by Jess Bentley
“Stop,” I call out. Everyone turns to look at me, including the Family members gathered outside.
I take a deep breath.
“Just Angel,” I announce. The words hang in the air for a second.
Brother Owen stands up close to me. “What are you doing?” he asks in a low voice.
“Preserving our shot at a future,” I growl back, careful to keep my voice low.
“Can’t you just fake it? They’re not going to let this happen.”
“No,” I reply flatly. The truth is, I know I couldn’t fake it. The throbbing hard on beneath my robes is proof of that. I want to tear her to pieces. It’s killing me.
I hear Mary clear her throat.
“Pardon me, Father Daddy?” she calls out from the other end of the room. “I don't think I heard you?”
“Just Angel,” I say again, meeting her eyes so that she understands my meaning. “The rest of you can leave. We won't need your services tonight.”
The aunties cluster together to discuss, but I'm not looking at them. I'm only looking at Angel, meeting her eyes across the room, trying to telegraph what I'm thinking directly to her. Maybe not everything I'm thinking, but the basic message that she is safe. That she's right to be here. Even alone.
I have a plan. I need her to trust in my plan.
“No!” Melissa barks, her ugly self-centeredness raging to the surface. Annie snatches her by the elbow and drags her toward the door. Agatha and Mary tip their heads together, muttering furiously.
But they know they have to obey. This may be the first time a deflowering ceremony has occurred without the assistance of the aunties’ protocols, but my word is law. I'm sure we can muddle through without their ‘assistance.’
Mary finally shoos her sisters back through the entrance and pulls on the door with all her might. She closes it slowly, glaring at me the entire time, letting me know that that's not the last time we’re going to speak about this.
But I can hardly care about that now.
We have a ceremony to undertake.
Chapter 10
Angel
As the door shuts behind me, I almost forget to breathe. The last thing I see is my mother's face. She stands completely still, her eyes wide with shock, her brow knitted in confusion.
This is not what they told me was going to happen. Mary gave me this new dress for the ceremony, and I hold the side flaps closed as I stand here and stare at the closed door for a few seconds. They told me the dress would cover me, but it feels like it's going to fly open at any second. They also told me they would tell me everything I needed to know. They were going to give me instructions. They were supposed to walk me through it.
But now, it seems like I don't know anything. I barely remember how to breathe.
Turn around, I tell myself. Turn around. Father Daddy wanted it to be this way. You have to trust him.
Slowly, I force myself to turn around. My heartbeat is so loud in my ears that I strain to listen in case they want to talk to me. Will they be giving me instructions now? What am I supposed to do? I really don't know.
Only, I sort of do know. I know what's going to happen eventually, anyway. I saw it all when Obedience had her ceremony.
And I feel it inside me again. My demon. It wakes up, pulsing. It fills me with a red heat, hungry to see what happens next.
Brother Owen and Father Daddy are both looking right at me. Maybe they know how I’m suddenly on fire. Maybe they can hear it too.
Or maybe Father Daddy told Brother Owen about my demon. I know he said there's nothing wrong with me, but then…. why are we doing this now? Today? It must be some kind of emergency.
“Angel,” Father Daddy calls out. “Come closer, girl.”
I force my feet to move. I feel the hard, dusty boards beneath my toes. Someone must have swept in here, but it's still gritty. I even hear the skin of my heels on the floor. That, and the sound of my breath. Those are the only sounds as I walk carefully forward, pinching the sides of my shift closed. I feel a breeze sliding across my belly underneath it.
I feel so naked. The demon groans.
Brother Owen holds a hand out in midair, beckoning me with his fingers. I swallow, hard. Am I supposed to say something?
It's all I can do to try to remain calm as I approach the platform. I stop just before it, waiting for instructions.
“Come up here with us,” Father Daddy murmurs. His eyes are green. I never really noticed that before. They are intense and dark, almost as dark as the forest in shadow.
