Podcasts about Cambria

2000trees.On this 2000trees festival special episode I am joined by Coheed and Cambria.Mark and Me is now on YouTube - Please subscribe here https://www.youtube.com/@markandmePlease support the Mark and Me Podcast via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/Markandme or you can buy me a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/markandme.The Mark and Me podcast is proudly sponsored by Richer Sounds.Visit richersounds.com now to shop for all your hi-fi, home cinema and TV solutions. Also, don't forget to join their VIP club for FREE with just your email address to receive a great range of fantastic privileges.The Mark and Me podcast is also proudly sponsored by Vice-Press.If you are a fan of films and pop culture, check out Vice Press. All of their limited edition posters, art prints & collectibles are officially licensed & are made for fans like us to collect & display in their homes. Vice Press work directly with artists and licensors to create artwork and designs that are exclusive to them.This year, Vice Press also launched Vice Press Home Video, dedicated to releasing classic films on VHS. And yes, they play! Get 10% off of your first order using code MARKANDME10 or head to vice-press.com/discount/MARKANDME10All artwork and designs are produced by Dead Good Tees - Dead Good Tee crafts graphic T-shirts for true horror and movie enthusiasts. Drawing inspiration from classic movies, iconic villains, and the darker side of cinema, their designs offer a subtle nod to the genre's most unforgettable moments. Visit www.deadgoodtees.co.ukEvery episode of Mark and Me is for Billy x 

It's Monday, Let's raise a glass to the beginning of another week. It's time to unscrew, uncork or saber a bottle and let's begin Exploring the Wine Glass!  Earlier this year, I had the privilege to attend Sicilia En Primeur, where the energy and ambition of Sicilian wine were on full display—and there's no better person to talk about what's next than Mariangela Cambria, the president of Assovini Sicilia. In this episode, we explore how Sicily is uniting tradition and innovation, why native grapes are capturing international attention, and what it takes to lead one of Italy's most dynamic wine regions into the future. Join me for an inspiring conversation that goes beyond the vineyards, revealing the vision and passion driving Sicily's modern wine renaissance. Please take a moment of your time to subscribe, rate and review Exploring the Wine Glass. It's completely free and is a great way to let other wine lovers know about the podcast. Be sure to head over to the website, Exploringthewineglass.com, to read my award winning blog and to see what else I have been up to. And most of all, please tell your friends about the podcast!   Slainte!    Music: WINE by Kēvens Official Video Follow me on Instagram!   Follow me on Twitter! Subscribe to my YouTube channel SIGN UP FOR EXPLORING THE WINE GLASS NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES STITCHER | iTUNES | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | PODBEAN | AUDIBLE | BOOMPLAY Even ask your smart speaker to play Exploring the Wine Glass GIVE US A RATING AND REVIEW Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at exploringthewineglass@gmail.com. Please support our sponsors Dracaena Wines - Our Wines + Your Moments + Great Memories Use code 'Explore' at checkout to receive 10% off your first order GET SPECIAL OFFERS FOR DRACAENA WINES

TNM makes a long overdue return to 2000 Trees Festival to see Alexisonfire, Coheed and Cambria, the return of letlive., a massively contested slot from Kneecap, plenty more from punk rock spectrum, and in the same episode somehow, we face the great Profanatica jar controversy.Releases:Bring Me the Horizon - Lo-filesDaron Malakian and Scars On Broadway - Addicted to the ViolenceBush - I Beat LonelinessZac Farro - OperatorLaura Jane Grace In The Trauma Tropes - Adventure ClubPanic Shack - Panic ShackBlind Equation - A Funeral In PurgatoryStomach - Low DemonBa'al - The Fine Line Between Heaven and HereEntrails - Grip of Ancient EvilAbigail Williams - A Void Within ExistenceHaunter / Cape of Bats - Black Magick Metal Punk

New York State's bail reform laws have been under intense scrutiny ever since Thursday morning when the news broke of the murder of 44-year-old Amanda Thompson in Buffalo's Lovejoy District. The alleged perpetrator had multiple prior arrests, including one which posted a $50,000 bail and the District Attorney's office requested he not be released. With there being so much conversation around bail reform, Buffalo Attorney Paul Cambria joins the show to discuss what exactly bail reform is and if it played a role in Thompson's murder.

Attorney Paul Cambria on bail reform with WBEN's Tom Bauerle full 750 Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:55:17 +0000 7dZZ8FqVkAwVSKB4K5eifgzqUOdFsOgN news & politics,news WBEN Extras news & politics,news Attorney Paul Cambria on bail reform with WBEN's Tom Bauerle Archive of various reports and news events 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. News & Politics News False https://player.amperwavepodcasti

Episode 394 is up and live now with the return of Travis Stever of Coheed and Cambria! Don't miss this chat! We are now proudly presented by Sound Talent Media.  @stmpodcasts   Love the show? Sign up for Premium Pleasure ⁠⁠⁠⁠Http://peerpleasure.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠   Visit the website at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.peerpleasurepodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠   Go Rate, Write a Review and subscribe to the show now on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.   You can now rate the show on Spotify! Please take a moment to do that now if you are streaming on Spotify. Follow the show on Instagram: @peerpleasurepod Follow the show on Twitter: @podpeerpleasure Follow the show on Facebook: @peerppod You can email me at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠peerpleasurepod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't forget to check out our amazing sponsors! Go to distrokid.com/vip/ppp for 30% off your years membership to get your music distributed online everywhere! Thank you DistroKid! @thunderboltguitars @ryderevanrobison.studio @stringjoy @distrokid @hearinglife Music Credits: Opening theme song, "Trans-Am Sunday" by Hobosexual Closing theme song, "My (fucking) Deer Hunter" by Fear Before The March Of Flames Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the gang each pick an album that was released in 2025 to celebrate the middle of the year. BC picked "Mid Death Crisis" from Wednesday 13, Dylan threw out "Father of Make Believe" from Coheed and Cambria, Steve brought "Let's Call It Rock 'N' Roll" from Rock-Out and BB put forward "Spirit in the Glass" from Dark Chapel. Which album bursts Steve's eardrums with the vocals? Can Dylan convince the gang to give Coheed a chance? Tune in to find out! Hosted by Steve Wright, Brian "BC" Chapman and Ryan "BB" Bannon Produced by Dylan Wright Music by Mark Sutorka Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3n6x1F0U5lAP5TJ0OpjFUm?si=0fc580c169a3433c Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PTHpodcast 

Tune in to hear all about The Infinite Arc Tour (specifically the Portland, ME show), which was a Coheed and Cambria co-headline run with Mastodon, and special guests Periphery! This episode's guest is my best friend from middle school, Adam Bayram, who had his first Mage experience this tour!

Send us a textSt. Louis-based metalcore act dead7 is poised to break through in a major way with the release of their highly anticipated debut album, LOVE WHAT YOU CAN WHILE YOU GOT SOMETHING LEFT TO LOVE, arriving July 11, 2025 via SharpTone Records. Known for their emotionally charged blend of heavy grooves, ambient textures, and bold vulnerability, the five-piece continues to turn heads with a sound that fuses brutal honesty and melodic hooks in equal measure.Composed of Jason Kozik (vocals), Dexter Greer (guitar), Tim Quinn (guitar), Stephen Salyer (bass), and Zach Guinn (drums), dead7 crafts music that leans into both atmospheric metal and alternative rock, while unafraid to explore the depths of love, loss, and internal conflict. Their debut album captures that duality perfectly—one moment it's a crushing wall of sound, the next a moment of haunting introspection.“We keep people guessing,” frontman Jason Kozik shared. “The new material is heavy, but we emphasized the hooks. We tried to make sure our songs resonate. In terms of the content, we focused on love, relationships, and things that are often tough to say.”After gaining traction through powerful singles like “tape mouth” and “heaven only knows” (featuring Nathan Johnson of Fox Lake), dead7 began to find their footing on the live circuit, including festival slots at POINTFEST alongside acts like Bad Omens, The Pretty Reckless, and Coheed and Cambria. The momentum caught the attention of SharpTone Records, who signed the band in late 2024.Heading back into the studio with trusted collaborators Caleb Freihaut and Ben McGuiness, dead7 shaped a record that reflects not only their evolution as a band but their refusal to be boxed in. Touchstones like Loathe, Bring Me The Horizon, and Three Days Grace inspire the record's push-and-pull between chaotic energy and accessible melody.Tracks like “BLUR” showcase that duality immediately, with its vocoder-drenched verses giving way to explosive choruses. “It incorporates a lot of what dead7 is,” Kozik explained. “Lyrically, it's a view of trying to navigate life with everything going on... in our relationships, in our families, and in ourselves. It feels like a blur, and you're trying to survive.”Other album standouts include “HOLE,” a raw depiction of tension in a fractured relationship, and “PLEASE,” a cheeky-yet-intense track featuring Marcus Vik, where soaring melodies meet lusty lyricism and thunderous riffs. Kozik remarked, “We were making a joke about being kind of horny, and we tried to encapsulate it… It has www.BetterHelp.com/TheBarnhttp://www.betterhelp.com/TheBarn http://www.betterhelp.com/TheBarnThis episode is sponsored by www.betterhelp.com/TheBarn and brought to you as always by The Barn Media Group. YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/@TheBarnPodcastNetwork SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/show/09neXeCS8I0U8OZJroUGd4?si=2f9b8dfa5d2c4504 APPLE https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1625411141 I HEART RADIO https://www.iheart.com/podcast/97160034/ AMAZON https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7aff7d00-c41b-4154-94cf-221a808e3595/the-barn

Ana María Matute (Barcelona el 26 de julio de 1925-25 de junio de 2014). Es la autora de, entre otras obras, la trilogía 'Los mercaderes', 'Los Abel', 'Los hijos muertos', 'La torre vigía', 'Olvidado Rey Gudú', 'Aranmanoth', o 'Paraíso inhabitado', además de gran número de relatos y de cuentos infantiles. Fue Premio Cervantes en 2010. 

