Dumb Luck

by J G Jerome

  Sowie hangs her blazer over her dining chair, drops her kilt and hangs it over the blazer, then hangs her shoulder rig over the corner and removes her camisole to lay over the chair back. Megan walks up to Trina, slides her hands into her shirt and asks, “How about that kiss, Trina?” They kiss and hold each other desperately for a moment before parting.

  While that’s going on, Solange drags me to the table while Sowie watches her with a loving smile. Solange stands before me and asks, “Will you undress me, my Lord?”

  I cup her face and peck her lips gently. “You’d have me take you in front of them all, wouldn’t you, Solange?”

  She nods enraptured. “Yes Lord! In front of the whole court. On national television. Centerfield of a packed football pitch. Alone in your bedroom. I don’t care so long as you dominate me, violate me, and breed me. I am yours, Lord!” she declares quietly and intensely with just the hint of the islands in her speech. Despite her impassioned words she is perfectly submissive. I remove her clothes rapidly, arranging them like Sowie did on her chair. Then I kiss her deeply before holding her face to mine and telling her, “You are mine Solange. I can’t believe you’re a Raven. You are perfect in every way. You are mine. I am yours. For now, I am going to feed you and get to know you. Eventually, I will honor your request. Maybe all of them.” That got a response - she collapsed into my arms as she trembled.

  Trina quips, “At least you didn’t make her squirt!”

  Solange chuckles, “It was a close thing, Trina.”

  I shake my head in amazement at how openly sexual these women are. I wonder to myself, ‘Then again, aren’t we all sexual beings at our core? Maybe this is how we’re meant to be, and society has beat it out of us.’

  “Trina, my Pet, would you get the ladies a robe like yours? Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes. Solange, sweetie, I need to work.” She nods, but follows me back to the kitchen.

  I get back to the oven, turn it off, and pull the sheet of veggies out. They are a little crispier than I intended, but they look like they will be fine. Solange exclaims at their smell. Trina wraps her in one of my flannel shirts as I pull a serving dish and Solange puts the veggies into it while I put some foil around the bread. I stuff the bread in the oven with a 5-minute timer, and then put the chicken on a platter and pour the mushrooms, onions, and drippings over the top.

  Solange takes both dishes to the table, and Trina puts the salad on the table. I pour some EVOO into a little serving decanter for the table and take that to the table with the butter. Then I retrieve a basket for the bread, pull it out of the oven and pop it into the basket. I place it in the center of the table and we all take a seat. Trina pours wine for everyone.

  We’re about to all dig in when I stop everyone and reach for the hands on either side of me. “Ladies, I haven’t done this in a very, very long time, but I feel it is needful. Please indulge me.”

  I pause for a moment and think about what I really want to say, and then slowly I begin, “Divine parent, I don’t know you well. I have not been your most devout follower. And yet despite my unworthiness I have been showered with blessings throughout my life, especially the last couple of years, and intensely so the last week. I know I’m not worthy of these blessings, and yet they come to me anyway. My world has been turned upside down, and I find myself questioning much of what I know and believe. If all of these different wonderful beings have been among us all along, then maybe I need to be more open to the possibility that you are out there and have a plan for me. I feel that you will not be able to help me avoid the times of trial, as I suspect that I am here to take those trials. I know it is my choice to make. Please guide me to be wise, compassionate, and use the power of love as my primary weapon to do good. Thank you. Please keep your favor shining on my people. Thus mote it be.”

  The ladies all respond, “Thus mote it be.” I look up to see four pairs of shining, moist eyes looking at me. “Thank you all for being here with me tonight. Your kindness, beauty, regard, and love are my blessings.” Hands squeeze mine.

  “Okay, enough serious shit, let’s eat.” They laugh and we dig in.

