We spent the afternoon relaxing at Havenrest, but when it was time, I took the twins and Raven with me to Paul’s. Paul loved Raven and she hadn’t been back in some time and I knew that he would appreciate a visit from her. He seemed to think of her as a precious child of his own, and he enjoyed her teasing and other antics.
The nymphs had taken time during the day to modify two of the dresses that had been brought from Paul’s. They cut the skirts from two spare dresses and made very nice layered long dress for each of the twins. After hearing from Clarice about our visit to the Jeweler, they made sure that one had a yellow collar with a white stripe and the other a yellow collar with a black stripe. White for Willow and Black for Bamboo. Clarice, who could tell them apart by the signature of their sub-dermal implants, made sure that they each wore the correct dress so that I would know who was who.
Paul and the women were very impressed with the twins. They were certainly different than anyone else that we knew. When I asked about the strange appearances and disappearances and the fact that Antonio had been sure that there was only one of them, they explained as best they could and thought that it was very humorous. Apparently, Antonio had seen only one of them a time, except for the first time that they appeared. After that, it would be one or the other of them. He would leave them at a farm to work for a while, and at some point, the girl would politely leave when the work was done. When she left the farm, she might go into the woods and hunt or relax or just play, the way that they had done when they were still children and orphans. If they were near it, they might go and stay at their old homestead in the woods, but at other times they simply camped along the river. When Antonio happened by whatever village or spot on the road where either one of them currently was, she would join his caravan.
Antonio said that he would leave one at a place and pick her up far away earlier than expected. In reality, he would leave Willow at a farm and a week later find Bamboo on the other side of the river. He would find a new arrangement for her temporarily, and at some point, be met by Willow again, assuming that it was Bamboo. It seemed to him that she appeared and disappeared and didn’t pay attention to the normal laws of time, but it was really two different girls. Yes, they came and went as they pleased, but they always completed their assignments and were always polite to their hosts. We had several good laughs as they described their various adventures.
Paul and Susan agreed enthusiastically to the idea of inviting both Grayson and Antonio to dinner the next evening, along with their women. We would take care of the tokens and registrations for the twins, and everyone would have a chance to meet each other. It was decided that Aaron and his house should be invited as well. I would bring Aspen and the twins back with me so that Aspen could see her parents and visit with them.
It was very unusual that a girl would see her parents regularly after coming of age and going to the school for women. It had been the tradition that she would stay at the school for a full year and then be placed with an arrangement in a home. She might never see her parents again. The way that things were being changed would change that from now on as well. From now on, a girl would be at the school, but would be free to visit her parents, or even leave and return home, if that was her choice and the choice of her parents. No one would be hidden in a tunic and hood and shamed into staying away from her mother and father either. Aspen was the first to live under the new regime and was free to visit her parents whenever she wanted to.
Paul was disappointed that we hadn’t brought Flossy, the tiny unicorn for supper. He said that she made him almost as happy as having Raven at the house again. For her part, Raven was thrilled to see Marvella. After supper, Raven begged that we all bathe together. Paul and I agreed that if the women wanted to that we would all swim in the cove at his home for a while before saying goodnight.
Marvella was slightly shy at first. Even though she had been naked with Amanda and the girls at Havenrest, she hesitated for just an instant before she smiled and shucked her clothes along with the rest of us. Bamboo and Willow had no hesitation at all. I was standing near Paul as we undressed and when the twins pulled off their dresses, I heard him whistle quietly.
He said, “My boy, forgive me. They are so tall. Look at them compared to Raven, or any of our women! And, so fit. I think that you are a lucky man.”
I said, “Oh Paul, I am! No doubt about that. “
Paul wasn’t staring, and certainly had no thoughts of lust toward the younger girls, but expressed only an appreciation of them. This was what I had become accustomed to here. Among family, sexual banter and nudity wasn’t a matter of inappropriate lust toward others. A man had his mates, and they had him, and my girls were Paul and his women’s daughters, and nudity wasn’t a big issue. Aside from an occasional look when a new family member first disrobed, he and I didn’t really even pay attention to anyone but our own household. I had to agree though; the twins were striking in both their stature and beauty. But Marvella, having descended from my grandmothers as well, was very beautiful in her own right.
Once again, the women stayed in the water longer than Paul and I chose to and he and I sat in chairs at the river’s edge after a while. A bit later, as we chatted, Bamboo came and stood beside me and rested a hand on my shoulder, just wanting to make contact. I took her hand and kissed it and smiled up at her…and then encouraged her to run and dry off and put her dress on.
She looked at herself suddenly and said, “Oh! I forgot. It’s so wonderful here with our new family. Father Paul, thank you for letting us come play at your farm,” and then she squeezed my shoulder and walked away to put on some clothes. She didn’t hurry. She just accepted that clothing was more or less optional because she had just come from bathing with everyone.
Paul said, “She has an innocence like Raven’s. But she isn’t as much of a rascal, is she?”
I said, “No. She’s very sweet,” and I told him some of the story of them being orphaned at a young age and living alone, and then of Bamboo not speaking until she came to me the day before. I left off the part where she was allowed to drown in the river and was subsequently resuscitated.