Cáel  Defeats The Illuminati: Part 19The Great Hunt.Book 3 in 19 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.‘The Hunt is never an easy thing because in the Wild there are things which hunt the hunters'September 11th: First Day Of The Great HuntCentral ArgentinaFelix was still nursing his hurt hand when I came back from my Ishara-space."Well?" he smirked."Plenty of good news," I smirked right back from the place where I had dropped when Felix had cold-cocked me. "Suffice it to say the weather on the final day will be in our favor ~ no more precise answer than that from the goddess SzélAnya ~ plus our horses will not throw us, or give away our position. That's from the Goddess Epona by the way.""Finally, the Goddess Ishara will be watching over us and our travails... she will send omens to warn us of hunters closing in as well as talk to me in my dreams. Apparently she doesn't want me; us; to shame her in this contest so is taking this competition seriously. Mind you, this means the other goddesses will be taking this contest seriously as well, so we have our work cut out for us again.""What is Ishara the Goddess of again?" the teased me."Oaths, love and medicine," I repeated my answer."Fine," the grinned, "is there any goddess in my corner?""None that bothered talking to me," I snorted. "Want me to knock you out and see what you can see?""Nah... I'm Felix Melena. I work better alone.""You mean in alone in a team of two, right?""Yeah; a team of four actually, Nyilas. Don't forget our mounts," Felix motioned to our two horses.I was ecstatic because they had brought Peppermint down from 'Summer Camp' for this romp through the Pampas. To me she was the perfect mare for this endeavor.Felix had been gifted with a spirited gelding named 'Thunderbolt'; 'Rayo' in Spanish. He was a black haired beast with white sox and a white diamond on his forehead. Felix had wanted a stallion, but the Horse-mistresses of Epona had nixed that choice as highly impractical for a horse-virgin such as himself. I had to agree as stallions had far too much spirit and the likelihood of one making noise when it smelled an unknown mare was far too high... so a gelding it was.Not that an 'unknown' mare was that much of a possibility. See, we had been put down where the other thirty huntresses would also be starting from; a makeshift corral our host Freehold had put together as the entrance to some 'badlands' in which the hunt would be taking place. There ten Amazons; with their own mounts; manned the place, fed the horses and made sure no one cheated out of the starting gate.We had our 24 hours head start on our pursuers, but that didn't turn out to be the huge edge we thought it would be. We were given the first part of our map... which led to the area we would find our second part of our map... and so on until sometime late Saturday night, or Sunday morning, we would find the final part of our map which would direct us to where our extraction point would be.We were to be extracted at Noon; not sunset as we had originally been told; on Sunday. Actually, anytime between ten minutes before to ten minutes after... so fair this was not seeing as we were novice outdoorsmen. Still, those were the rules we were given so off we went early Thursday morning. In the truest Amazon fashion, this was to be a contest which required the utmost skill and endurance to win.Heading out, Felix and I were deciding on what the enemy strategy, or strategies, would be. We figured some would start by simply trailing us seeing as how they were better both at tracking as well as doing so from horseback. The second group would follow a different, but equally difficult 'Treasure Hunt' toward our final point of extraction and wait for us there.I reminded Felix that neither he nor I nor any of the Amazons would be riding our horses to death, or even injury, because that wasn't the Amazon way. Such callous disregard for one's mount wasn't in them and we had to follow that dictum, or suffer irreparable harm to our own 'honor' should we do so and somehow win. Doing so and losing... we decided to not even go there.This also meant we had to take time for our horses to graze and find water for them to drink along the way. After getting that lecture, Felix wondered out loud if it wouldn't be a better idea for us to let our horses loose and 'hoofing' it ourselves seeing as how the Amazons would also have to follow the same horse etiquette. I had to remind him reluctantly how much faster horses could travel. Horses were the way to go.The difference was there was no rapid charging across the landscape with the Sun at our backs as we headed out. No, we took it at a steady trot until we hit our first terrain feature; a steady gradient cut in the side of a canyon which had been created over the millennia by the forces of wind and rain. Down we went. Our horizon sunk down until all we had were the walls of the canyon.Our map directed us to take this route to the first 'treasure horde', whatever that was. By the way we were moving and how the Sun slowly crawled up above us; recall it was almost 'spring' down under; we figure we were making good progress toward our first target... which we located without too much hassle around noon.It was a Bonanza! Not for us, but for the horses. We had four bags of grain for our mounts. We humans received some sort of indescribable jerky (since it was probably not human we decided to eat it... later [it turned out to be the local flightless bird and it tasted like chicken jerk jerky too!]). There was also the second part of our map which led us farther out into the wilderness. Off we went.Third Treasure Trove.By evening we had found our third treasure trove. The second had contained two compasses and two hatchets (Yippee!). The third had contained two sections of twenty-five meter rope and some flint and tinder so we could start a fire. Felix was all for this as it was butt-numbing cold already and we were damn tired from a day full of riding.We compromised by creating a banked fire. We also decided to sleep instead of pushing on. It was pretty dark outside even with the three-quarters Moon above. We definitely didn't want to walk our mounts into something which could bring them up lame this early in the contest. I assured Felix we couldn't abandon them and leading them would be torture. Essentially we would be disqualified.I won the compass toss and got to sleep the first part of the night. Felix woke me around Moon-set and then I kept watch; there were predators about, or so we believed; until sunrise. Then we ate the last of the jerky, fed and watered our mounts then head out once more. This time our hearts began to hammer within their cages and every noise had sinister implications.See, the Amazons are cheating bitches of all cheating bitches and could have started after us at 12:01 last night and pushed on following our trail through the night. Being expert horsewomen and spectacular trackers they could do shit like that. We, their prey, had to be clever in other ways. What those ways were weren't relatively apparent though.Maybe Pamela could show up and, after slapping me upside my head, give me a clue. No Pamela arrived though so we were on our own. Shortly after the Sun crested the canyon walls; we kept to the canyons just in case; we came across the fourth 'trove'... and it was chilling. We received two binoculars and some more jerky (it was to be our lunch). The binoculars were the chilling part because if WE had some then most likely the Amazons behind us had some as well.Also, the way from our fourth treasure to out fifth put us in the horns of a dilemma. We could either cut over the sides of the canyon to where the fifth treasure trove/map was, or keep to the canyon and travel three times the distance. After a quick discussion followed by some 'rock-paper-scissors' (complete with a prayer to Dot Ishara), I won, so up and over the side we went.To reduce the size of our silhouette, we dismounted and led our horses across the... and stumbled across a herd of cattle; Sweet Mother Ishara! We moved through the herd, waved to the accompanying Amazon gaucho, and went on our way. Felix muttered something about my 'dumb' luck. He-he-he-he-he... We talked to the gaucho, turned on the charm and convinced her to not tell any of our pursuers we had come by this way.She was like nineteen years old and I could tell really took a shine to Felix... so he promised to come back and visit her the moment he won the contest. After we departed her and her track-erasing herd of cattle, I pulled him aside."You had better keep that promise to that girl. If you don't, she and her kinfolk will hunt your ass down and tag you like a mule deer in the Yellowstone," I cautioned him."I know. I know," he grinned. "These are some crazy ass bitches. Besides, being the lone male in a freehold of women has its own appeal."I thought we were in safe territory again when Felix finally asked that doom-laden question."Cáel , where have all their dudes gotten off to?"'Oh shit', I mused. How much of the truth could Felix handle?"I'm only telling you this because I like you," I said then took a deep breath. "They sold them to the Nine Clans... they are a bunch of assassins.""Really?" he studied me. Like he was going to catch me in a lie after four years of dating the most dangerous game on this Earth; girlfriends."Really. Where do you think they get those legion of ninja and combat fighters from? Sure their life expectancy isn't what we have, but it is much better than they would have if they stayed home." There was some part of the truth in that."That seems... short-sighted.""What do you think guys like us are for? Now they won't have to kidnap local passer-byers for weeklong orgies.""How come words has never gotten out about this?" Felix was relentless."It has from time to time, but Havenstone makes sure such reports are relegated to the realm of tabloids and UFO aficionados. If that doesn't work, they bribe some people to bury the story. If that doesn't work, they kill some people.""Now that I believe," Felix nodded."That they kill people to keep their secrets?""Absolutely. They look like the kind of girlfriend who wouldn't be happy unless she burns your balls before your eyes after you break up.""How succinct," I nodded back."So, are we ever going to see Khalid, Trent, or Brian again?""Sure... they are only being kept prisoners and milked of their seeds... but I can arrange for you go to go meet them if you really want to," I offered."No thanks," Felix shook his head then grinned. "They washed out while only you and I remain. Let me find them on my own and get some sort of permission from Ms. Love (Katrina) first. I thought Khalid was kind of cool and Trent was the kind of brother I could invite out for a beer, or ten.""Not Brian?""Brian was too invested in himself and his weevil-ing ways. I couldn't trust him at my back, or with my girl. Mind you, I wouldn't trust you with my girl either, but we are otherwise okay.""Smart move. I have exceedingly low impulse control around the ladies plus an over-developed libido.""Yeah," he smiled my way. "I'd trust you in a knife fight, but not with someone I loved. You are way too smooth, Nyilas. Way too smooth.""What brought that revelation on?""Ms. Lee (Brooke). Normally I can mend any fence with any girl I come across, but not with her after she'd been with you. I admire that," he studied me."So, are you and Gene going to be a regular thing?""Yeah. I think so. I still expect me to be getting plenty of tail at Havenstone once I win this thing, but having a less-lethal girl on the outside wouldn't suck either."So much like me... I admired that about the guy."Once we win, don't ya mean?""Sure thing, Nyilas," he chuckled. "I figure it helps me to help you across the finish line. The better standing you end up in the better an ally you make back at work.""That reminds me; Katrina told me they are going to spin this; your participation in this inaugural Great Hunt is that all sins are forgiven; yadda, yadda, yadda. Thus you still walking around Havenstone being the bad boy you are.""Clever lady and always thinking ahead. Is she seeing anybody?""No, and dude, you don't want to go there. She is far too clever by half to fall for any of our reindeer games. She scares me," I cautioned him."All the more reason to pursue her," he snorted."Go for it," I shrugged. Hey, I'd warned the guy."What about that blonde number I saw you with... Elsa was it?"Oh, he knew exactly who Elsa was, but he was acting all nonchalant about his treatment at her hands."Yeah. Elsa. What about her?""Is she in your stable?""Nope. Not really," I shrugged. "Going after her too?""Oh, definitely.""Good luck with that," I sighed. He'd learn the hard way."There is something you are not telling me.""Yeah. She has the hots for me. Wants to own me... and not in a good way.""Oh... is that your way of cautioning me to be wary of her?""Most definitely. Elsa is one scary lady and she already knows who and what we both are.""What are we?" he was eyeballing me again."Hunters on the prowl. Guys who like a challenge. In your case, the guy who only wants the best. I'm more of an omnivore.""You mean you are a man-slut," he snorted."Got me," I chuckled."So, you think she's out of my league?""No. I think she is Katrina's friend and Katrina