  As we begin the meal, Megan gets up and starts an elf-tech cone of silence then resumes her seat. She discusses how the company registrations went. She has all of them done despite pointing out at the office how tricky the timing was. This was a bit of Sidhe misdirection, as it does need to be done in a certain order, but it’s still all the work of one hour-or-less session in each office assuming your organized. It takes a couple of days to be official, but by taking the forms to the offices, the stamped ‘received’ copies are sufficient to claim the tickets. I asked about the video surveillance countermeasures, and she explains that her BFF, she actually says BFF, is the youngest princess of the Summer court. They met each other years ago at a state function, and learned they had much in common despite a four year age difference. Through some tricky parental negotiations, they managed to go to the same human boarding school without their parents ever finding out. Heather, the Summer princess, arranged to get some Summer Court ability into elf-tech for video surveillance. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stack well with the cone of silence, so staying quiet is the only option for now. ‘There’s bound a way to get around that.’

  Megan explains that her friend, Heather, is also known as the Crystal of the Summer Court due to her special ability to see true visions. Apparently, ‘Crystal’ is a title like ‘Crystal Ball.’ It sounds confusing because apparently they refer to her as either ‘princess,’ ‘Crystal,’ or ‘Heather’ indiscriminately. Megan explains Heather is apparently a historian of high-repute in the Sidhe world as well as a seeress. She has been aware of my ‘arrival’ on the scene for some time and has been trying to engineer as little Sidhe interference as possible. Unfortunately, one of the court historians did a thesis on the ‘Return of the Green Lord’ prophecy from the time of Railand. It says that 1) a Dread Lord will arise, 2) a Green Lord will return to counter him, and 3) the Sidhe will be ruled by a queen of all Faerie. The Summer Queen has decided at the sycophant historian’s urging that she needs to be the Fairy Queen to ensure the survival against the Dread Lord. Apparently, Heather’s visions disagree on all counts other than a Dread Lord has arisen. She thinks he’s been active for years. Heather is convinced that is going to problem to solve, and that my first wife will be the Queen of all the Fae. I look at Trina and nod, mentioning that it lines up with the traditions the elves mentioned.

  Megan mentions that the Summer have been watching her closely since she started working for Tom. She thinks they have actually had an eye on him for some time, but there is no indication they are onto me yet. She does think they will try to steal the money when we take it on Friday. I ask since the companies are registered, couldn’t we claim it tomorrow. She nods and says that is actually her plan. She was going to sneak it down tomorrow when she went to ‘register the subsidiary companies.’

  I check to see what L’liana has gotten into place. The email isn’t there yet, but I hesitate to call her. If we do it tomorrow, I can be there, which puts four agents on Megan. Ideally I’d like to have two more, but we don’t want to bring any more people into it. I let L’liana work it on the original timeline. If anyone is watching for it, it will help with the deception plan.

  We agree to meet at the office tomorrow at 09:15. We’ll take Trina’s Yukon and Solange’s Lincoln. Trina asks Sowie if she can get a Shadow’s uniform for me from her brother, Jason. ‘Didn’t see that one coming.’ I actually have a black leather blazer, dark black jeans, and a black T-shirt that should be close. We decide to go that route rather than explaining to Jason why we need it. Trina has a Raven’s uniform; so,she’ll wear that. ‘That one isn’t a surprise.’

  I will provide an assault shotgun loaded with shot and a standard pump loaded with slugs. We declare that good enough, opting more for stealth than strength. The Ravens will come by here to pick up a shotgun and then we will drive to the office together. Trina and
I will take the trail vehicle.

  We don’t finish the bottles of wine before the ladies have to go. They claim that wine doesn’t hit Sidhe like humans, but I notice both Sowie and Solange do limit themselves to two small glasses regardless. Megan really likes the red, but leaves a half-glass on the table.

  Before the ladies dress to leave they cajole me into stripping down for a full body press before they leave. I reluctantly, okay maybe not so reluctantly, embrace Megan and give her a warm passionate kiss. Solange jumps in afterwards for hers, trying to press breasts through my ribs to tickle my spine. She gives me a loopy grin as she backs away, then Sowie jumps on me. Yep, literally flies through the air and wraps her arms and legs around me as she locks my lips with hers. I squeeze her lean butt, and she squeals before dropping to the ground and giving me a huge smile. I hold onto her for a moment, and smack her bum before letting her go. I help each of the ladies into their blazers.

  I ask Trina to check the hallway with the iPad. She pulls it up, nodding as she goes. “All clear,” she says. Trina and I each get a kiss from each of them as they troop out the door, Solange taking the lead and Sowie the trail.