I have to let go of my garment to raise my knee to step up. I feel it slide open almost all the way to my armpits. Brother Owen's eyes flicker toward my side and I wonder how much of me he just saw.
“It's all right,” Father Daddy says in a low voice. “You don’t have anything to be worried about. We will help you. We're here to help.”
I stare at him, trying to connect. I want to know if this is punishment for my confession. I feel the answer must be in his eyes. Is this one of the traditional forms of discipline? Is that why the aunties had to leave?
But there's nothing but intense curiosity in his eyes. Well… actually, there is something else. Something that burns.
He clears his throat. His voice is gravelly and ominous. “Brother Owen and I have discussed your situation… do you remember? What you told me this morning?”
My hands fly up to cover my mouth. Oh! So it is all about that. I’m so embarrassed. I want to run away. I want to explain.
But before I can say anything, Father Daddy reaches out and grasps my hands lightly, drawing them away from my mouth.
“There's no need to hide, child,” he scolds me gently. “You can’t hide anything from us.”
I glance at Brother Owen, who was also nodding. He looks at me with the same sort of intense, smoldering gaze. His features seem thickened, more masculine I've ever seen. He is breathing through his parted lips, and I can almost hear the sound.
“I want you to remember what you told me. Are you remembering it?” Father Daddy asks me.
I nod quickly. Yes, I remember every word. In fact I feel it throbbing just under the surface, pulsing like a light.
“That's a natural part of you, Angel. It’s hidden to children, and even some adults. Brother Owen is going to show you… how to access it.”
Brother Owen breathes sharply in, exchanging a very serious look with Father Daddy. Father Daddy nods almost imperceptibly, as though giving him permission or something.
Brother Owen unties the cord around his neck and removes his cloak. It falls to the ground with the soft sound, revealing him in all his masculine glory.
He looks different close up. Smooth, like leather. His skin is tanned and beautiful, rippling under over rows of muscles. There is a neat V shape over his hips that points directly down into the wiry thatch of hair that crowns his erect manhood.
My breath catches my throat. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Obedience opened her mouth. Am I supposed to…
“Please sit,” he says in a gentle growl. He holds his hand out to the throne behind him. I choke back a gasp. His throne? He wants me to sit there?
Obediently I shuffle toward the throne and tug my shift upward slightly so that I can sit on the very edge. It's quite tall, a little too tall for me. I have to balance on my tiptoes.
“That's good,” he tells me. “Now, please lift the front of your gown.”
My heart beats wildly against the inside of my chest as I nod nervously and try to command my fingers to do as he's asked me. Slowly I gather the fabric into my hands and raise the front of my dress above my knees, then over my thighs. His eyes are transfixed on my skin as it is revealed, inch by inch.
“That's good,” he murmurs again, and to my surprise he falls to his knees in front of me. I've never seen this. Is he praying?
I watch in awe as he kisses the inside of my knee. His hand traces the top of my other thigh, nudging it gently outward. I bite back a mewl of disco
mfort as the demon twists inside me. I don't want him to know about it. He can't know.
“It's all right,” Father Daddy says, coming alongside me. He also unknots the cord and removes his robe. “What you are feeling is completely natural. It's the womanhood that lies inside you. It's the holiest part of you, and you're blessed to know it.”
I gasp as Brother Owen slides his tongue along the inside of my thigh, nudging himself toward my flower. This is really happening?
“That's it,” Father Daddy encourages me. “Open yourself to Brother Owen. Share yourself with him.”
I hold my breath and let my thighs fall further open. Brother Owen groans deeply and presses his face closer to me. I feel his breath at my sex. Then I feel his tongue: slippery, soft, and incredibly warm. It flicks slightly across my seam.
Brother Daddy takes my hand and disengages it from where I have been clawing the arm of the throne. He turns my hand over and lays his erect member across my palm. My fingers close automatically over it and I'm momentarily diverted from what Brother Owen is doing to explore this new, strange sensation. It’s velvety soft, rigid but covered with skin that slips back and forth. It’s so thick that my fingers barely close around it. When I use a little bit more pressure, he begins to pulse against my palm, thrusting slightly.