sees right through both of us. Elsa might not have those interpersonal skills, but she's twice as lethal. Trust me on that; I've fought her.""How tough was she?""Beat me black and blue then choked me out because I wouldn't surrender.""Oh... I'd like to get her on the mats.""Good luck with that then. Become a 'Runner' and there is even more I can tell you about her. Right now it is all simply in-house stuff.""Corporate confidentiality details, eh? Executive Services purview and stuff like that. Man, I was wrong to look down on your branch of service. I apologize.""Why thank you. I honestly never thought I'd get a sincere apology from you.""I can be wrong once in your lifetime," Felix laughed, "and I'm man enough to admit it.""Oh... and thanks for the sim-cards. They helped me get off that deserted atoll.""No problem. That was Katrina's idea though.""Well, you got them to us so surreptitiously the Chinese suspected nothing.""Don't you mean those rogue Albanians?""Yeah... them too," I laughed along with him."I think we can be friends, Nyilas," he grinned."I think so too. I didn't think so originally. On the first day you and the others treated me like the country bumpkin, but now I think you see me as a survivor... just like you.""Precisely. You know I had the option of leaving Havenstone... no matter how this affair turns out.""And you didn't take it? Who offered you this opportunity anyway?""Katrina.""It might have been a ruse," I warned him. "These bitches don't play fair.""I took that into account... but I love the challenge of this place. It is like no other work environment on Earth. Challenges every day, hot women all around, and the chance to risk my life on a monthly basis. Screw regular corporate America. I've found the place where I belong."Felix sounded so enthusiastic. I hoped he understood the fate he was embracing. I also hoped he found a niche in Havenstone which allowed him to live out his life... hopefully a long, long life. Maybe I should warn him about the 'cliffs'? Perhaps once we had won and were safely back in Havenstone's motherly embrace.Hiding.Fortune favored us backtracking from our seventh treasure trove; our dinner and more grain for the horses. A few birds flew up out of the brush ahead of us. I took that as a sign from Ishara."Felix," I hissed. "Hide!"We looked around and found a draw away from the main canyon floor for us to slink into. I used some brush to cover our side tracks then ran back to cover.No sooner had I gotten there than two Amazons came trotting past us. The lead one was Svetlana Inara and she was tracking us from the saddle. The second one was Beatrice Astarte who was scanning the environment as they moved together following our trail up this vein of the canyon. As soon as they were around the next corner of the vein, Felix and I mounted up and raced down the other way.The sand floor covered our hoof-falls and we had to go that way anyway. We had barely covered the distance to the next draw when we spotted two more Amazons following our earlier trail this way. We had Two Amazon parties on our trail and it wasn't even Friday night yet! This group spotted us and gave chase. They must have ridden their horses hard to get this far because we quickly left them in our dust.This allowed us to slow down a bit and deviate over to where the eight 'treasure' was. Our map had us going back down his particular draw which I thought was most unwise, so we went over the lip of the draw dismounted and led our horses at a rapid run; for us humans; across the greater landscape. Thank SzélAnya, a late afternoon rainstorm fell upon us as we dropped down into the next vein of the canyon before the pursuing Amazons crested the draw we had exited.We walked through the rain until the sun set then debated what to do next. We were going to need light to figure out where the eighth treasure was at; they were all somewhat hidden. We had to keep moving no matter what because we doubted the Amazons on our asses were going to let up. We decided when we got close to the eighth treasure horde I would do the searching while Felix stood watch on the entrance to the draw.Using a hatchet I cut off a branch from a bush and set it alight so I could see what I was doing. It took me twenty long minutes to figure out where the treasure was hidden... night-vision goggles and the map to the ninth map piece. Gleefully, I went back down to where Felix was except... no Felix. Oh Shit! I slipped back and put on my night-vision goggles, got a hatchet at the ready and returned, scanning about.I spotted one Amazon... she was Carla Nemain... and I recalled her being teamed with Ella Mielikki. Anyway, I tried to sneak up on Carla and it almost worked. At the last moment the cloud cover cleared and the three-quarters Moon revealed me. She spun on me with twin fighting sticks while I tried to brain her with the flat side of my hatchet.Yours truly took two punishing blows to his ribs while only clipping her with my hatchet. Still, the blow appeared to cause her to stumble so I pressed my advantage. I knocked one of her two sticks out of her hand then missed twice. I thought I heard someone coming up hard behind me. Well... fuck!"What do you have?" Carla grumbled. "Are you trying to kill me?"I kept silent, pulling out my second hatchet and pressing my luck a little further. I disarmed her and then hammered her down with a hatchet to the top of her skull. Down she went. I spun around just in time to see Ella Mielikki coming at me with a lasso. She launched it a second too late and I was able to bat it aside. She drew her honor blade and kept coming though."Ella... I have two hatchets. This is not a fight you can win," I addressed her."You won't kill me," she kept advancing."Of course not. We are sisters, but I can do... this!" and I attacked her with the flat ends of my twin hatchets. I so had her too... or I would have had I had the extra moment to ensure Carla was unconscious.She wasn't. She jumped me from behind then Ella rushed in from the front and I went down in a tangle of arms, legs and torsos. I was doing surprisingly well wrestling them both despite the odds until Ella put her knife against my throat."Give up," she panted. "You have been captured. Admit it!""I surrender," I sighed then relaxed my body. My two hatchets dropped to the ground."Let's bind him up too," Carla grinned. They proceeded to tie my hands behind my back then my legs together. Then then gave each other a celebratory 'high-five'. Then came their pillaging of our loot. They especially loved our night vision goggles and the grain for 'their' horses. They abandoned our horses, put loose nooses around our necks and began riding off down the canyon, their horses feeding on the grain in feedbags... and there was a suitably humbled Felix...To do so they had to untie our legs, but they compensated for that by tying our elbows together behind our backs as well as our hands. It was a rather painful affair. All in all, our captors were quite triumphant. After a while, I decided to speak."So, how did you catch us so fast?" I asked Carla. She had my noose."I prayed to Nemain and then picked a compass point and rode that way. We came across your path and followed you here."So you weren't the group following us from the afternoon?""No... you were being followed?""Yes... by two groups... both of whom tracked us from the beginning," I sighed."Ella," Carla addressed her companion. "We had better get a move on. There are four others on our track.""Damn it," Ella grumbled. "You take both males. I'll double back and start masking our trail. You pick a different compass point and I'll catch up.""Okay. Come here," Carla accepted Felix's noose from Ella. "We are going... north by northwest."Ella doubled back and was soon out of sight. Carl took the next draw she came across and kept up a steady walking pace. As a matter of safety, she didn't wrap our tethers around her saddle horn on the off chance her horse took off. We could be dragged to death of we were attached to the horse. So, we had a momentary advantage... and took it.I spotted Felix counting down with his fingers behind his back. I spotted him at '4'. I rapidly signaled '3', he went to '2' and I finished up with '1' then we lunged backwards trying to pull her off her horse. With my luck, she tumbled down on Felix's side, horse rearing up. I ran for it, quickly pulling my noose along with me. I heard Carla and Felix cursing behind me.It was gut-check time. I could abandon Felix or attempt to double back and help him with only my legs because my hands were behind my back."Fuck it," I cursed silently as I doubled back. In the forefront of my mind was the notion Felix would come back for me if the roles were reversed. In I charged.Felix was standing, trying to use his martial arts kicks to keep her at bay.He was also absorbing the majority of her concentration because; again; she didn't notice me until I was right on top of her. I put a shoulder into her diaphragm, taking her down and knocking her knife out of her hands. Felix didn't waste a moment giving her as snap-kick to the cranium... knocking her out. I picked up the knife and backed up toward my partner.First I had to saw through his elbow bonds and then his bound hands to free him. This all took precious time. I had just freed him when Carla began moaning. Felix looked to me then to the horse."Go," I urged him on. "Go to the next site and then double back for me. You know which way they will be heading and it is you on horseback versus two of us who aren't."He gave me a quick nod of the head then jumped into the saddle... and almost spilled himself over the other side, but then was off like a flash. I ran off in the other direction. Of course with the minimal lighting and my arms tied behind my back I didn't expect to get too far, but what realistic choice did I have. I certainly wasn't going to give up, damn it.[The Politics Of Not Playing Fair]In hindsight, knowing the Amazons were cheating bitches of cheating bitches, I should have tried to cheat more, but I ended up thinking too much about the male version of honor and not enough about winning. Thankfully, others were much more invested in me winning than that. Add to this and I had family I really hadn't counted on seeing things that way.And then there was the Sanctity of the Contract to consider... which I clearly hadn't, though the opportunity to do so was right there all along.As I was fleeing for my life I caught sight of one person running past me to my right and another to my left as a third slammed into me and took me down. For an instance I was thinking 'now they are operating in groups of four!' then the clothing of the three entered my consciousness. They weren't dressed like Amazons. Their camouflage was all wrong unless you were deliberately trying to hide in this environment.The only people I knew who would do something like that without a plethora of modern weapons being evident; thus being the Seven Pillars; were the Ninja![in Japanese] "Hey there, are you looking for me?"[in Japanese] "Yes we are, Ishara-sama," a feminine voice answered. "Where is your companion? We are supposed to make a good faith effort to save them as well.""Wait... who hired you?""Well, it is supposed to be something of a secret so tell no one, but it was your brother," she replied in thickly accented English. With a few flashes of steel in the moonlight and I was a free Amazon once more."Were did the other two go?""Covering your tracks and laying out a few nuisance traps to confuse the two following you.""Your body feels... awfully familiar," I hazarded conversation of another sort."I am Miyako's older sister; and married. Happily so though I have been repeatedly reminded of your... horn-dog status. It is 'horn-dog' correct?""Yeah," I sighed. "That's me. Let's go find Felix before he gets hopelessly lost."By this time the other two had made it back to us, expertly covering my tracks; they were not leaving any; because, you know, they were ninjas. By the looks of things it must have seemed I flew away because I had simply vanished as well. I wish I could have hung around long enough to see the looks of consternation on the pursuing Amazons' faces, but I had real work to take care of."So basically, my Brother, the Great Khan, has hired three ninja to help me win," I whispered as we made our getaway into the moonlit darkness."Oh no," I could have sworn she smiled, "There are seven of us. We each have other tasks to perform, be it carry extra equipment, or scouting ahead to make sure we don't bump into any more of your girlfriends.""They are not my girlfriends... yet... maybe," I shrugged."Don't make me hit you," she whispered back. "I will hit you if you cheat too much on my little sister. She is so impressionable you know.""Oh... boy," I groaned. A protective older sister while I was on a time table. "Is all of your team female?" I asked instead."Yes. When dealing with our allies the Amazons it was considered the diplomatic thing to do. Now we most move like the autumn breeze over the grass, Ishara-sama.""Please, call me Cáel . What's your name?""Not something I can reveal while on a mission. My name in the team is 'First' as I am the team leader.""I could call you Hatsuyuki," I kept going. Hatsuyuki meant 'First Snow'. We were angling in a different direction