At the end of the evening, about an hour before sundown, we said goodbye and the girls and I walked together toward Havenrest. It was about six miles and would take us far more than an hour on foot, but we wanted to stroll for a while anyway. If we decided to ride, the cart was with us and would take us the rest of the way.
I was surprised that Raven hadn’t insisted on undressing again as soon as we were out of sight of Paul’s. I asked her about it and she smiled and told me that she was happy to undress if I wanted her to, but she was happy to wear clothes now that she knew that she almost never had to. Having the freedom made her less anxious and more at ease, no matter what the circumstances. As we walked, I held Willow’s hand and Bamboo suggested that she could carry Raven on her back if she wanted her to. Raven and Bamboo thought that it was a wonderful game, pretending that Raven was a smaller child and getting a piggy-back ride from the taller girl as if they were sisters.
We ended up walking the entire distance to the residence. The sun went down, but it wasn’t fully dark until after we made it to our destination.
When we got home, even though we had bathed at Paul’s, we were a bit dusty from our walk, and I took the three of them to my bedroom for a quick shower where I took my time washing their feet and legs. Raven begged for us to make love, but I told her that we would wait for another time. The twins encouraged us to go ahead, and in the end, I picked Raven up and set her on the top step of my shower, with her chest against the glass and thrust up into her sex from behind. Raven squealed and orgasmed several times and the twins both thought that it was splendid fun. After Raven, I did both Willow and Bamboo the same way, except of course that they didn’t stand on one of the steps, but rather leaned over to be at a comfortable height for entry. After satisfying the twins, I grabbed Raven again and put her around my waist, with her back against the wall of the
shower and was about to climax myself when she suddenly yelled for me to stop and squirmed to climb out of my arms.
I didn’t know what was happening and I was so close to orgasm that there was no turning back. Raven grinned and said, “Girls, watch closely,” and she grabbed my penis and pumped me with her hand and I shot my semen into the air. Raven kept it up until I was done and then said, “Pretty cool, huh?” As I had said, Raven had taken a much less formal tone, having been with the nymphs so much.
Willow said, “I don’t know what cool means when you say it like that, but yes, that was fun.”
Bamboo said, “Cool. So that’s what it does in our pussies when you have your orgasm? That is very ‘cool’.”
Raven said, “There’s a little bit left. Taste it.”
Raven had both girls suck me just a little and then washed me off and we dried together. We had already had dinner, and the others weren’t really expecting anything from us, so the four of us crawled into my king-size bed naked and fell asleep together.
Chapter 22 - The Outside World
When I woke up the next morning, the girls were still sleeping and I carefully got out of bed, trying not to disturb them. I think that Clarice sensed my intentions and may have kept them asleep with the sleep music that we employed to guarantee a restful night.
I made my way to the room with the big bed. No one was there; we would only sleep there as a group. At least that was my intention. I had the large room to myself. I hadn’t bothered to put any clothes on, and now I started some Qigong and Tai Chi exercise, breathing and stretching, as I prepared for the day. As I did my practice, I asked Clarice where she was and she told me that she was sleeping with Viola and Aspen. Apparently Brenda was with Lark. In a way, in made sense. Brenda and Lark were alike in some of the ways that they saw what people needed emotionally, and how to help them. And Clarice and Viola were similar in their ability to see what people needed in more material ways and were wonderful organizers and planners.
Since Clarice was with both Viola and Aspen, I asked if she wanted to join me in the big bedroom. I wouldn’t have done it if it would have left one of the girls alone, but since they were together, I wanted Clarice’s company.
A minute later, when Clarice walked through the door to the room, wearing just a tight white tank top, and nothing else, I was just standing and looking out the windows as the sun began to rise. Clarice came and stood beside me and I put my arm around her waist, touching the bare skin of her middle. I glanced down to see what she was wearing, and finding nothing below her navel, I smiled and felt an immediate urge to feel our groins pressing against each other and to feel our genitals entwining in a warm embrace. I hadn’t planned to make love, but I suspected that Clarice had, judging from what she was wearing and the effect that it was likely to have on me.
I let my hand slide down and caress her rear as we stood looking out to the front of the house.
She said, “There’s a pool and hot tub under the ground cover out there. We plan to see if they can be recovered in good shape and start renovating the lawn later this afternoon. The tractors are electric and won’t make much noise and can probably work all through the night. We have been composting plant materials for over a week now, using some accelerating conditions with heat and an enriched oxygen environment, and we should be able to use that for fertilizer. After we dig up the pool, we will move the dirt and debris and scrape the plant growth away, then we’ll spread the fertilizer and spray on the grass seed. We have a good supply of seed, but we will be able to grow more very quickly. We have enough for maybe a hundred thousand square feet to get started, but that won’t be enough for the entire job. Not for all of the areas we have planned. We will plant this area and then a few others that will be used solely for growing seed for a while. We don’t have pesticides and weed killers, so all weeding will be done by hand. The minions will be able to keep up with it easily enough. I would say that certainly by this time next week that the pool and tub, if they can be salvaged, will be ready for use and we will have the start of a nice lawn here.”