I glance up at him, surprised to see that his expression is so intense, so focused on me. Has he been staring at me this entire time? He looks magnificent, looming over me like a god. I find myself smiling in gratitude. He nods as though he understands and begins to pulse a little more, drawing his member a couple inches back in my hand and then forward again.
But it's so hard to concentrate. Owen’s breath warms my sex as his tongue swipes slowly up and down. I feel myself unfurling, opening to his lips. He moans again, and the vibrations tickle me through my hips.
My demon… is my womanhood? Yes, it's not a demon, but it is so strong. It shakes itself like an animal rising from sleeping. It twists again as his tongue plunges deeper, circling me. I find myself pressing back onto him, grappling with urges to feel more pressure in places I've never felt before.
My body knows exactly what to do. I move automatically and direct his eager mouth to suckle me gently, humming and groaning as he explores me further.
I hear myself moaning also. My free hand slides forward and pushes the top of Brother Owen's head, tangling in his close shorn hair and pulling him harder toward me. The demon... my womanhood swells, filling me drastically. My hips circle and buck against Owen’s mouth and the feeling gets even bigger. It fills me up. It seems to explode like fireworks. Again I see that white hot light going off like a rocket and then trickling down in shimmering sparks across the inside of my eyelids. I grip him to me tightly as my legs clench over and over again.
“Yes! Yes!” I hear myself cry out.
Brother Owen slows, letting my body rock against his mouth for a few more long seconds as cool waves of bliss push me back and forth. My heart races. I am filled with joy.
How could I have thought this was a demon? Obviously this is some kind of magic. Some kind of secret, womanly gift. I'm so grateful to him for showing me the way. So, so grateful.
My body quakes and shudders, covered with a warm, prickling sweat. I feel amazing, and I can't believe the magic they've shown me.
And yet, I know there's more.
Brother Owen pulls back, smiling and brushing his bottom lip with the back of his hand. I slip to the side and leave the throne.
“What are you —”
Making sure I have the position right, I lay down exactly where Obedience laid down. This part of the ceremony, I already know.
“Oh,” Father Daddy sighs. Again, he exchanges a look with Brother Owen.
He sits in his throne and gazes at me. His member is still erect and lays heavy against his thigh, regal and firm.
“Come to me, Angel,” he murmurs, gesturing with his fingers.
I roll to my side, then push myself up onto my knees. Holding my shift on the sides, I walk slowly across the wooden platform toward him. He says nothing.
When I'm close enough, I reach out again and take his manhood against my palm again. “Like this?”
He closes his eyes.
“Do you have the same thing inside you?” I ask him quietly.
He smiles, finally. Long dimples form, bracketing his beautiful white teeth. I feel him relax slightly and slump backward as my hand works along his rigid shaft. He covers my hand with one of his hands and guides me, lengthening the strokes from the base to the knobby tip.
I love the feeling of those bulging veins against my fingers. I love the way his breath is deepening, becoming more forceful. I can't believe that my hand has the power to do that to this powerful, beautiful man.
“When I stroke you like this, does it awaken what's magical inside you too?” I ask him, but I already know the answer. I can see it on his face. I see that he feels just like I felt. I almost feel it throbbing inside him, aching to be released.
“Open your mouth,” he groans urgently.
I know what to do. I lean forward, letting my mouth fall open, letting my tongue slide across my lower lip. His manhood presses against my mouth, hesitating for just a moment. His hips pulse beneath me as though he wants to push harder. It seems to take a lot of strength for him to hold back.
But I don't want him to hold back. I wrap my hand around him and then draw him into my mouth, closing my lips around him, swirling my tongue over the beautiful, salty knob that is inside me now. He groans louder, and then louder. His manhood seems to get thicker in my hand, throbbing forcefully at the base. I feel his hands slide into the back of my hair and drag me forward.