suggesting to me we had come across Felix's path and were racing to catch him."I will help you out a bit," she chuckled ever so slightly. "Every woman on the team is a sister, or sister-in-law of Miyako, so we have all heard the tales of your exploits and been suitably warned by Grandmother to not fall for your... reindeer games.""Wow... cut off at the knees before even leaving the starting gate," I frowned."Please concentrate on the task at hand Ishara-sama," she whispered then, "Four more ahead of us. I swear they must have some sort of divine assistance as well.""Cheating bitches of all cheating bitches," I quietly cursed. Hatsuyuki put her hand over my mouth despite the low volume of my words.I risked a peek. It was fucking Elsa and Rachel and they were having a pow-wow with Tormé Maeve and Parul Nammu. By the rules of the Great Hunt, no Amazon could subdue, or otherwise hinder any other Amazon; as long as they didn't have a male. Then all bets were off. After a while the two teams flipped a coin and departed in different ways... which were eerily close to our actual track.The moment they were safely away, we took off once more at a steady jog. Mind you, I was in pretty damn good shape... and these little ninja babes were threatening to run me into the ground such was their stamina. The big thing was breath control. We had to be prepared to be utterly still at a moment's notice. Every Amazon around us was as hunter of some sort, be it of big game, or of humans.Even with their precautions we found ourselves being tracked by Daryna Šauška and Yatta Oxóssi within the hour. Exactly what they were tracking wasn't known to me and was a source of consternation to the Ninja. It was impossible to outrun horse-bound foes at our current pace and if we moved faster, the odds of our enchantment failing would drastically increase."Fuck!" I hissed."What?" Hatsuyuki made brief eye contact then scanned around for whatever threat I might have detected."They are tracking the magic of the enchantment," I enlightened her."Are you sure?""Alal; my Grandfather is," I held her eyes this time. "Honestly, I was going through the Rolodex of my mind when this thought occurred to me. I think it was a mystic rite the Egyptians invented millennia ago, but he knows it.""What is the counter?""I don't know," I sighed, "but I do know your movement is leaving a magical trail behind which glows like the failing light of a sunset to the searcher."Hatsuyuki whispered some arcane words which my ears failed to focus on while making several complicated hand gestures. She gave me one head nod then we took off, jogging in another direction though still angling to intercept Felix. I noticed the change immediately. Dry grass crackled beneath our feet and standing grass bent at our passage. I was the worst offender without a doubt.Later when we stopped for a break, 'Three' returned to tell us the followers had initially been confused by the loss of the spell energy betraying us, but then they dismounted and began tracking us on foot; slower yet still a persistent menace."New plan," I decided. "We set an ambush for them.""We can't do that, Cáel ," Hatsuyuki informed me. "We are forbidden to directly confront our foes."My mind barely hesitated in its skullduggery."But if I confront them, could you steal their horses?""Yes," she grinned once more, or so I thought. "Then set up a field of simple traps with a path I can maneuver through so I can lose them once I have their undivided attention. Can you do that?""Yes," and another smile."Let's get on it," I grinned back. I could tell she was warming up to me. After all, I wasn't pressuring her to save me, or violate her Contract. Instead I was thinking on my feet and utilizing what they were best at to avoid my enemies.[in Japanese] "Team, here is what we must do," Hatsuyuki gathered her girls together and laid out what they needed to accomplish.Twenty minutes later, the ambush was set and the two ladies walked right into it. Apparently the idea I would fight back so aggressively hadn't occurred to them. I smashed straight into Daryna first, knocking her down and running past her. Instinctively she jumped up, cursing me even as she gave chase. For an instance Yatta hesitated, considering mounting up and giving chase, or pursuing on foot. Rapidly riding a horse even in this partially moonlit night was risky so she decided to join Daryna on foot as I raced away. She did grab her lasso first though. Seeing as Daryna was following in my footsteps, it was Yatta who stumbled into the first series of traps, spraining her ankle in the process.Hearing that, I took a quick detour, allowing Daryna to catch up if she cut crossways in her pursuit. Predictably she did so and crashed into her own series of traps while I continued to beat feet out of there. As Daryna untangled herself from the 'spider web' trap; really just a tangle of silk strings; she heard the horses neigh and then take off. The ninja had exploded smoke bombs in the horses' faces to accomplish this feat.By the time Daryna stood up, I was long gone in the foot race. She carefully picked her way back to Yatta, helped her up and then worked her way back to find their saddles cut loose and packs set aside... and their horses long gone as well. From what 'Five' related to us later, Daryna elected to take after their lost steeds while Yatta treated her sore ankle. 'Five' didn't hang around to see how long it took Daryna to return with their mounts. The rest of us had successfully slipped away by that time.Reunited.By the time we had reunited with Felix he had already discovered our next Treasure Trove; more grain, a compass and a map of the whole region. Woot! We still only had one mount until an hour past sunrise when our two steeds came trotting into our brief camp. Now we had three horses. We elected to release Carla's mount to find its way back to her mistress... eventually, we hoped."Care to explain the entourage?" Felix joked."Somebody who is somebody loves me," I shrugged. "I can't tell you who though. I've been sworn to secrecy.""Damn... five female ninja. We have got to not waste this opportunity.""I am so onboard with that plan," I grinned, "but it going to be tough. Most of the only speak Japanese and they are all related to a girl I've already knocked up.""So they all know what a stud you are, Cáel ," Felix laughed. "Give it time and they'll be begging for it. I know the type. Fit, but silent with minimal social skills. They want to know all about how you seduced their sister, cousin, what have you.""God, I hope so," I groaned. "All this abstinence is driving me crazy.""Me too," he chuckled. "Me too."Oh, what we had planned was horribly irresponsible. We had the inaugural First Great Hunt to win for all Mankind after all. Still, it took only three elements to be effective; a stream, river, or lake of some kind to bathe in; to convince the ninja we had to take a bath to remove any scent the Amazons who captured us may have sprayed on us; and the ninjas' willingness to believe such an outlandish excuse to get naked. Once they saw us naked nature would take its course.Well, despite our awesome masculine arsenals... we got nowhere. The ninja babes didn't buy our excuses, blew away our pseudoscientific ramblings (pheromones don't work that way, they insisted) and seriously; we didn't really have the time. So while putting our shirts back on and then going for our boots, two more Amazons came our way. We barely had the warning time to seek cover when Elsa and Rachel came riding down the stream, looking each way for any signs of us.Thanks to our horses remaining perfectly still as well, they gradually moved past our hidey-holes and out of our view. The second the ninjas gave us the 'all clear' we hurriedly finished dressing then headed off in a different direction. The last two Amazons I wanted to confront were Elsa and Rachel. I liked Rachel too much and quite frankly was too afraid of Elsa.Once more we risked using some Ninja Magics to aid our passage through a light, early morning rain. This one put off a confusing area of tracks which were both difficult to follow; Amazons were no dummies; and included our chosen pathway to the next treasure trove. Shortly after an overcast noontime Sun, we hunkered down for a few hours and took a short nap.I would have liked to sleep longer, but according to the two ninja who had stood watch, the whole area appeared to be crawling with Amazons out and about, mounted and dismounted and following our misleading trails, but still being close enough around to make traveling above the canyons frankly impossible. Felix and I had a meeting of the minds with Hatsuyuki.Sending two Ninja off on our steeds wouldn't work because at least one group of the opposition had our binoculars and none of the Ninja could pass for us under such scrutiny. In fact, we couldn't come up with a single plan which guaranteed us a chance to move about unseen. So, we came up with a crazy plan instead. I would take off on Peppermint in an elliptical path meant to draw off as many Amazons as possible.It had to be me because a few of the Amazons might not pursue Felix if he tried the same stunt, focusing on capturing Ishara first... so Ishara had to be the one to play decoy. We shook hands, hugged then scouted around for the best opportunity for me to make a bolt for it... then off I went. What the Ninja planned to do wasn't revealed to us though I had a feeling they weren't enamored with my plan.Peppermint and I came out of the closest draw and set off with a meandering gate; we would need all the speed she could muster soon enough. Unthinkingly, I had also stumbled across an added bonus to my plan. Me and my dumb luck. See, all the Amazons anywhere close to me at the start had been pressing their mounts hard for a day and a half now plus hadn't spent any time last night sleeping whereas me and Peppermint were relatively well fed and watered as well as well rested.Still, my initial sense was that I was simply fucked. All across the plain, Amazons noted my presence within a minute and began moving to hem me in. I imagine once I was unmounted and bound, the grand melee to see who would claim me would begin. I counted twelve of the fine ladies and while none were directly ahead of the direction I was heading in, some were far too close for me to hold out much hope.I didn't give up though. I wasn't in me and apparently it wasn't in Peppermint either. She picked up the pace instinctively when I leaned forward and off we went. Incrementally, all thirteen steeds picked up their speeds. I wasn't going to make it... and then it got worse. Coming out of a draw to my front-right was none other than Ella Mielikki.See appeared as surprised to see me as I was to see her, but that didn't last. She whipped out her lasso and spurred her mount to go faster. She was going to cut me off. I had no out in any other direction. All I had was a plain full of grass and thunderclouds in the distance; just too far away to do me any good.'Remember who you were...' came unbidden to my mind.I leaned forward and began whispering in Peppermint's ear in a language I did not know... but three thousand years ago it had been the language of horse peoples like the Scythians who taught it to their noble young... and so had another people long forgotten by history... the Medians. The words spilled out of me until all that was left was the final benediction; words that would bind man and mount together.[Median] "For Aya," I whispered.Remember who you were; wasn't meant for me. It was for the hundreds of Median steeds my Grandfather had ridden into battle... with his comrades-in-arms for over a thousand years two thousand years ago.Ella was whirling the lasso over her head. We were so close I could read the prayer to Mielikki on her lips as she strove to close those last few hoof-falls. The lasso flew through the air...Peppermint took off in a burst of speed utterly unlooked for. Her ghostly white plume rose majestically over her head; Grandfather's symbol... and now mine. The thunder of a hundred such steeds filled my ears with their power as we pulled away from the falling lasso... now less than a foot... too short. She had missed us and with that throw, passed the last chance the Amazons had to catch me.Rachel would later tell me they were all completely aghast at the pace Peppermint set as we rode past Mielikki, easily outdistancing her thus everyone else. We had escaped them and they knew it. They didn't know how and the looks of utter disbelief the Amazons behind me exchanged left them no doubt I had led them a merry chase only to vanish in a whirlwind of dust as I raced all the way into the storm-burst. Gone, gone, gone.Rachel told me she had then turned to Elsa and laughed heartily."I should have given him my honor blade," she chuckled, "because unlike the rest of you, I knew better.""But, what did he do?" Elsa had asked, truly curious and a bit frustrated."Just being Cáel ," Rachel had shaken her head as she replied. "Just being Cáel ."