Second That Emotion

by

Latikia

Copyright ©  2006

Chapter 30

I fumbled with the door knob; my arms and hands filled with bags made gripping the silly thing an effort, eventually getting it turned and pushed the door open. I stepped in and headed down the hall towards the staircase.

Anya followed me around the pond and up the stairs to the master bedroom where I deposited the bags on the unmade bed.

“Put the box down on the bed, Anya. We’ll sort everything out later.”

She set the box down on the foot of the bed and looked around.

“This is the master bedroom, where the girls and I sleep. There are plenty of rooms, so you’ll have your own. I’ll talk to Dr. Wills about having your personal things moved out here. We have some clothes that should fit you so you won’t have to keep wearing that stupid jumpsuit.”

I headed back out and she followed me without a word.

As we went down the stairs I told here where certain other rooms were and told her we’d give her a more complete tour later.

Outside, the rest of the bags and boxes were still on the lawn; Izzy, Lilly and Peggy were nowhere to be found. I sighed heavily, picked up the remaining bags and a box. Anya stacked a couple of smaller boxes, lifted them up and followed me back into the house. This continued for two more trips, until we had everything moved inside. I shut the front door behind us and we went upstairs.

The last of the stuff set inside the bedroom I took Anya on a tour of the upstairs, telling her to pick a room she liked. She chose the one directly across from ours. It wasn’t the largest one available and I wondered why she’d picked it.

I went to the linen closet and pulled some sheets and blankets out and she carried a couple of pillows and a large comforter which we took in and laid out on the bed. While she made up the bed I went back to the master bedroom and dug around in the dressers, coming up with a couple pairs of jeans and flannel shirts that I thought were close to her size and took them to her room.

“When you finish up in here come on down to the dining room. It’s the big room on the left after you pass the pond.”

“Okay. Why are they mad at me?” she asked quietly.

“Well, they might be mad because you tried to kill me. But I think that right now they’re mad at me, not you.”

“Why? Because you didn’t kill me?”

“No. They didn’t want me to kill you. That’s partly why I didn’t. They think…I think they think…hell, I don’t know for sure what they think. We’ll work it out, eventually.”

I left her, headed back into our bedroom and dug around in my duffle bag. I found my tennis shoes and put them on, tossing the temporary pair into the hot tub.

I stashed my duffle in the big walk-in closet and went downstairs to the dining room. I heard muffled voices and the banging of pots coming from the kitchen. I sat down at the table and began broadcasting irritation, aggravation and discontent in large waves.

Peggy came running out, and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me at the table. She backtracked quickly into the kitchen, a deeply worried look on her face.

I continued to sit there, hearing the distant voices in the kitchen. Irritation and discontent were burnt away by outright anger which erupted from me in a blast of power I was sure would be felt a mile away.

Peggy cried out loudly, Izzy and Lilly as well, but not nearly as loud. Anya came running down the stairs and into the dining room looking around franticly.

“Sit down Anya. If the girls attack you, defend yourself. Don’t kill anyone or break any bones, but defend yourself.” I commanded. She took a seat at the far end of the table from me, still casting her eyes around, looking for threats.

I waited and the longer I waited, the angrier I got and the angrier I got the hotter my anger got. It didn’t take long before I could feel tiny waves of heat lifting off the surface of my skin and not much longer before the tiny waves grew up and felt like they were coming off the surface of an Arizona road in the middle of a hot summer’s day.

I smelled smoke.

Fuck the smoke. I was mad.

Anya’s eyes got huge and she leapt to her feet and ran out into the kitchen.

I started feeling like I had out on the Iraqi desert; the sun roasting my exposed and unprotected body.

I heard shouting in the kitchen and a couple of loud slaps. I lost it. Anger gave way to rage. I gripped the edge of the table with my hands and exploded inside.

‘Get the fuck out here NOW!’ we roared at the top of our lungs. My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see a thing. A curtain of red rage had fallen over them and all I could see was crimson. I don’t remember being so incensed in the whole of my life. The rage had taken over; I wasn’t thinking clearly…I’m not sure I was even thinking. Reacting to the emotion was about the best I could manage and that just barely.

I heard footsteps approaching and Peggy screamed, followed by Lilly’s shriek and Izzy’s gasp.