His manhood slides against the top of my mouth and then fills the back of it, almost making me choke. I try to relax, try to that this is my duty to him. I need to do this for him, the way that Brother Owen did it for me.
“Keep going,” I hear Brother Owen whisper close to my ear. His hand strokes my hip, kneading against my buttocks. I feel my womanhood awake again and I know that I could have his mouth against me right now, and it would be the most perfect thing.
Just the thought of that makes me moan against Father Daddy's manhood. I know he can feel it, because I hear him groan again and then gasp, and then shout. My mouth is filled with salty, hot liquid that slides down my throat. I swallow it eagerly, filled with pride and also wonder and also gratitude and… love. I know that I feel love.
“Yes, yes… that's it, Angel,” Brother Owen whispers in my ear. His body is aligned against the back of mine, and he holds me still. “Just let him finish. Swallow his seed and wait for him to retreat.”
I nod slightly, breathing through my nose to try to relax myself. He’s so big, I have to struggle. After a few long moments, Father Daddy softens like a wilting flower stem. He finally slips from my mouth and falls against his thigh, glistening with moisture. Instantly, I miss him. I'd like to start again.
Brother Owen strokes my hair and kisses me on top of my head.
“You did so wonderfully well, Angel,” he sighs. “You’re a woman now, you know.”
I nod, giddy with excitement. But something seems to be missing. I thought there would be more.
“Is that it? Isn't there another… part?” I ask, remembering how Father Daddy breached Obedience’s flower. Just thinking about it gets me even more excited. We did not perform that act, so am I still a woman?
“There are many parts to being a woman,” Brother Owen smiles at me. “Your training has just begun. Learning to access your passion has great value. Your flower may yet have… even more value. For all of us.”
Father Daddy seems to wake up. He scowls at Brother Owen.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“It doesn't mean anything,” Father Daddy replies. He leans forward and kisses me on both cheeks. “You’re a woman now, Angel. That’s all that matters.”
“Angel? Aren’t you going to give me a new name?”
“Angel is the best name possible,” he smiles. “That's exactly what you are.”
“Yes, you are our Angel,” Brother Owen continues. Father Daddy scowls at him again, but Brother Owen ignores that. “And you deserve to know the truth, don’t you agree, Silas?”
I feel the weight behind his words. He has more to tell me, and I watch him, waiting to see what he'll say and trying to seem open and accepting of his message.
“And you would accept any duty that you were given, isn't that true?” he finally asks me, grudgingly. Obviously he doesn’t want to say what he needs to say.
I nod emphatically. Of course I would. Anything.
“Even if it meant you had to leave us? To live among other men?”
My breath stalls in my throat.
“I — I don't know what you mean.”
“Everything has a value, Angel,” he continues quietly. “And what you possess may have the most value of all. It might even be able to save us. If it came to that.”
My mind trips over the thoughts. Save us? I have something of value? Something to sacrifice?
“Of course I would do anything I could for the Family,” I reply, trying to ignore the frantic sound of my heartbeat. “I only want to be of service.”
Brother Owen glances meaningfully at Father Daddy. He seems to say that he is satisfied with my answer.
“But I never want to leave you,” I continue. I don't want to say it, but the words tumble from my mouth anyway. “Just tell me what I need to do.”
Father Daddy strokes my hair comfortingly. “Let's just hope it doesn't come to that.” He sighs, shaking his head sadly.
Though I know my life is supposed to be used for whatever purpose they think is best, I know I need to stay here. This perfect moment, I never want it to end. I resolve to be the best that I can be, so they never want to let me go.
Chapter 11
Owen
I lick my lips as I leave the Ceremony, the sweet and salty taste of Angel still on my lips. I want to wash her flavor down with a whiskey at Dustin’s, but my lust is still high in my belly. I need to release.