  Trina and I drink more wine and water as we clean the kitchen and pull together the final presentation for HCI.

  Then we get ready for tomorrow and prepare for bed.

  She lays on top of me, “I was surprised with the prayer, Jack. Sidhe worship the goddess, but we are not particularly devout. I’m assuming as a human in mid-America you were raised Christian, but that is the first religious behavior I have seen from you. That was a very unconventional prayer.”

  I nod. “Yes, but it felt right. Lot of turmoil in my life, but it’s all bound up in such bountiful blessings. Even someone as dense as me has to eventually figure out something is going on here.”

  She looks at me. “You are magical, Jack. There is magic in you. All of the Sidhe ladies respond to it. You have nearly limitless power with almost any Sidhe female. Probably most of the males. And you claim it’s ‘just love,’ do you?”

  I nod as I hold her. “I do.”

  “Okay, Jack.” She says, “then work your magic on me, my darling Master!” Then she kisses me.

  Chapter 31 - Wrapping up Loose Ends

  The next day goes off without a hitch. The Ravens arrive and meet me out front. I hand them a Fender guitar gig bag with the assault shotgun inside it. I unpack the slug gun and put it in the bracket in the front of Trina’s truck. Solange gives Trina and I headsets, and we do a comms check all the way around. Then we mount up and arrive at the law office about five minutes early.

  Sowie retrieves Megan, and seats her in the back passenger seat. I hear Megan do a comms check, and then we pull out at 9:14, taking the 101 West to the 51, and then head towards the airport. We arrive at the lottery office just off University about 35 minutes later. There is a camera crew from each of the major three networks lounging around chatting and drinking coffee as we pull up. They barely look up at first as Solange pulls up to the door and Trina combat parks facing out.

  We four ‘agents’ dismount leaving our doors open. Sowie opens Megan’s door as Solange pitches me the assault gun. I cover our exit from the front passenger side of the Yukon, which does eventually get the camera crews to wake up. The ladies all get inside by the time they get the cameras in play.

  They start to trot in my direction; so, I jack a round into the chamber and point the weapon at their feet. Of course that doesn’t deter the intrepid ‘Dickhead Douglas’ from the local NBC affiliate. I grin at the thought of having a reason to finally bitch-slap the rude little pecker-head. I don’t know why they let this punk on TV, but apparently the local manager thinks rude punks make for great television. I’m sure his tactics worked well in high school debate, but as an adult I have always found him nauseating.

  Unfortunately, he proves smarter than he normally displays on TV, so he stands about ten feet in front of me and badgers me about the people’s right to know. I just give him my patented maniacal ‘please give me a reason to fuck you up’ look. I hear the door open followed by Trina’s voice. “I’ve got the door back here. The boss is in the office conducting her business.” I nod without taking my eyes of ‘Debater Doug.’

  Roughly forty-five minutes later, I hear Solange say “mount up” as the door opens. I pick up Trina in my periphery as she climbs in. I hear footsteps and Solange’s voice, “I’ll take it.” I hand her the assault gun and pull my pistol as I back to the door. Megan’s voice announces, “Yes ladies, I’ll let our investor know how helpful you have been. Thank you for all your help!” I can’t see it, but the smile is apparent in her voice. ‘Debater Doug’ turns all goo-goo eyed, so I assume that he got a good look at Megan at some point. He stands there waving at her in a trance. Apparently it’s a Nessus family thing. I have to go back, pistol holstered of course, to gently guide Doug out of the way. I bet he won’t believe I did that until he sees the video - right before Yuri disappears it. He is on standby to get me a copy from each affiliate before deleting them. The plan is to edit it together for promotional video for the security company or company meetings if we want.

  We go back to the office and drop off Megan. I go inside to ensure she gets settled. She pulls me into her office for a quick grope and kiss before I thanked her sincerely and kiss her ‘more professionally’ before departing. She giggles as I leave.

  Trina and I head back to the condo, and the Ravens follow. The Ravens come in, strip off, and spend the rest of day with us. I arrange a car for my Hartford arrival and departure, then send my travel arrangements to Supreet. I call L’liana and cancel the detail and explain why. She is disappointed that we won’t get to work together this week, but she expresses her enthusiasm for my upcoming visit in excruciating detail.