Still holding the table tightly I forced myself to my feet and cast my eyes about blindly.

‘Sit down and shut up, all of you!’ the darkness inside me rasped out thru my throat.

I listened closely and heard chairs being pulled away from the table. When the small sounds stopped, I leaned over slightly, slid my hands off the edge of the table and placed the palms flat down in front of me.

‘I don’t know what’s gotten into the three of you, but fix it and fix it fast. Because if you can’t, or won’t…this is the last time you’ll ever see him.’ we hissed like steam escaping from a boiler. I straightened up and the veil of crimson faded just enough so I could make out shapes. I kicked back the chair behind me and made my way to the front door. I opened it, stepped out and slammed it closed behind me.

Stepping off the porch I started jogging around the house. The jog turned into a steady run, which then turned into a dash.

The rage faded away, becoming simple anger, which fueled my run. I lost count of the laps somewhere around twenty three and widened the range of my run to include jumping over fences and corrals. At some point I was either chasing or leading the small herd of horses across and around the huge expanse of our back yard.

After running with the horses I sort of remember running in tighter and tighter circles, while my equine companions watched my antics with disdainful disapproval. Once I’d chased myself into a capricious collapse, I dug my fingers thru the cold wet grass, into the moist dirt beneath it and linked with the earth.

I lay there and enjoyed the slow pace of the earth’s heartbeat, and unloaded my anger and rage as well as the guilt and combined orgasms I’d been carrying with me all day. I held my link with the planet and fell asleep to the soothing rhythms of shifting tectonic plates.

“He’s really warm. Do you think he might be sick?” I heard a voice say.

“We should wake him up and get him inside.” another voice said.

“At least he isn’t blue this time. I guess that’s a good sign.” said a third.

I opened one eye and looked to my left. Anya was sitting cross legged on the grass next to me.

“I told you to stay with the girls and look after them.”

“I am.” she said and gestured across my body. I opened my other eye and moved my head to the right. Lilly, Izzy and Peggy were sitting there looking at me.

“What is this thing you have for laying around outside in the nude?” Izzy asked.

I lifted my head and looked down the length of my body. With the exception of my tennis shoes I was stark naked. I let my head fall back against the damp grass and closed my eyes. The three of them were holding their hands out near my body as if I were a campfire.

“You should have brought some marshmallows. Then you could roast them and sing ‘Kum-by-ya’. Go back to the house and go to sleep.” I said.

“Are you still mad at us?” Peggy inquired hopefully.

“A little.”

“We put all the clothes and the things in the boxes away.” Izzy said.

“That’s nice.”

“Thank you for bringing our stuff, and getting the things on the list.” Lilly said.

“You’re welcome.”

I lay there silently for a while. I didn’t hear any movement. No one was going away.

“Why are you all still here?”

“We can’t sleep without you.” Izzy said.

I opened my eyes and sat upright, bringing my legs up, folding them beneath me and turned to face the three women.

“Maybe you’d better learn how. I’ve been considering leaving the four of you here and moving back into my old apartment.”

Izzy’s face registered shock and dismay. Lilly looked heartbroken and Peggy started to cry.

“I can’t live like this. I go away for a few hours and when I get back what’s waiting for me? ‘How was your day? We missed you?’ No! I get cold shoulders and distrust from the women who claim to love me. Give me one reason I should stay?”

I looked at them, my heart full of sadness.

“They were afraid you were going to add me to your harem.” Anya said from behind me.

I sighed loudly.

‘Trust is in very short supply here, or haven’t you noticed?’

“I suppose I haven’t…til now. I can’t make them trust me.”

‘Sure you could. You don’t want to.’

“If I made them then it wouldn’t be real and it wouldn’t mean anything to me.”

‘I guess you’ll have to decide what’s more tolerable then…staying with them and knowing they don’t trust you, or leaving and being miserable.’

“Those are the best choices you’ve got to offer me?”

‘I don’t see any other options. How ‘bout it girls…do you see any other way out of this mess?’

Peggy, Lilly and Izzy stared at me wide eyed. I don’t think they were expecting to be questioned by the other voice.

“Please, don’t leave us Ike. You promised never to leave us.” Izzy pleaded.

