Alice's butt hurt.
Twisting as she lay on her stomach in the tall grass, she looked again at the red scratches and marks on her fair skin. They weren't bleeding, anymore, and already some were starting to fade. Still, the no longer virginal teen had come to the conclusion that sex on a rough rock, no matter the situation, was not a good idea. It had felt GREAT, yes, but the downside was a bit too high. From that, Alice had also developed the theory that both animals and early cavemen had sex "doggie style" for the express reason of protecting their tender behinds. Once man invented the bed, it became safe for women to lie down and let the man do all the work.
She smiled. It was a fun idea. There was no way to prove it, except maybe experience sex in a variety of positions on a variety of natural surfaces. That could be fun. It probably wouldn't even be hard to talk Tom into the idea. Her own body, however, might object strenuously.
Alice settled back down, her upper body raised on her elbows. The question of how she had been talked into the idea of jumping him wasn't one she really wanted to deal with. She liked Tom, yes. Had thought, from the first time he had walked into the store, that he was cute, sexy.
But she was NOT a slut.
She wasn't sorry. No. Now that the ice, as well as other things, had been broken, as far as she was concerned they were a couple. They'd deal with the personal aspects as time passed, but she fully expected to spend that night, and every night, in his tent. But, she still had to work out for herself what had happened.
Most likely, it was the Lady. Goddess of Wisdom. Alice had not been forced, but her... inhibitions had been lowered. Her late night fantasy encounters turned into real action. Alice's inner desire brought to the surface.
Could she call such a thing "evil"?
It would depend on where things went from here. The timing of "why" was not in question. Alice's last period had been around two weeks ago. Wisdom wanted the ball rolling on kids, so had nudged things instead of waiting for time together to bring man and woman into the same bed. Using that as a guide, Krissy would probably give herself to Tom in a day or two. Her cycle mirrored Alice pretty close.
Krissy. Alice looked down at the pad of paper on the ground before her. Krissy was pissed. Rightly so. Not just because of what had happened, or at least not totally. It was the afterwards. Alice had not been ashamed, remorseful, at fucking in front of her friend. In front of her brother! She blushed at that. How could she have done that! Hell, how had she walked back here to the meadow nude! She was still nude, the noon sun warm on her back. Tom, too. Both had felt no need to put their clothing back on. As if, at least in Alice's mind, they had returned to Eden. Adam and Eve had needed no clothing.
The grass to her left moved, parted. Zak's body lowered itself down, copying her stance. Zak's face settled about a foot away from her. His dark brown eyes dropped down to her breasts for a moment, his entire face smiling as they then raised up to meet hers. She smiled back.
"Hi."
"Hi."
She liked Zak. Loath to leave him alone much, Krissy had brought him along for many of their get togethers. Often he'd just read, but sometimes he'd join in their conversations. His quietness was a definite counterpart to Krissy, and even herself. In the last few years, Alice had come to think of him as a brother.
"Sis is pissed."
That wasn't surprising. Alice sighed.
"I'll talk to her. It'll pass."
"I know. I'm just saying." Zak's eyes went to the pad of paper before her, head turning sideways to get a better look at its contents. "What's this?"
"Oh, this." Alice lifted a hand to move some of her hair away from her face, even as her other picked up the marker again. "I'm trying to see what kind of house I can come up with for us."
"Cool!" His eyes lit up. Silently asking permission, she nodded as he turned the pad towards him.
It was a simple design, a rough draft. Very neat, her two years of mechanical drawing giving her that talent, but rough in concept. It was focused on the fireplace, the stone indentation in that flat rock wall. That would have to serve as both a cooking fire, and their source of heat in winter. Thus, she had put a long kitchen counter along the eastern wooden wall to be built out from the north-south stone wall, interrupted with a doorway into a large storage pantry. In front of the fire was a long bench/ couch, for sitting on during long evenings. The idea of sitting before a roaring fire with a blizzard raging outside enchanted her. It would be like something out of a movie! Behind that would be the table and chairs for eating, whatever. Two bedrooms ran along the western wall, one twice as large as the other. Zak glanced at her.
