molly to answer.
I'll work with whatever I'm handed."

"Molly?"

She didn't hesitate. "Get rid of everyone in the office and keep only
the people who work in the field. Most of the senior supervisors
should go, too. Most of them are walking egos living on past glories,
who enjoy making people smaller so they look bigger."

Barbara shuddered so I hugged her slightly. "Thanks, Kit. Damn. That
just eliminated the possibility of hiring away most of their people.
Maybe we can pressure people into agreeing to sign non disclosure
agreements before we get rid of them, then get them to agree to not
work in the security industry and related fields for about ten years
or so."

She leaned back and closed her eyes while she thought for awhile.

Eventually she sighed. "How's their rep in the field, Molly?"

"Good one, generally. The field people know their jobs, and do them
without getting in the way if they're on site during working hours."

"Sounds good. If we keep the name and the field people, most people
won't pay much attention to the transition?"

"Some of their accounts have been there from the beginning. Might be
some cronyism."

"Deal with that if we have to. Thanks, Molly. Since it was your idea,
you get the usual twenty percent interest in the new division."

"Thank you, Barbara. Don't ask me to help run it."

Barbara opened her eyes and laughed. "Relax. Who you tell is up to
you. Running it will be Felice's job until she can find people she's
willing to trust."

"Oh, thank you very much, Barb. Since you want a new broom, Molly can
introduce me, then get out of my way. If I get any static, Henry might
get to see some attitude adjustments, if he isn't too busy finding
some drivers he can terrorize into becoming half way competent."

Henry chortled maliciously. "I'll wait a few days, and then offer them
a chance to work for me instead of you."

"Fools, if they buy it."

"Probably, but if it gets me another Molly, I'll be content."

"Point. Ok, Barbara. Only question I have, is when?"

"Julia. You heard all this. How long?"

"Sounded like you want it to be friendly with the iron fist in view."

"Good call. See what you can do to reduce the overhead once we replace
their office staff, then look into renegotiating the existing
contracts lower if we can do that and give pay raises where
appropriate, to the people who stay, until they finish our training
cycle and we know what they are worth to us."

"What do I have to work with?"

"Cash buyout of no more than eighty percent of current market value,
and they handle any retirement payouts. If they want annual payments,
reduce it to seventy percent. Make it clear we don't want any of their
office staff, and that we'll be working our people into field
supervisory positions. Molly can tell you who we should consider
keeping. I want the rest gone within a month after the deal is
signed."

"If they refuse?"

"Show them the fist. Full page ads in the trade papers, new hires for
a major expansion of our security division, at our usual rates, with
adjustments to the base salary based on experience and certifications.
Promise them no hard feelings, and we won't ask our people to change
the way they interact with their peers."

Julia laughed. "Nice touch, I'll save the continued cooperation for an
after thought, to keep things friendly. Unless you have some special
instructions, I have enough to turn our people loose on it. Give us a
few days, and then I'll need Felice and Henry."

"Good. Anyone have anything they want to add?"

I happend to be looking at Felice, so I saw her shift slightly, then
stay silent, so I touched Barb's shoulder. "I think my EA has
something she'd like to say, but isn't sure she should."

Barb translated that, turned to study my face, then she nodded
slightly and turned back. "Felice? Something unpalatable?"

"Outside my experience. I think Julia should use Josh and Molly before
she calls us in to check them. They need the experience while we're
available to backstop them."

"Good thought. We'll do it that way. Anything else?"

"Do Kit or Molly still need that private time? We might as well send
everyone out to the offices at once."

I loooked at Molly and she nodded slightly, so I took over. "We do.
I'll have our talk after I get up and have breakfast. After that, I
should close the house down better and get some extra clothing and
other personal items. If we have that private talk in the office as
part of making my list of things I need, Barb could join us for the
ride if she doesn't want to turn me loose yet."

Barbara hugged me and looked at Henry. "Instead of sulking, you can be
setting up interviews with the people you need to talk to before I
turn Julia loose."

He laughed. "You aren't the only one who can use a vacation. I'll
settle for a working one. Take all the time you need."

She blushed. "Thank you Henry. I never thought I'd hear you agree so
quickly to me suggesting I trust myself to someone else."

"Molly is that good. I wish we hadn't needed to hide it from you all
these years."

"Understood."

She got up and stretched. "Ok. Come on, Kit. While these folks do what
they need to, you and I can share the shower. Maybe by then someone
will have the wit to hit the Outlet Mall and get you some new clothes,
and bring me my usual travel outfit from my office."

Felice giggled. "Outfits for both of you already waiting. Enjoy
yourselves."