[Sunday]It was a thick, pounding rain as promised. No one could ride in this. Visibility was down to a few yards and the ground had turned into a morass. Only the greyness of the clouds betrayed the coming of day to us while our final treasure trove; a compass, map and coordinates for the rescue; pointed us in the proper direction... us and thirty Amazons.In our favor, the Ninja threw up a marching cordon around us so we didn't walk into any ambushes, and any Amazons not already at least even with us in the distance separating us from our evacuation point had a chance of catching us. Again, no Amazon worthy of their name would ride in weather like this and in a foot race, we men actually finally had the advantage.I wish I knew who was closest so I could plan accordingly. In strictly hand to hand combat, Felix and I had the advantage on over half those we were confronting. While most excelled at being hunters, beating up their prey with hands and knives wasn't normally their second best feature. No, they were fine combatants, just not in Felix's, or my, league.But then there were the Amazons like Tormé Maeve and Elsa Zorja who could kick our asses without a doubt, and planning how to fight them required a completely different game plan."What's on your mind?" Felix leaned in and shouted into my ear."This ain't over. Not only do we have to reach the evacuation site within a twenty minute window, we have to hope a half-dozen Amazons aren't waiting there for us."Felix nodded."Who is going to be the worst team?""Elsa and Rachel. I'm not sure I can beat Rachel and I'm damn sure I can't beat Elsa," I answered."Leave Elsa to me then. While I've never fought her before, she's also never fought me," he reasoned. "My best bet is an all-out offense; holding nothing back and hope I can outmuscle her before she pulls some surprise on me.""That's about right," it was my turn to nod.One of the Ninja came running back to us."There are two Amazons ahead of us going in the same direction. What do you want to do?"I looked to Felix who cracked his knuckles. He was right too. We didn't have enough time left to race around them; not in this mud; so jumping them and putting them down was our best bet.Bleeding.Our fists were bleeding, I had a knife wound on my left thigh, and Felix's nose was most likely broken, but we had put down two pairs of Amazons in the closing hour of the Great Hunt... and we were still free. We had even recorded the coordinates of where we left the four bound Amazons because leaving them all tied up in these conditions didn't seem fair.So far we had put down Niranjana Ereshkigal and Anna Cybele whose strategy was to figure out where the evacuation point was and then set up an ambush close by, and our old buddies, Tormé Maeve and Parul Nammu, who had been racing up to the evacuation point after some piece of divine intervention. They stumbled into us as we were binding up the first two.Thanks to the Ninja we had a moment's warning before they jogged right into us. It was on! Felix immediately challenged Tormé while I circled Parul, each seeking an advantage. Unfortunately, Tormé began cleaning Felix's clock so spun around and we switched partners."I wanted it to be me and you," she snarled."I was hoping to miss you entirely," I replied. She laughed and closed... and then slipped in the mud and slid right into my knee strike. Before she could clean the cobwebs from her head, I had landed three solid fist strikes to her jaw, rendering her incapable of immediate resistance; one tough chick! I quick glance back to Felix showed me he had Parul well in hand, so I quickly bound Tormé up and took her honor blade so she wouldn't be cutting herself free too soon.After we had Parul secured, Felix slapped me on the back and laughed."You bastard, I saw that," he chuckled. "She slipped.""I'll take it," I was unapologetic. Explaining to Felix how she was Katrina's #1 assassin would take too long. I'd leave it to Katrina to warn him how dangerous dating her would be.And then we heard the helicopter... and looked at our watches. It Was 11:48! We raced up the last bit of the slope to see the helicopter finish its descent. We'd made it... and then we saw Elsa and Rachel climbing up the slope beside us, disguised as we were by the downpour."Cáel !" Elsa screamed out my name. Rachel simply charged Felix wordlessly.I drew Tormé's honor blade and faced Elsa down. "Do you honestly think you can defeat me?" Elsa laughed. "Because Cáel , you cannot. You are already beaten, bruised and bleeding. Surrender and I promise to be gentle.""On any other day, I would agree with you, but this is not like any other day," I held my captured small knife out in a fighting stance."Today... today I have my Grandfather's knowledge and my Father's boundless spirit, Elsa. Today; you cannot defeat me. Come at me and find out, if you must." My stance flowed into an alien design... which came from a time when knives were the only close combat weapon anyone was lucky enough to have. My knife raised up over my head yet still pointing at my opponent while my empty left hand pointed at my foe.Then it occurred to me... if I could withstand the pain, I could grab her blade and hold it in place while I slashed down with my own ceremonial weapon. I could regenerate the damage; that was my edge and this was a fighting stance my Grandfather had perfected with that knowledge when all blades were either sharp stones, or smelted copper.I could see Elsa studying me rapid-quick before she made her lunge. It was so On! The first series of slashing strikes saw me barely missing having my hand cut open. I wasn't so lucky my second time around. Elsa sliced my ring finger to the bone."Damnit, Cáel !" Elsa snapped. "If you are going to fight me, at least use the training Pamela gave you. I have no idea what this crazy stance is supposed to show, but I think it is nothing more than your made-up style again. This time I am going to really hurt you if you don't surrender... Right Now!"Yeah, Elsa was upset she had to actually hurt me. I sensed that in her. Still, the pain quickly receded and I continued to stalk her... silently and with great determination on my face. No response was necessary and I was sure my quietude was unsettling her even more. On the next exchange Elsa moved so fast I couldn't track her blade. Still, I moved my empty palm across to stop her most likely angle of attack.I was wrong. By shifting my entire body to stop her slash, I put myself in the wrong positon; closing the distance between us and intercepting her surprise backslash with my left side at the kidney level. Ouch! Motherfucker! I grunted but used my positioning disadvantage as an advantage. As Elsa's hand recoiled from the dire wound she had given me, I reached out with my left hand and grabbed her wrist.My right hand came down attempting to slash her wrist in this exchange. She caught my right wrist in her left hand. Our bodies collided then my forward momentum slammed into her form and we both fell over. She rolled so we ended up crashing down on our sides, but I refused to release my hold while driving my blade ever downward.I didn't have much advantage over Elsa, but I was superior in upper body strength. It was my old buddy except coming out in my favor today. Slowly my blade inched toward its target."How... can... you... still... be... fighting?" Elsa ground out between her teeth."I am Ishara," was my reply. "The power of the goddess runs through me," I added a lie meant to confuse and dishearten her.She tried to break away by rolling around. I wouldn't let her. I tangled my legs up with hers until we were one conjoined mess. Then she surprised me with a head-butt right as the option was just occurring to me. She smashed my nose. There was blood everywhere, but I wouldn't relent on my hold. Instead, I followed up her head-butt with one of my own.Elsa caught mine with the hardest part of her forehead instead. Our skulls collided. I refused to feel the pain so while she was still reeling from that contact I smashed forward once again; this time impacting her temple and really shocking her. I had to have seemed like a monster to Elsa by this point in our bout; I could feel no pain and no infirmary would hold me back.Lacking every other point of leverage, she went for the 'Tried and True'; her knee impacted my precious gonads and for just that instance, my hold on her weakened. She broke free then rolled away."Stay down," she almost screamed at me. I didn't, instead rising up and resuming my archaic stance once more."This is going to hurt you a whole lot more than me," she promised next. Just then we both heard a titanic scream to my left. By the sound of the grunt which followed, I realized Felix had connected with one of his powerful kicks to Rachel's ribs. I used the positional advantage to charge. We collided once more, each one's opposite hand clamping down on the other's knife hand.While standing, we pushed each other back and forth, attempting kicks and foot stomps all the while my knife approached Elsa's collarbone. We were both too on guard for head-butts to pull one off this grapple, but I didn't need it... because we were in fact, grappling and I had a whole martial art devoted to grappling; Brazilian Jujutsu!I dropped Tormé's honor blade and flipped us around so I landed on top of her. Her blade drew a bloody line along my hip, but not enough damage to cause me any consternation. I could see it in her eyes, the moment we landed in the mud. She realized her mistake by allowing me too close, but the last time she had let that happened she had succeeded in stabbing me in the kidney, so she was taken off-guard for just that instance."Yeah," I chortled, "Just recalling my Brazilian Jujutsu aren't ya?""I can beat it," she ground out."You and an MMA Army," I growled back. She was in danger of having me roll her over... then it would be light's out!Right then Rachel and Felix came crashing down on the two of us, breaking my concentration and my hold. The four of us rolled up and separated once more.Rachel moved to Elsa's side while Felix helped me stand."We are running out of time," Felix informed me. We were. That appeared to be Rachel and Elsa's strategy all along. Keep us occupied for the remaining... eighteen minutes... damn was I out of breath and hurting."Switch," Felix tapped me on the forearm. "I got this."He didn't and he knew he didn't. For some god damn unknown reason, Felix was doing a selfless act for the first time in his life and I couldn't comprehend why."She'll destroy you," I pointed out."You're bleeding; badly," he stated, "and failing fast.""Listen to your friend," Rachel interjected herself into the conversation. Worse, she stepped aside and clearly indicated she would let me pass."Rachel!" Elsa snapped."He's earned it. For the past eighty-four days and then some, Cáel has earned; our respect," Rachel reminded us."Okay," I acknowledged the act of kindness. I moved behind Felix so he could screen me from Elsa... then shoved him as hard as I could across the muddy surface toward freedom. The look he sent back my way was priceless. Reluctantly, he looked back once then jogged to the helicopter and the rewards he deserved for surviving against so many for so long; just like me, but without the Goddesses and my troop of ruthless Amazon allies..."Two on one," I joked."No. I've surrendered my trophy," Rachel smile to me was emotionally crushing."Fine," Elsa nodded then, "Let's continue." This time I didn't have a knife.When we collided this time, she didn't hesitate to stab me in the left pectoral; above the heart, but not by much. I failed to catch her wrist and realized I was all out of game. My regeneration couldn't tackle both bleeding wounds and I was beginning to feel woozy.Elsa fell back."Surrender, Cáel ," her own voice had softened."Never surrender," I laughed back then I began to sway.This time as Elsa closed, she went for the grapple as well. I countered as best I could, but my reflexes were slowing down too. I wasn't going to make it then something tackled us both, slamming Elsa into my chest, stunning her."Felix... you came back," I groggily mumbled as Felix hammered Elsa hard, twice in the temple."You would come back for me. I see that now," he confessed. He half pulled, half-dragged me to our waiting chariot. The clock was a 'ticking."Rachel," I looked over to the other combatant. She hadn't started advancing on us like she should have."Go," she waved us away. "Today... today you have won your freedoms. Now go."What honors Rachel had passed over for whatever reasons were unknown to me. I was terrified she had done it out of love for me. Terrified because I felt so unworthy of such devotion and affection.Yet, Felix and I had made it and as the helicopter took off, I could sense the tension leave my body. My wounds were indeed healing and my blood supply, so witlessly spent was returning to me. Felix leaned into me as the nice Epona medic aboard our ride began to administer her traumatic injury training. I winced because it felt appropriate, not because I was allowed to feel any of the passing pain."You are a Runner now," I looked over to Felix. "Welcome aboard.""Sure thing, Ishara.""Ha," I chuckled. "Call me Cáel . You have earned that right.""I imagine there is something to that," he nodded. "Tell me what it is when you get the chance.""I will," I promised. "That and a few thousand other critically important things none one else will bother to teach you. As the saying goes, 'you've earned it'."Thus Ends The First Great HuntNow onto the final chapter of the First Part of Cáel 's journey.By FinalStand for Literotica.