"Two beds?"
Alice felt herself blush.
"Um, well... by the time we build it, I figured..."
He nodded.
"So I get my own room. Cool."
His acceptance surprised her. Alice placed a hand on his.
"Has... the Lady... talked to you?"
Zak nodded, expression becoming more serious.
"Yeah. Not much, but I heard a voice. Tom told me what was going on, while you two were still sleeping this morning. It's... I mean, wow."
"But you believe?"
He nodded again.
"It's like something in a book. There's gods and goddesses all over those, so, you know. This one happens to be real." He paused, considering. "That was one thing I never quite liked about church. Nobody ever answered back."
"What did she say to you?" Alice leaned towards him. Zak laughed, a somewhat sad laugh.
"It was when you and Tom were going at it. I heard this voice saying I wasn't to touch you, or Sis. Both of you are for Tom alone."
****
Tom tried to focus on the knife and stone before him.
The knife had been his father's, probably bought in some department store, or, maybe, at a small fishing store if he had been on some fishing trip when he realized he needed it. Not anything special or high quality, in other words. It had a smooth wooden handle, stained lightly, the outline of a fish burned into it. The blade was thin and narrow. Tom had watched his father use it on dozens of bass, mostly large mouth, and pike. He himself had filleted sunfish with it as a ten year old. Now, he sharpened it on a stone.
Or tried to. It had been years, not since Boy Scouts, since he had tried to do anything like this. Back then he had sharpened his jackknife, dulled after whittling. Now he was trying to bring an edge back to a tool important to their survival. It had become clear, by the third fish, that while he was indeed rusty, the blade was causing most of his problems. He needed it sharp. Not just for cleaner cuts. Dull blades catch, slip. Tom did NOT want to slice himself out here, with three non-drivers attempting to use the stick shift in the hatchback to bring him back to civilization.
He glanced up at Krissy. There also was a chance that one would just let him bleed.
He definitely felt self conscious, sitting there nude in a folding chair, an upside down metal cookie pan on his legs forming his work table. True, his manhood was safely under the protection of his table, but Tom was not in the least exhibitionist. Even going shirtless not something he was wont to do. Yet, there had been no desire to put his clothing back on before coming back here from the pond. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. Now it did. Especially the way she was looking at him, eyes hard, focused on his face.
Krissy sat, clothed, arms folded over her chest, on a plastic cooler. She still only wore her t-shirt and panties. She kept her knees firmly together, bare legs stretched out before her. There wasn't much ice in the cooler, but from her mood the teen was likely dropping the temperature of the butter and cheese inside quite low.
He sighed. That was unfair of him. If the situation was reversed... well, given he had been a lonely, horny teen, there probably was nothing useful to considering that. A nude adult female sharpening a knife would have sent enough mixed signals to fry his pubescent brain.
"I know She is the one doing this."
Tom looked up at Krissy's words. Her voice was sad, even as her expression stayed firm. He shrugged.
"I'd rather she sharpen this knife. Let everything else take care of itself."
His eyes held hers. A blush staring on her cheeks, Krissy dropped her eyes into her lap. One of her hands made a fist.
"I don't like being manipulated."
Spoken with the inexperience of youth. You're always manipulated, he wanted to tell her. Always moving at the whim of society, of the rich, of your peers, of family. The less you see the strings, the more entangled you are in their web.
Or, so he thought, with the bitterness of failure.
"I'll make a promise with you," he said instead. She looked at him. "I will always be honest with y-."
"Do you want to fuck me-?"
"Yes."
Krissy blinked. Blinked again. Tom put laid the knife and stone on the tray, lifting it up and bending over to place it on the grass next to his chair. He sat back up, exposed to her. Krissy's eyes dropped down to his soft cock. He leaned forward, arms resting on his legs, her eyes again coming up to his. He spoke softly, honestly.