I got up and did my own stretching for a few minutes, then held my
hand out to Barbara while I grinned at Felice's slack jaw. "We will. I
promise."

Felice spoke carefully. "Was *that* a level seventeen warm up?"

I shrugged. "Eighteen, but I've never used it in the ring, so I don't
know if I have it right."

She finally sighed and faced Molly. "We were both level fourteen when
he graduated. I made it to fifteen and the regional finals the next
year, then quit and cross trained in something more aggresssive.
Everyone expected Kit to be state champion within two years if he
hadn't vanished. State champions are usually level sixteen or higher.
If you *ever* have the ego spasm that makes you decide you want to get
in the ring with him, wear the best composite body armor you can
get--and expect bruises when you make mistakes."

I could tell Molly wasn't sure how serious Felice was, so I sighed. "I
need three pencils. Felice? Will you trust my control, or should I use
the pillows?"

She smiled slightly. "How about water glasses, almost filled, on the
bed?"

"That will work. Set it up with some napkins."

When she was done, three glasses were on the bed with the pencils
across the napkins that were stretched across the rims.

Felice spoke easily. "The object is simple. Kit has to break all three
pencils in one pass, without getting any water on the napkins.
Normally, it's done with someone wearing protective gear while they
are on their back. The usual locations are the groin, chest and face.
It's a beginner's control test you have to consisently pass before you
can move beyond level five, which can take the average person a decade
to reach. Kit?"

"Ready when you are."

She launched over the bed, planted herself, then flipped me in the
general direction of the glasses while she shouted 'Now!'

I managed to break the pencils on the way over, then realized I was
headed for a body that was where I was going to land, so I made an
adjustment and wrapped myself around whoever it was, before we slammed
into the wall with me taking the brunt of the impact.

When we stopped moving I heard a very feminine and contrite "Sorry. I
wanted a better angle. Next time I won't move."

Felice giggled. "Can't get much better. You two ok?"

I got up and held out my hand to Molly. "I am. You?"

"I'm fine. The pencils are still there."

Felice leaned over and picked up the eraser halves, leaving the tip
halves in place. "He decided to show off."

Molly turned white and so did several other people. "You've been
holdng back?"

Felice shook her head. "No. I no longer use that style, and I don't
add it to what I use with you or anyone else. I want to keep that
knowledge inner circle. I hope I never need the edge to protect
whoever I'm covering, because if I do, some of us will most likely be
dead, or dying."
.
Keith was the one who figured it out. "The Art is about control, isn't
it, Kit?"

"Yes."

He nodded and looked at everyone else before he focused on Molly. "It
gets mentioned in passing as one of the defensive styles some people
use to meditate. The people who use it take an oath to never use it to
deliberately harm someone. Don't you see it? Competitors *lose* points
when they make contact with their 'opponent'. I won't say it's
imposible for Felice and Kit to use it to take out an aggressor, but
if they did, at their level, it's a sure thing the conditions have to
be pretty restricted or their heads are going to be seriously fucked
up when it's over."

Molly finally sighed. "So much for that dream. Felice? Is he right?"

"More or less.That's what the unlimiteds are for, to get us used to
the mindset involved. If both people do everything right, nobody gets
hurt. The aggressor has to deliberately move into us, accepting a blow
that would have otherwise left them untouched. Those blows that
damaged our protective gear were ones we took willingly--and we knew
we were going to get hurt, severely, if *we* misjudged our timing."

"So you're saying you had absolute trust in each other's control?"

"Close enough. What we weren't aware of, was how much force was behind
the moves, if they happened to land. When Kit stepped into my crotch
kick, neither one of us expected what happened, which was a badly
dented cup and him being thrown backwards about ten feet, into a
wall."

I laughed. "At least she had a rough idea of what it might feel like
when both of my fists hit her breasts at the same time, but still...
After that we weren't as enthusiastic about stepping into each other
instead of standing still. Flinching instead of stepping turned out to
be a much wiser choice after that first demo we did with each other."

Barbara laughed into the silence. "Ok. Enough shop talk."

She grabbed my prick and tugged. "I want this and the body it's
attached to, in the shower with me, now. Felice can yak if she has
nothing better to do while you folks wait for us to get ready for the
day."

She ignored all the comments until she had the bathroom door closed,
then she turned the water on before she wrapped me in a hug and
started giggling.

Eventually she looked up and grinned. "I wish we'd been able to video
that demonstration. You were focused on Molly, afterwards, but I
happened to get a good look at Henry when Felice picked up the
pencils. He turned about as white as these walls. He's never done that
before." 
---

End: Part 2 (unfinished)
======

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