Hometown Radio 07/02/25 4:30p: Chris Siebuhr talks about road safety in Cambria

In this episode, we're joined by Meb Faber. Meb is the co-founder and chief investment officer of Cambria Investment Management. Cambria offers a wide range of investment products, all powered by quantitative research. Meb is also the host of one of our favorite podcasts- the Meb Faber Show, where he interviews investment professionals across disciplines. From quantitative research to practical insights, Meb brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.In this episode, Meb outlines Cambria's core framework—globally diversified beta, a value‑driven tilt, and a powerful dose of trend‑following. He explains the surprisingly strong performance of simple asset allocation strategies, shares his contrarian views on bonds versus T‑Bills, and introduces the unconventional “Donut Portfolio.” Whether you're building a global portfolio or managing multi‑asset strategies, Meb's insights on discipline, diversification, and behavioral biases make this a must‑listen. Get full access to Prometheus Research at www.prometheus-macro.com/subscribe

Here is part two of our annual mid-year draft, rounding out our picks for our 25 favorite new releases of 2025, joined once again by friend of the show Danny Seoane. Timecodes:0:00 - The Life of Chuck11:11 - Psychedelic Porn Crumpets 'Carpe Diem Moonbeam'15:20 - Turnstile 'Never Enough'20:32 - Anxious 'Bambi'23:30 - Lady Gaga 'Mayhem'29:40 - Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World40:30 - Spellling 'Portrait of My Heart'47:50 - Materialists53:26 - Coheed and Cambria 'Vaxis Act III: The Father of Make Believe'1:03:30 - TPD TV1:11:06 - Stereolab 'Instant Holograms on Metal Film'1:14:20 - Honorable Mentions

Elana Gomel is a former senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University, where she also served as department chair for two years. This book investigates the Russian community in Israel, analyzing the narratives through which Russian Jewry defines itself and linking them to the legacy of Soviet history. Gomel is also an award-winning fiction writer and the author of eight novels. The story of post-Soviet Jews in Israel illustrates a broader phenomenon of cultural divergence, in which history shapes distinct identities from a shared origin. In addition to marking a turning point in Israel's development, this story forms part of the larger global landscape shaped by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gomel's book explores Russian immigration to Israel from a cultural rather than purely sociological perspective. It should be noted that the book was originally published in 2009 and serves as a snapshot of the situation 15 years after the massive wave of Russian immigration in the early 1990s. In our discussion, we will try to address some of the changes that have transpired in the country as well as in Elana's views. Elana Gomel, born in Ukraine and currently residing in California, is an academic with a long list of books and articles, an award-winning writer, and a professional nomad. She has taught in Israel, Italy, and the United States, and is known in academia for her (purely theoretical) interest in serial killers, alien invasions, and rebellious AIs. She is the author of more than a hundred stories, several novellas, and five novels of dark fantasy and dark science fiction. Several of her stories have appeared in Best of the Year anthologies. She is a member of the HWA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Elana Gomel is a former senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University, where she also served as department chair for two years. This book investigates the Russian community in Israel, analyzing the narratives through which Russian Jewry defines itself and linking them to the legacy of Soviet history. Gomel is also an award-winning fiction writer and the author of eight novels. The story of post-Soviet Jews in Israel illustrates a broader phenomenon of cultural divergence, in which history shapes distinct identities from a shared origin. In addition to marking a turning point in Israel's development, this story forms part of the larger global landscape shaped by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gomel's book explores Russian immigration to Israel from a cultural rather than purely sociological perspective. It should be noted that the book was originally published in 2009 and serves as a snapshot of the situation 15 years after the massive wave of Russian immigration in the early 1990s. In our discussion, we will try to address some of the changes that have transpired in the country as well as in Elana's views. Elana Gomel, born in Ukraine and currently residing in California, is an academic with a long list of books and articles, an award-winning writer, and a professional nomad. She has taught in Israel, Italy, and the United States, and is known in academia for her (purely theoretical) interest in serial killers, alien invasions, and rebellious AIs. She is the author of more than a hundred stories, several novellas, and five novels of dark fantasy and dark science fiction. Several of her stories have appeared in Best of the Year anthologies. She is a member of the HWA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Elana Gomel is a former senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University, where she also served as department chair for two years. This book investigates the Russian community in Israel, analyzing the narratives through which Russian Jewry defines itself and linking them to the legacy of Soviet history. Gomel is also an award-winning fiction writer and the author of eight novels. The story of post-Soviet Jews in Israel illustrates a broader phenomenon of cultural divergence, in which history shapes distinct identities from a shared origin. In addition to marking a turning point in Israel's development, this story forms part of the larger global landscape shaped by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gomel's book explores Russian immigration to Israel from a cultural rather than purely sociological perspective. It should be noted that the book was originally published in 2009 and serves as a snapshot of the situation 15 years after the massive wave of Russian immigration in the early 1990s. In our discussion, we will try to address some of the changes that have transpired in the country as well as in Elana's views. Elana Gomel, born in Ukraine and currently residing in California, is an academic with a long list of books and articles, an award-winning writer, and a professional nomad. She has taught in Israel, Italy, and the United States, and is known in academia for her (purely theoretical) interest in serial killers, alien invasions, and rebellious AIs. She is the author of more than a hundred stories, several novellas, and five novels of dark fantasy and dark science fiction. Several of her stories have appeared in Best of the Year anthologies. She is a member of the HWA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies

Elana Gomel is a former senior lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University, where she also served as department chair for two years. This book investigates the Russian community in Israel, analyzing the narratives through which Russian Jewry defines itself and linking them to the legacy of Soviet history. Gomel is also an award-winning fiction writer and the author of eight novels. The story of post-Soviet Jews in Israel illustrates a broader phenomenon of cultural divergence, in which history shapes distinct identities from a shared origin. In addition to marking a turning point in Israel's development, this story forms part of the larger global landscape shaped by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gomel's book explores Russian immigration to Israel from a cultural rather than purely sociological perspective. It should be noted that the book was originally published in 2009 and serves as a snapshot of the situation 15 years after the massive wave of Russian immigration in the early 1990s. In our discussion, we will try to address some of the changes that have transpired in the country as well as in Elana's views. Elana Gomel, born in Ukraine and currently residing in California, is an academic with a long list of books and articles, an award-winning writer, and a professional nomad. She has taught in Israel, Italy, and the United States, and is known in academia for her (purely theoretical) interest in serial killers, alien invasions, and rebellious AIs. She is the author of more than a hundred stories, several novellas, and five novels of dark fantasy and dark science fiction. Several of her stories have appeared in Best of the Year anthologies. She is a member of the HWA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/israel-studies

 Laying Pipe: Part 2John continued finding the depths of his neighbors.By Bitterjohnzim. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.  Beth crossed the dark guestroom and slapped me, snapping her hand across my left ear and cheek. I reeled away, half-falling to the bed. I caught her second swing, outlined, now, by the exterior lights.“Beth!” I exclaimed and she stopped straining to strike me. “What the hell are you doing?”Initially, she was silent, struggling to pull her arm from my hand. We both heard the low drone of the shower in the bathroom and she hissed at me, “You were mine.” I pushed her away and flipped the light switch by the veranda door. A lamp on either side of the bed flickered to life. In the low light of the guestroom, I knew how I would look, naked, muscular and hairy, cock still slick from congress with her daughter. Beth, a gorgeous brunette, was flush, her face red and the magnificent swell of her breasts heaving beneath a fitting tan top. Dark skinny jeans cupped her curves and legs, the outfit terminating functionally in dark tennis shoes“You're Tom's.” I stated simply, laying a calming hand on the woman's shoulder.A flash in her eyes- she was honestly angry, “We have an arrangement. Lacey, obviously, isn't a fucking part of it.”Shit. They were in an open marriage. She'd just been fucking around teasing me, before. Uh, until I put it to their daughter.“Beth, she's an adult, we had some fun, there's no reason to be tense, I'm just your friend.” I defended myself.Oh, man, that was the wrong thing to say. Beth jerked, and snagged my wavering dick. Twisting sharply, she demanded, “How are you my friend? We trusted you as a neighbor, I, might, have wanted to screw you, and I catch you fucking my daughter? Is that what friends do?”A moment after the sudden pain started, I wrapped a thick hand around Beth's throat and pushed her onto the bed. Her hand tightened until I squeezed her neck and both of her hands flew to my grip. The hot surge of adrenaline had me hard, and I momentarily felt the coarse denim of Beth's jeans beneath my cock. I was, now, choking a woman who had twisted my dick- after finding me nutting her daughter. What the fuck is my life?I pressed Beth into the bedding and she made, the single horniest noise I've ever heard from a woman. Somewhere between a groan and a purr, she glared at me through lusty eyes. Her breathing was fast and straining. Her flushed cheeks and expression rattled a memory of a deeply submissive former partner. I suddenly suspected Beth had been out on the twilight veranda longer than her surging, violent response implied.Listen to the rest of this story on the audio file.By Bitterjohnzim for Literotica