"Yes, I want to fuck you. You're beautiful. More beautiful than Alice. Your face..." Tom shook his head. "God damn, you're more beautiful than any woman I've ever been near."
She looked away.
"How many..."
"Loved? I've loved many. Loved me? Nobody that has come forward with the information. Slept with? Seven, eight. Women more desperate than I, just wanting someone. Lived with? One, because we both needed someone. She left when she thought someone better than me loved her."
Her eyes closed.
"Do you think this is right?"
Tom turned towards the path. Towards the birch tree tunnel, towards Her.
"My life was, not over, but not worth living. She... She has given me reason to go on. She asks things, yes, but so far nothing I can not give."
"But is it right?"
"Right? Are you asking if this Bliss is Ignorance, if our Wisdom is Folly?"
Tom paused. Blinked. Looked at an astonished Krissy.
"Before you ask, no, I have no idea where the hell that came from. I'm not smart enough to think of that one."
"I know."
"You know me well." Tom stood. Stretched. Ignored her gaze. "Enough serious stuff. Do you three know how to play Bridge, by any chance?"
****
Not surprisingly, they didn't. Krissy knew Hearts, Poker, and a few others. Things she and her friends had played. She also knew a few variants of solitaire, altered so she and her brother could play together against lady luck. That was always the best, the two of them laying on her bed, cards spread out before them, deciding together their plan of attack. How to fight with the cards dealt to them.
Instead of Bridge, though, Tom taught them Euchre. He said it was sort of Bridge Lite, using only half the deck. While his parents and younger sister had often played Bridge with him in his youth, Euchre had been the game of family reunions, of uncles and grandparents.
Krissy kept having to re-assess how she saw the man. Every time he spoke of his parents, there was happiness on his face. Happiness tinged with loss, longing. He had been happy, as a youth. Memories of his father brought him joy. Her eyes kept sliding between Zak and Tom. Tom... would be a good father. She saw that. Saw that her brother was already moving him into that role. Even after just a day, Krissy could sense their real dad fading from Zak's mind. That was good. Great. It was un-natural and too easy, yes, but still it was great. Not so great were the images of Tom fathering her children.
Not that they were bad, mind you.
"Pick it up, I'm trying a loner!"
She looked across at her brother, eyebrow raised. The four sat on a square blue and white blanket that, while clean, had seen better days. Alice and Tom were still nude, but surprisingly she was getting used to it. Certainly, her brother's card playing ability was more of an issue at the moment.
"You sure?"
Zak responded with a grin. Ah, well. Their lead had been nice while it lasted. Krissy picked up the jack of spades from the pile in front of her, adding it to her hand while discarding the six of diamonds. She then dropped her hand down on the stack, moving them all out of the way. Her brother wanted to try and take all five tricks without her help, so be it.
Tom looked at his hand, considering.
"So, spades are trump?"
"Yup!" Zak grinned, practically vibrating. Alice scowled at her partner.
"Lead good!"
Tom nodded.
"Lead good... well, how about this."
He tossed the jack of clubs down. Zak's face fell. Krissy, could only shake her head.
"You didn't even have the other bower? Damn it, Zak!"
"Hey! Fifty percent chance either you had it or it was buried!"
Tom took the trick, then the next as he led the ace of clubs. Zak did manage to get the rest. His mood brightened as he added a point to their total.
"We still got a point. It wasn't all bad!"
"Who dealt that mess," she grumbled. Alice smirked.
"You did. It's Tom's deal."
"Good!" Krissy shoved the remaining cards at the man. "Here!"
The game was fun, she had to admit. Simple enough to not require much thinking, but there was skill needed in the bidding, plus working with your partner. It also went fast. They were on their third game, Tom and Alice having won the first two easily. She and her brother were still ahead in this one, nine-six, the first to ten winning.
Tom began dealing.
"Bad tickets... good tickets. Bad tickets... good tickets..."