I slid my hand around her side to the front and started gently rubbing her crotch.
Clarice hugged my arm and said, “Want to push me up against the windows and till my garden?”
I smiled and said, “Why yes I do! That’s exactly what I was thinking. Are you up for that?”
She said, “Of course! You never have to ask me that.”
I encouraged her toward the window and said, “I like to ask. I love it that you all say that I don’t have to, but I like it when I know that you know that you always have a choice.”
Clarice put her hands against the window and braced herself with her feet spread and about three feet back from the glass. This put her in a position where she would fall forward if she were not bracing herself and it was incredibly sexy and arousing. She turned her feet inward slightly to open up the space between her thighs a bit and then raised her heels off the ground. Because Clarice’s body was not constrained by flesh and blood muscles, she didn’t get tired and standing on her toes for an indefinite period of time was no problem for her. I stepped behind her and placed my hands on her hips and slid forward.
Clarice not only wouldn’t get tired in this position, but she could also be much more rigid, braced against the heavily storm-reinforced windows. Making love with Clarice or Brenda could at times be more relaxing than with the girls. For one thing, I knew that Clarice would not feel at all insecure about anything that I did. If I wanted her to make love with me, she would, unless there was some really good reason not to. That wasn’t because she was a ‘robot’. It was because she had no fears or insecurities about herself or about me.
A second reason that making love with Clarice could be so comfortable was because it could be physically less taxing at times. Right now, I stood in a very relaxed position, leaning against her bottom, my penis enveloped in her warmth, and my groin pressed against her thighs. I didn’t even have to move. I didn’t have to stand in any particular way, or bend my knees, or strain this way or that. I just stood in a natural stance and Clarice adjusted to make me most comfortable. If I wanted her to, Clarice could use the muscles of her vagina to give me all the stimulation we wanted without me putting in any physical effort at all.
And right now, that was a wonderful feeling. Clarice gently massaged my penis, slowly and tenderly, and I relaxed, looking out the window. Because we were so comfortable, we started to talk.
I said, “Lover, that feels really nice. Is it OK that we just relax here like this?”
She said, “Of course. That’s what I want to do for you. Does it feel good?”
I said, “It feels wonderful. This is a great room. You did a fantastic job polishing the windows and getting it all back in shape. I can’t believe that this is the same place I came to a few weeks ago. It was completely shuttered and overgrown and encrusted with eight centuries of dirt and debris. Now, it looks like new construction.”
She said, “Actually, it is getting more attention now than any time since Pops moved away. Even when you and I lived in the lair, we didn’t clean it as thoroughly as we do now. We kept it tidy, but now the nymphs, and Brenda and I and the girls, all feel like it should be polished and spotless. We have a reason to make everything perfect. Actually, we have something to live for. Do you know what I mean?”
I said, “I suppose that you mean that before, even before the cataclysm, there was always a tension between what we wanted and what we could have. There was a hopelessness about living under conditions that we didn’t choose and didn’t like. Now, we have ‘sovereignty’. We can do whatever we want to, within the constraints of the world around us. We can choose to do anything that we can physically do. We can’t go into outer space, but we can build docks and a boat and cut lumber and make minions and help people in any way that we choose to. And there isn’t anyone with the power to say that we can’t. It isn’t that we are in control of everything; it’s that we are in
charge of our own fates.”
She sighed and squeezed me and said, “Yeah. So all of us want to make everything as wonderful as we can. For you and for each other.”
I said, “It will be nice when there’s a lawn here. Can we manufacture cement?”
Clarice laughed and said, “This is a great way to have a business meeting. Going over the agenda with your cock inside me. But yes, I think that we probably can. It’s basically a process of mixing limestone, gypsum, and a few other things, pulverizing it into a gravel, and then firing it in a blast furnace to drive off some of the gasses and all of the moisture. After firing, it gets ground to a very fine powder. When it gets mixed with water again, it binds to itself like a rock.”
I asked, “Can we get the materials?”
She said, “Let’s go to the bed.”
I pulled away and Clarice led me to the bed and had me lie down on my back. And then she climbed over me and sat on my hips with me once again inside her moistness.
She said, “This way I can see your pretty face.”
I said, “And the other way, I could see your pretty butt.”
She smiled and continued, “So, there are limestone and gypsum in the river gorge and the surrounding area, but the easiest way may be to not make it at all. We haven’t really talked about the ‘outside world’ yet, have we?”
I said, “No. All we know about right now is the eight villages. The Collector, Tobias, knows something about some other towns, farther away though. I expected that someday we might need to find out, but for now, I’m content right here.”
Clarice said, “Well, after I started looking at the existing satellite images and data to find out more about your new river property, I started looking at more of the surrounding area and what we can tell about the world as a whole. Brenda has been handling a lot of the analysis and is building what might be population maps by comparing day and night time images, looking for camp fires and artificial lights, searching for shipping and other travel, and things like that. Before the cataclysm, the area to the west, about seventy miles away, was a population center. A valley with a large city and several suburbs. The population of the whole valley was about two million at one time, but before the cataclysm, it had fallen back down to about a million.”
The Watchman Page 21