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 21 Andy's spirits are lifted by an old friend. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 36 Half an hour later, his phone rang and Andy glanced down to see it was Phil calling, a picture of him with the words "Phil The Elder" superimposed over part of it. The poker group actually had two Phils in it,  Phil Marcos and Phil Pak. The two men were dramatically different from one another, but also remarkably similar in others. They shared the same first name, so the group had given them nicknames when they were talking about them if it could've been either of them. Phil Marcos a.k.a. Phil The Elder a.k.a. Greater Phil was 34, Filipino and worked for Boeing with the Air Force at a base in the East Bay, and was certainly the closer friend to Andy. They'd met at a local comic book store just after Andy had moved out to the West Coast, and had hit it off immediately. When Andy had started his poker group up a few years later, Phil was one of the first people Andy had called. Phil Pak, a.k.a. Phil The Younger a.k.a. Lesser Phil was 32, Korean and worked for the NSA out of San Francisco, and not someone they'd seen as often as they liked. For the last couple of years, Lesser Phil had been trying to convince Andy to come work as a data analyst for the NSA in terms of interpretation and extrapolation. Lesser Phil had been a college friend of Eric's, and had been introduced to Andy only a few months after he'd met Greater Phil. While Andy still typically thought of them as Greater and Lesser Phil, he tried not to call them that out loud, and had them as Phil The Elder and Phil The Younger in his phone. Andy asked if it was a common name, and Eric remarked that he knew at least a couple more Phils but none he knew that well. Andy told him he'd had a similar problem with Jennys in high school. "Talk to me, Phil," Andy said to his friend. "You heard the recording. Should I be worried?" "Concerned, yes. Worried, no," Phil sighed. He sounded exhausted on the other end of the line, but as of late, Phil had always sounded exhausted. Whatever he was doing over at the base, it was certainly taking a toll on his friend. "So the good news is that in the long run, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. But that reaction means that Lexi had been infected with the Orange Variant of the DuoHalo virus before we introduced the serum to her body." "The 'Orange Variant?'" "We started naming them after colors, working our way through the spectrum. The Red Variant was first but it died off very quickly, so this is the second one," he grumbled. "But she isn't our first exposure to it, so we know how the serum's going to generally react to it, and what it's going to do to her. There are only two real major differences you're going to need to worry about." "Is she going to be okay?" "I told you, in the long run, it shouldn't make too much of a difference. The two differences you need to pay attention to are this,  first, her margin of error for recursion is far less forgiving. That means don't ever make her go more than a week without getting some Rook juice, if you know what I mean, otherwise she see temporary cognitive decline set in pretty fast, and she'll be ripping your clothes off no matter where you are, so keep that in mind." "Every seven days minimum," Andy repeated, writing it down on a notepad in his writing office. "What's the other major difference I need to worry about?" "It shouldn't even be a concern, but you should still know about it. You know how other men's semen will typically make an imprinted woman ill?" "Sure?" "Those who've been exposed to the Orange Variant, if they come in contact with the semen of a man other than those they're imprinted with, they go into a violent fit of rage, attacking anyone other than their imprinted man on sight. Those rage fits tend to be relatively short lived,  only a hour at most,  but they're still incredibly dangerous and not the kind of thing you want sprung on you as a surprise." "And this is my bodyguard who has this," Andy sighed. "Oh it's fine," Phil chuckled. "She won't harm you, and you know how to protect your family better than anyone. I think anyone who tried to use it as a weakness against Lexi would probably not live to regret it. She'll also be imprinting for longer than normal, so if she's sleeping for like a day and a half, don't worry about it. That's to be expected." "You doing okay, Phil?" Andy asked. "You look like shit, and I'm more worried about you now than I am Lexi." Phil sighed then laughed a little bit. "You know me. I'll sleep when I'm dead. Lots of long days in the office turning into long nights, and on top of that, Audrey and Linda are making sure that I have several partners as well, so that my immunity to DuoHalo continues to be strong. We're not entirely sure of the science of it yet, but it looks like the more people inside a particular polypod, the stronger the internal herd immunity the male at the center get is. Once we knew that for certain, my two queens made sure I had a good litter of partners in our household. So I'm up to eleven myself now." "I still can't believe I'm a level five and you're not, Phil," Andy said, deliberately testing a theory by trying to bait it out of his friend. "Okay, Andy, you got me," Phil said with amusement. "I'm also a level five. I was lying to you earlier, for security reasons. In fact, I think technically I was one of the first level fives. I've also technically had DuoHalo, but I can't really get into the details of that all that much. Let's just say that when we're finally through this whole pandemic, I'm going to have a bunch of stories to tell you that will blow your mind. I probably have to get clearance for you so that I can tell you some of them, but it'll be worth it." "I've always known you were up to something over there, Phil," Andy laughed. "I just couldn't figure out what it was." "Greater Phil, International Man of Mystery. It's got a nice ring to it." "Speaking of Mystery. Poker, this week. Let's do it." "Yeah, sure," Phil said. "I could use a break, so you call everyone else, and I'll make a point of coming over with as much of the family as I can convince to come out, although it has that weird side effect of making every poker night feel like a giant party where we're all hiding from our wives. Maybe we should see if there's enough interest to set up a second table and we can mix and match, so you can spend a bit more time meeting my partners and vice versa." "Well, you see Niko all the time, what with her being at your work, so you probably know her about as well as I do." "That girl's got secrets upon secrets, Andy." That caught him a little off guard. He wasn't bothered by it, but he was amused at the idea of her trying to hide something from him. "Niko? My Niko? I can't see it. She's open and transparent about everything with me." "Sure, okay. Didn't you feel that way about Erin?" "That was different?" "Was it though?" Phil said in a tone that immediately conjured the Smug Thor meme to his mind. "I mean, sure, Niko's secrets are probably being kept from you for the right reasons, as opposed to Erin's, but secrets are secrets." "The last thing I need is you making me more paranoid, Phil." "Forget I said anything. Oh, one last bit of news for you. Maya won't be there until tomorrow midday. Turns out she's also got the Orange Variant, so we're making sure the serum is getting a good foothold before we send her over to you. It's all just safety precautions, but it'll be over soon enough." "Great. We can do poker night on the 20th, so we can all watch the President's speech and the 60 Minutes story together." "Sounds like fun," Phil agreed. "Hopefully Katie Couric's team caught my good side. See you on Friday." As Andy hung up the phone, he noticed that Whitney was lingering in the doorway. She was dressed impeccably in a white button up shirt and a black pencil skirt with black pantyhose on beneath, and the shirt was just barely thin enough that he could see hints of her red bra on underneath. "Have you got a moment, sir?" "Sure thing, Whitney, what's up?" "Just wanted to go over the set up work I've done for the house so you know what's going on, and to ask you a few questions so I can start the process of replacing your laptop for you," she said, her hands folded together in front of her, her eyes mostly lowered. "Sounds great, but Whitney, you don't have to look down all the time. I know you're more used to a stern hand than I am, and I'll do my best to be what you like when we're intimate, but when you're acting in your duties as the house IT manager, you need to relax a little more and try to fit in." Whitney smirked a little bit, those dark red lips perked up as she lifted her head, nodding at him with a little smile. "Oh, I know, sir. I think I mostly just wanted to see if you would notice. Shall we?" For the next half an hour, Whitney explained to him in good detail all the changes she'd gone about to the house in the last day, getting all the rooms configured to work within the house's larger intranet. As it turned out, there were multiple LAN ports in the walls of every room in the house, it seemed like, and once again, Andy found himself wondering who this house had been built for originally. In addition to making sure all the ports were working, Whitney had also set up wireless hubs and repeaters all throughout the house, enough so that no matter where a person was in the house, they should always have a good signal to the internet. The house's security systems ran on an entirely separate network, one with minimal external connectivity, and Whitney said that she would work with Lexi to make sure the system was up to whatever standards his new head of security had in mind. They walked while they talked, and outside in the back, Andy could see Katie astride her riding lawn mower, zipping in lines across the monstrous amount of green grass in his back yard, making sure to get all of it cut even and levelly. He could also see Tala hauling things into the back house with the help of Nicolette, who had ditched the maid outfit for the time being for a more practical set of blue jeans and a baggy t shirt covered in paint splotches. All of the changes, Whitney assured him, had been done with minimal disruption to anyone's work in the house, and she'd been trying to get as much of it today, as it was a Sunday. The last thing they talked about was his replacement laptop, something that Andy was remarkably picky about. Oh, he didn't care about the things most people cared about,  when it came to processors and memory, Andy insisted none of that mattered to him,  but the thing he was adamant about was that the keyboard feel as close to the one on the laptop he was currently using, an eight year old IBM ThinkPad. Too many keyboards were difficult to use for long periods at a time, and considering how many words Andy found himself putting into his laptop on a daily basis, if the keyboard was unwieldy, the laptop might as well be non existent. Whitney made a special note that "keyboard feel" was of the utmost import, and she insisted to him, she would do her best to get him a good replacement within a week or so. She had already begun backing up all the files from his existing laptop to the house's master network, as well as to a backup kept in a fire safe, so that even if disaster struck, he would still have his work in a safe location. Andy did tell her that she didn't have to work full time on the weekends, and that she should make a point of getting settled into her own room, and spending some time catching up with her friend Nicolette who had brought her here. Whitney had smiled at that, and agreed to go get changed so she could help Tala move in, and then they could all help Whitney get moved in afterwards. He was starting to walk back towards his office when he ran into Lauren, clearly just back from a jog around the neighborhood, sweaty and out of breath, a big smile on her face. "Hey there, fella, just the bloke I was lookin' to have a moment with. Got a snip?" He grinned, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sure, what's up?" "I've been thinking, and I think maybe we should let Taylor off the hook now," she said, looking down at her feet for a second. "I know, I know, I was the one who set the whole month punishment in place but, strewth, seeing her walking around naked all the time is starting to make me feel bad. I'm thinking she's learned her lesson, and she knows she's got lots of trust to earn back from me, so I'm only keeping her from getting to spend time learning more about all the other amazing sheilas you have in this house, and that's not fair of me." "I agree," Andy chuckled, "but I didn't want to be the one to tell you, seeing how fire and brimstone you were about the whole thing when you set the rules in place." "Strewth," she muttered. "Was it really that much a dunnybrook?" "I was a little worried the heavens were going to part and you were going to call down lightning bolts from the skies," he said, the smile wide on his face. "Real wrath of god type shit." "Bugger. Anyway, you should tell'er that you've talked me down, and that you laid down the law, and you decided, and eventually I relented, that she is done with that punishment and should just join the family like all the other birds. Make it clear you decided, not me, so I still get to keep a bit of that big scary reputation." Andy rolled his eyes but nodded. "Sure sure, you'll look mean. You'll look really scary. Anyway, I'll go find her and tell her while you're hopping into the shower." "Stink that bad, do I?" "Your sweatstains have got sweatstains, Lauren," he said with a laugh as he was backing away from her, while she mimed punching motions in his direction. He wasn't certain where he'd find Taylor in the house, so he decided just to go wandering the halls and see where he stumbled into her. He found her in Hannah's room, where she, Asha and Hannah were sitting on the bed, gossiping. Asha and Hannah hadn't bothered to change out of their pajamas, enjoying a lazy Sunday, while Taylor sat nude with her back against the wall. One of his two cats, Muninn, the Russian blue, was sitting on the bed near Asha, who was petting him idly. All three girls tensed a little bit when he entered the room,  Taylor wasn't supposed to be sitting up on furniture unless Lauren or himself had told her to do so, but Andy hadn't really followed the rules at all, and had made it clear