"Is that allowed?" Zak asked. Krissy scoffed.
"Only if you know you're going to get beat." She picked up her cards. Four hearts, including the jack, and the jack of diamonds. If hearts were trump, she'd have a good shot of winning a loner!
He turned over the ten of clubs. Zak glanced at it in disgust.
"Pass."
"Oh," Alice said, nipples peaking out over her cards, "pick it up, and I'll try a loner."
"Gah!" Krissy almost threw her hand in the grass. It was worthless now! She glowered at her brother. "You had BETTER find the killing lead!"
He didn't.
****
"Good night."
Leaning down, Krissy kissed her brother on the forehead. She sensed, rather than saw, his sleepy smile. His body moved, head snuggling more into the cloth bag full of clothing he was using for a pillow. Her job done, she slowly backed up, and out, of the tent. Head again in the warm night air, she stood.
Tucking her brother in was not a childish ritual. It was... a promise. A promise to watch over him. To always be there. She had not done it last night, which, yes, was excusable given the tired confusion she had felt. Now things were back to normal.
Somewhat.
The others were sitting on the bank of the stream. It was dark, but still early. Krissy was a bit surprised Zak was in bed already, but he had been up before her and Alice. He may, also, have just wanted the three of them to have some alone time. Zak could be devious like that, the lovable bastard. She walked up behind Tom and Alice. They weren't holding hands, or even sitting all that close. She had expected... well, Krissy was ready to give up expecting things. Not knowing why, she found herself kicking off her shoes before settling on the other side of Tom.
"So," she asked, toes grazing the dark water, "what are we talking about?"
"You mostly," Tom said. She heard humor, laced with truth. She sighed.
"So, I'm the talk of the nudist camp, am I? Typical."
"I only lied," Alice said, "so you're safe."
"Oh, good."
They were silent, even as the night was not. Krissy looked up. So many stars. She pictured them as an ocean, flowing past, babbling like the brook below her feet. Stars, flowing over rocks, around bends. What fish lay beneath the surface of the stars...
"I'm happy," Tom said. Krissy kept her eyes on the heavens. "For the first time in ages. I just want to be friends. That's all."
"But you're going to fuck me." Even as she said it, the teen realized not only was it a bitchy thing to say, but... she wanted it. With friendship, maybe love, yes, but with them, sex too. Or, at least, to be held. She held Zak. Often. Alice hugged her, sometimes. To be HELD. Held close. Her eyes closed. To be held in strong, protecting arms. Just that. She didn't care about sex. About pleasure. Let him do what he wanted. She wanted to be held...
Arms wrapped around her. She felt herself pulled up into a lap. She was big. The fit could not have been comfortable for him, yet he held her close. Other hands removed her shirt, undid her bra. She neither resisted, nor helped. Krissy found herself clad only in panties, bare skin pressed against that of a man over twice her age.
He held her.
Tom did not caress. Did not run his hands up her bare back, did not stroke her thighs. He simply held her.
Krissy felt the tears coming. Dad never held her. Never... never...
"Shh..." Alice's voice was soft. She felt another body press against her, two more arms around her. The tears came. She wasn't strong. Krissy had to be, for Zak, had to protect him from the world. From Dad. But she was not strong. Arms wrapped tight around a man she had never known before last night, she pressed her fact to his chest and bawled. Years of tears came. Tears she repressed, so her brother would not cry. So he would think her strong, and thus feel safe.
"Sleep with us," Tom whispered. Alice cooed agreement in her ear. Krissy squeezed tighter, shaking her head.
"No."
"Please." She wasn't sure which one said it. Which was silly. She turned her head, eyes finding Alice's in the night.
"I can't." Krissy sniffled. "I can't leave Zak alone. Please. When we have the cabin, and I know he's safe, maybe then. Not now. Please..."
She felt their agreement. Felt arms tighten. She would go to Zak's tent later. Lay down next to her brother, arm around him. Protect him.
Until then, her two friends held and protected her.