‘I seem to recall someone promising that the three of you would never hurt him. Don’t you think your lack of trust and rejection hurts? You, Isabeau, of all people should know how sensitive he is, how vulnerable. Yet you keep doing it. Over and over again. You keep expecting to be hurt so you hurt him first. You still haven’t gotten past that little incident when you were twelve, have you?’

Izzy looked as if she’d been slapped.

‘Don’t look so surprised, sister. I know what he knows, I feel what he feels. The voice and attitude may be different, but don’t let that fool you. We are the same person. The only difference is I don’t mind striking back when someone hurts us. He’s the one who’s willing to take the abuse and put up with shit from all of you, hoping that you’ll love him.’

“We do love him!” Lilly cried. Peggy nodded her head emphatically, tears pouring down her face.

‘Riiiight. You love him so much you ignored him and pushed him away. And why? Because you got jealous of his bodyguard. You heard what he said, about how she was here to protect you three? Did you listen? Did you care? Shit, so much love and understanding…it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.’

“He didn’t have to get so angry.” Peggy said.

‘He didn’t…I did.’

“Well then, you didn’t have to get so angry.” Lilly said.

‘No…I didn’t have to. Of course, you didn’t have to get jealous either. But you did.’

“I want to talk to Ike, not you.” Izzy said, anger in her voice and fire in her eyes.

‘I just bet you do, sweetie. But for the time being, you’ll just have to deal with me. Tell me sweet cheeks, do you know what your precious little brother did yesterday? Did blondie-locks fill you in?’

“She told us.” Izzy said between tightly clenched teeth.

‘Did she tell you how much guilt he was carrying for what he did to her? Did she tell you how badly he felt thinking that the person who betrayed him in the hospital might have been Colonel DeBerg? Did she tell you how desperately he wanted to get back here to the loving embrace of his little family? To make sure you were still safe and tell you all how much he missed you? Did she tell you that?’

The girls were silent, staring down at the ground.

I got to my feet. “You never gave me the chance to tell you myself.”

I looked down at the three of them, tears in my own eyes.

“Dr. Wills said he’d arrange to transfer the ranch to me. I’ll ask him to put it in your names instead. I’ll set up a checking account for each of you and have my paychecks split and deposited into them. Anya will stay here and make sure you all are protected and I’ll stop by from time to time and check on things.”

I started walking towards the house. I hopped the fence and walked around to the front door. I went upstairs and removed my shoes, got into the shower and washed quickly then dried off with a slightly damp towel. I went out into the bedroom, into the closet and brought out my duffel.

Standing it next to the bed I dug around looking for some pants and got hit from behind by a fast moving body that tackled me onto the bed with a shoulder to the small of my back. I hit the mattress with a grunt and rolled onto my back, only to have another body leap onto my stomach, driving the breath from my lungs. Another body jumped across my legs, pinning me down.

I was fighting to get my lungs working again, when the first body fell across my chest and pinned my arms down.

“Wh…what the hell…what the hell are you doing?” I gasped out.

Lilly, straddling my belly, glared down at me.

“You aren’t leaving us!” she growled and punched me just below the breast bone.

“We won’t let you!” Peggy cried from down near my knees.

“And we’ll beat you senseless if you try.” Izzy snarled from somewhere in the vicinity of my right armpit.

I turned my head towards the doorway and saw Anya leaning against the jamb, a slight smile on her lips. She shrugged at me.

“I can’t protect you from this kind of attack. I’m going to bed.” She closed the door behind her.

I took a deep breath, raising Izzy up and slipping my left arm free of her weight.

“Girls, please get off me.”

“NO!” Peggy cried out.

“You can’t leave us here. We need you.” Lilly said, raising her arm and making another fist of her small hand.

“We love you, you stupid oaf! If we have to fight you to prove it we will!” Izzy mumbled into my upper arm.

“I can make you stop this foolishness.” I threatened.

I felt Peggy start shaking, saw Lilly’s face go pale and felt Izzy shiver.

“We don’t care. We’re not letting you go.” Lilly said, her features tightening.

“Why didn’t you pay this much attention to me when I came home?”