  Afterward, the ladies and I do a high intensity workout with the equipment in my condo, and then squeeze into my little condo shower for us all to clean up. I make them lunch afterward.

  I fit some work activities in during the afternoon, and Trina plays piano on my keyboard while I work. The Ravens listen and catch up on their reading until we all pile into bed for a nap around 2:30. We get up and the Ravens dress around 4pm to be ready whenever Megan might need them. Sowie gets the call around 4:45, and so Trina and I collect kisses and cuddles from each of them and wish them a good night.

  Shortly after they leave, I get a call from Peg on the bat phone. She puts me on with Marjoram, Acorn’s & Persimmon’s mother. She tells me she holds neither Trina nor I at fault for Silk’s demise and explains how touched she was at the coffin Trina bought for him. She gives her blessing for me to hire Acorn and Persimmon if contracts can be arranged. She also gives me her blessing to take them into my service if we find common ground.

  I hold Trina after that and dry her tears. Then we call Kristina and Myra later and chat with each of them for a while. Afterward we walk out for a pizza dinner, and then back home to make love.

  In the throes of passion, Trina asks me to bite her. I have a pretty good idea what all the subtexts of that are after my recent nuptials. Trina’s pleas drive me to ignore my reservations about owning her. I take a big bite out of her trapezius. She encourages me to chew it and swallow it. There are no mystical glows as there were with Myra’s experience, nor is it as pain-free for Trina as my experience with Myra. As I swallow her ambrosia-flavored flesh, I am struck hard again by deja vu and visions of a young woman with short chestnut hair. Trina couldn’t be happier that I now am ‘legally’ her master. I use a little mojo to ensure the wound heals completely with just the bite scar to mark her commitment to be my concubine.

  I fall asleep holding Trina as she lays on my chest thinking how nicely everything has fallen together.

  I didn’t know about what was waiting just over the horizon.

  Epilogue

  The next morning, Trina and I put everything in order to close the condo, and she took me to the airport for an early flight. I checked in at the loyalty counte
r and was able to get upgraded to first class on all legs for $500. I hit the Clear kiosk and kissed her goodbye before entering security. I picked up my stuff off the belt and found her watching me. I blew her a kiss and wave one more time. She smiled as she waved with one hand while wiping her tears with the other. She mouthed ‘I love you’ before turning away and walking to the lift.

  I grabbed a Starbucks, and then called to check in with Erica. I discovered she will be in Philly when I fly through, but she’s helping her mom out with a move through the weekend. I wished her luck and promised to keep in touch. She asked me to pass my love to Myra, and I promised to do that. I kept that commitment immediately with a text and received smilies and hearts in return. She was available to talk; so, we had nice 20 minute chat.

  After that lovely interlude, I sat and wrote some lists to help organize my thoughts. Things I needed to discuss with the elves. Features I would like in the new property. To-do’s like...1) probably need to find a new base in Phoenix, 2) let Yuri know about the new video, 3) plan a nice date with Kristina, 4) mission and vision for each of the new companies, 5) what services does each provide to whom, 6) what do I want Databridge to become given the new capital available, 7) what to invest in for the Capital firm, 8) what is my grand plan to establish my presence as Green Lord, 9) honeymoon...

  I fired off the pre-written emails to HCI before shutting down to board the flight.

  The flights to Philly and then onward to Hartford were uneventful. I was met at security by a gentleman holding a sign with my name on it and a beautiful Indian woman. Supreet joined me on the ride to the hotel, which is where her car was. I got very familiar with the taste of her lips and the curve of her figure during the short trip. She couldn’t stay the night, but wanted to ensure I knew she was committed. I got the message. I told her that I would be meeting with Don tonight. She told me that Mr. Shivkumar had been talking to one of the big India-based consulting companies and the leading India-based integration platform for IoT to pull a package together. She said it sounded light on detail and heavy on sales jargon. I took note to not underestimate her like her boss does. I asked her to set up a dinner with Don, the two the business execs, her boss, the contracting manager, and herself for tomorrow night at DISH as soon as we can get them there after 6pm. Don and I met in the hotel bar and cleaned them out of Yuengling while we caught up and strategized.