“You surprised us and we reacted badly. We’re still getting used to the idea of three of us sharing you…throwing another girl into the bargain was more than we were ready to deal with.” Peggy said from behind Lilly.

It had been a while since I’d heard her speak like an adult and not a young girl.

“I did explain why she was here, you know.”

“Ike, we reacted on an emotional level, not an intellectual one. If you’d given us some more time, we would have calmed down and been ready to listen. But you got angry so fast…” Lilly explained.

“You shut me out and wouldn’t talk to me. That makes me angry. If you would just talk to me…tell me what’s going on inside your tiny little pretty thick skulls so I don’t have to keep guessing.”

“Ike,” Izzy said, climbing off my chest and sitting beside me on the bed, “we reacted badly and foolishly to an awkward situatition and we’re very sorry we hurt you. But don’t hurt us in return by leaving. We need you…and you need us too.”

“Yeah!” Peggy said, wiggling around so that she straddled my shins and could peak around Lilly’s side.

I tensed my stomach and lifted my legs, raising Peggy up into the air. Her arms flailed wildly and she squealed loudly, falling over sideways and landing on the bed.

“Some rider you are; can’t even stay on for four seconds. You need more practice.” I smirked.

“That’s not the kind of Daddy riding I want to practice.” she giggled, rolling over and punching my thigh.

I lowered my legs and sat up, coming chest to face with Lilly. She wrapped her arms around my ribs and put her ear against my heart.

“Please, don’t go.” she whispered.

“Please?” Izzy echoed.

“Pretty please?” Peggy said, bouncing up and crawling over on her knees to put her head on my arm.

They owned me and I knew it.

“Alright, I’ll stay.”

They smothered me with hugs and kisses and I ended up flat on my back again, fending off their indecent advances as poorly as I could.

One at a time they got up and went into the bathroom. I could hear the shower run briefly, then the water would stop and the girl who’d left would return and plop herself down on me and another would leave. Before long I was buried once more beneath a mound of naked girls.

“Did you really kill the CIA Director?” Izzy asked me as she snuggled close.

“Yes I did.”

“And Captain Rossi too?” Lilly wanted to know.

“No, he’s still alive. But he’ll spend the rest of his life in a psych ward.”

“Anya said you made her cum for hours.” Peggy said, her chin on my chest.

“It was only about an hour or so. And it was your orgasms I gave her. The ones I siphoned off yesterday morning. I beefed ‘em up a little, put them together and that’s what made her talk. Actually, she handled it a lot better than all the agents and security guards at the CIA. They just moaned, came and passed out.”

“Typical.” Lilly said. “Men are such wimps.”

“Yeah.” I said seriously. “And the three of you handle tiny little bits of my love sooooo much better.”

Peggy giggled and buried her face in my chest. Izzy chuckled and even Lilly had the good grace to blush.

“It’s okay…I won’t tell anyone what wimps you are.” I sniggered.

We all fell asleep, snuggled together and cuddled up like a litter of pups.

A loud knocking at the bedroom door woke me. The girls were still asleep, or ignoring the knocking by pretending to sleep. I held Peggy against me as I sat up, and laid her between Izzy and Lilly then crawled out of the bed. Opening the door I confronted Anya, who was about to hammer the wood again.

“What’s up?” I asked her sleepily.

“There’s a phone ringing downstairs in one of the rooms. I could hear it, but I don’t know for sure which room it is. I thought you would want to know.”

I nodded. “Thank you Anya. I’ll get it. How was your night?”

“Educational.” She smiled slightly.

“I’ll just bet.”

I went downstairs to the study and picked up the ringing phone. Mr. Jones was on the line.

“Sleeping late?” he inquired.

“Yeah. We had a little trouble integrating Anya and I didn’t get to bed until early this morning.”

“Sorry to hear it. I thought you’d like to know that Dr. Wills and Colonel DeBerg will be coming out to visit this afternoon. We’ll be leaving around three, so if there’s anything you’d like brought out give us a call before noon and I’ll see what I can arrange.”

“Thanks for the heads up. The only thing I can think of right now would be clothing and personal effects for Anya. We’re pretty well fixed otherwise.”

“I’ll see what can be done. See you around three thirty.”

The phone went dead and I set it down.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I wandered back upstairs and into the bedroom.