multiple times that Taylor's 'punishment,' such as it was, was mostly for Lauren's mollification, and that if Taylor slipped on the rules from time to time while she wasn't around, he didn't particularly care. "No no, don't get up, Taylor, it's fine," he said, coming into the room. "In fact, it's what I came to talk to you about." "You need to get Nicolette to turn up the house furnace, babe," Asha said to him. "If I'd ta walk around all day in me skivvies, I know I'd be freezin'." "Totally, Daddy," Hannah said. He'd repeatedly told her that she didn't have to call him that (in fact, going so far as to hint that it made him a little uncomfortable when she did) but she had repeatedly answered that she liked calling him that, so she wasn't going to stop any time soon. At least she knew enough not to do it when other people were around the house. "We're just talkin' anyway, so I told her to hop up here, so if you gotta punish someone, it should be me." "You look far too eager when you suggest that, Hannah," he told the Asian teenager. "Anyway, I had a talk with Lauren just a little bit ago. I told her this is my house, and I'm in charge, and that I've decided you've served this part of your punishment long enough. You're free to get dressed, wear clothes around the house, sleep wherever you want, sit wherever you want. You can get your phone back, and you can start working with Lauren at the 49ers camp whenever you feel like you're ready. You're a full member of the household now, and there's no reason for this silly punishment to go on any further. And you can certainly take off that ridiculous dog collar." Taylor's bright blue eyes had been focused on him the entire time he'd been talking, and she slipped off the bed quickly to throw her arms around him, pressing those impressive tits of hers against his chest as she hugged him very tightly, clinging to him, even as he could hear her sniffling back some tears. "Thank you, Andy," she said quietly. "I know Lauren's still mad at me, but this has been really hard, being made to feel like less than a person." He wrapped his arms around her, patting her bare back. "I know, and I get that, but you also have to realize that cheating on her hurt her in a way she'd never been hurt before, and that won't go away fully for a long long time. Just because you're done with all of this doesn't mean you're done with all of that. I know you know that, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded that you're going to be repairing that damage between you two for years to come. You screwed up, but there's a way back from that, as long as you're willing to put in the work and learn from your mistakes." Taylor pulled back, looking at him as something just dawned on her. "So, wait, all the rules have been lifted? Like all all of them?" He tilted his head a little. "Yyyyes? Why, is there one in particular you're asking about?" "So, like, next time, y'know, when me and you, then we can,” He bit back a smile and nodded. "Yes, yes we can. And if you want to masturbate again, you're welcome to start doing that too." She shook her head over dramatically once then leaned in to kiss him. "After we've had our first time together, our first real time together, then I will, but I want the first thing inside of my cunt after all this time to be your cock. If that's okay," she said, biting her lip nervously. "Of course it's okay. I think your next day in the rotation was going to be the 20th, but if you want, we can try and find some time before then instead. It can even be just the two of us, without Lauren around, if that's what you want." She pouted again for a moment. "Anything I want?" "Well, within my usual limits, but sure." She slipped her arms away from him, and turned back to look at Asha and Hannah, extending a hand to each of them. "I want the four of us together, for my first time normally with you, Andy," she said, as Asha took one hand and Hannah took the other. "Oh rrrrreally?" Asha said, dragging the sound out, her London accent dripping through the word. "All four of us together? Sounds like a spot of fun. I'm game if you are, Whiskers," she said, looking over at Hannah with a smile. "Anything you can throw at me, I can totally handle, Goldfish," Hannah shot back at her friend. Clearly the girls had developed nicknames for each other when he wasn't around. "I was supposed to have tomorrow night, Daddy, so instead of it just being me, it'll be all three of us, if that's totally cool and shit." "Yeah, that's, ahem, totally cool. And shit." He leaned in to give Taylor a quick kiss, but she kissed him back harder than expected, and it lasted longer than he'd planned, not that he minded. "And you, young lady, should get some clothes on, and maybe unpack your stuff, whether that's in your own room or in Lauren's room, that's up to you." "Oh it totally all goes in with Lauren," Taylor said. "I don't even want my own room. Either I'm in her bed or yours. You want to come help me move in, girls?" "You couldn't stop us, love," Asha said. "Last one there has a smelly cunt!" Hannah said as she bolted towards the door, Asha and Taylor just a step or two behind her. "Y'know," Andy said to himself and the cat, "I feel like I should've yelled that there's no running in the house after them, but I just know it wouldn't have done any good." "Meow," Muninn said to him in response. "Oh hush," Andy said. "What the hell do you know?" "Meow," Muninn agreed. "Damn straight." After leaving Hannah's room, he was halfway down the hall when he ran into Sarah, who was wearing one of his t shirts, one for a band called Stereophonics, and sweatpants beneath it, her hair done up in the least stylish ponytail he'd ever seen from her, as if she'd just put her red mane up to get it out of the way for a while. "Hey you," she said, her pearly white smile beaming at him. "Maya should be here any minute, and I know you're just gonna love her." "I actually spoke to Phil a little bit ago, and she's not going to be here until tomorrow, but she's still coming, don't you worry." He explained the Orange Variant to her, and while she was a little disappointed that her friend's arrival would be delayed, she understood that Maya's health was the most important thing, and the base didn't want to let her out of their sight until she was ready. "What've you been up to today?" She rolled her oceanic blue eyes at him with a big harumph. "Reading screenplays that my agent sent over, trying to pick my next project. It's looking like everyone's going to want to do serialized television right now, because they can get more content out of smaller budgets, but so many of these stories are just so boring," she groaned. "It's like my agent's only sending me the same stuff." "Well," he said, taking her hand in his as they walked down the hallway, "tell your agent what you want then, whether that's more drama, more action, more comedy, more whatever it is you want more of. They only know what you want when you tell them. I had to learn the same lesson with my literary agent early on." She squeezed his hand thankfully. "My agent really should know better, but you're right. I can get her on the hunt for the kinds of things I want to be doing. You know there aren't really any good spy stories on television right now? I should see if she can get me something like that. I'll give her a call tomorrow, see if maybe she can reach out to the production companies, see who's already got projects winding up I can try and piggyback onto." They walked past the door of Emily and Sarah's workspace, and Andy noticed it was closed. He pointed with his other hand at the closed door as they kept on walking. "Em in some kind of meeting?" Sarah nodded. "London based production company wanted to reach out to her, so she's taking the call today, but she should be out in an hour or so." The doorbell rang, and Sarah arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you said Maya wouldn't be here until tomorrow." "That's what Phil told me," he said, as the two of them started to head downstairs, although Andy could hear someone answering the door, followed by a loud squeal of recognition. When they came down the stairs, Andy could see it was Piper who'd answered the door, and she had her arms wrapped around a short blonde girl, hugging her tightly. "Andy! Sarah! Brooke's here!" Piper said to them, swinging the shorter girl around a bit. "That's great, but I thought she was  " "Surprise, man!" Xander said as he stepped in through the doorway. Andy let go of Sarah's hand and rushed down the rest of the stairs, suddenly stopping about six feet away from the door. "Are you...?" "Paired with three people this morning, so I'm 100% safe as houses," his tattooed friend said. Once he'd gotten the word 'paired' out, Andy had continued rushing his best friend, wrapping his arms around the burly guy, giving him a hell of a hug. "Oh Jesus, it's good to know you're safe, man," Andy sighed. "And it's so fucking good to see you. I know we hung out last December, but fuck, these eleven months have felt like five fucking years,” "Glad to see my mouth's rubbing off on you," Sarah laughed, closing the distance to meet them. "Xander, these are my partners Piper Brown and Sarah Washington, both of whom you've talked to a bit through FaceTime. Piper, Sarah, this is my best and oldest friend, Xander Baker, whom I've known since we were both, like, what, 6?" Xander laughed, nodding. "6, 7, something like that. However old we were in kindergarten." "Not very," Andy said. "Not enough!" Xander replied. "Anyway, Andy, Sarah, this is my soon to be partner Brooke Maloney, whom I have your partner Piper to thank for." "Well," Piper laughed, "I'd originally pitched her to come here and be Andy's partner, but he realized she'd be a much better fit for you, considering how much you both love classic cars, although really, I think it was just so he didn't have to hear her singing Vince Gill songs around the house all the time, 'cause she does that a lot, and I hope they warned you about that, Xander." "She can be singing Vince Gill while I'm singing Wu Tang Clan, and somewhere in the middle, over the engine of a Dodge Charger, I think we can make it work," Xander said. "Honestly, Pipes," Brooke said to her, "the only reason he said soon to be is because I wanted to come over and say thank you to y'all, and let Xander have a bit of time with his friend before we got to bumpin' uglies. But all the other gals in his house have just been so sweet, y'all, I can't wait for you to meet'em." "Why don't Piper and I give you a tour of the place, Brooke," Sarah said, "and the boys can do a little bit of catching up. You want me to have Jenny bring drinks to you out on the patio, hun?" "Yeah," Andy said, "I'll take a pina colada. Xander?" "Just a Corona." Sarah nodded. "Drinks coming up! This way ladies!" she said, marching them down towards the kitchen first. "Jesus Andy," Xander said quietly. "You really bagged Sarah Washington. I mean, I know I've talked to her vidchat, but seeing her in person like this,” "Seriously, I don't deserve this much luck," Andy said with a chuckle as he started to lead his best friend towards the back patio. "Oh fuck you," Xander teased. "You deserve exactly this much luck. Our entire lives, I've been watching you do good things for people left and right and never asking for so much as a thank you in return, and this is what karma has brought you, dude, so live a little. Enjoy it." As they moved out onto the patio, Xander shook his head. "I will say, however, that my house isn't quite as big as yours is. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fucking palace compared to that one bedroom shithole I lived in back in Ohio, but I'm just saying,” Andy rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You know I didn't pick the places myself, right jackass?" "I guess so," Xander said, as the two men moved to sit down on deck chairs near the pool. It was cool for November but not so cold that either man felt like they needed to add layers, both having grown up in the Midwest, where California winters would be considered nice spring days. "God, I'm really here. It's wild, man." "It's great having you out here, Xander. Jesus, the stories I have to tell you. You're here early, though. I didn't expect you out here for at least a few more days." "Turns out these DuoHalo Variants are pretty intense," Xander sighed, "and since they were pairing me up with someone in the military, they wanted to make sure I got hooked into the system as quickly as they could, so everything got very rush rush rush. When you told me to be ready to go at a moment's notice, you weren't kidding. As soon as we finished up that conversation, I started packing, and just barely got done before they showed up to cart me away. They're even taking care of selling my house for me, although I suspect it's just going to become government housing or something." "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me," Andy agreed. "God, it's good to have you here, man." "Well if it isn't my favorite hoodrat," Fiona said, carrying out a tray with three drinks on it, setting it down on a table as Xander immediately got up and hugged him hard. "How you been, lunkhead?" "Better now that I know you made it here okay, muckraker," he teased back. "How the hell you been Fi?" "Better now that I know you ditched that crazy ex of yours," she laughed. "Can I say it?" "Oh I think you've earned it." "I told you that girl was no good." "You did indeed tell me that," Xander agreed, taking his bottle of Corona from the drinks tray, as Andy grabbed his pina colada and Fi grabbed a tall glass of wine. "Hey hey hey, the gang's all back," Fi said with a smile. "To old friends and new flames." "To life, liberty and us getting through this fucking plague together," Xander toasted. "To family," Andy corrected. "To family!" they all toasted together, clinking glasses. Piper has a confession to make.. Chapter 37 The conversation had gone far into the evening, with members of the household coming in and out several times, joining for a while before leaving the trio to their own devices once more, mostly anyway, a couple of Andy's partners choosing to remain longer. Sarah and Aisling in particular were intent on getting as many stories about Andy's youth as they could, and he felt a little like they hoped either Xander or Fiona would tell them embarrassing tales from their college years. While Fi had been mostly coy about the years they'd spent at university, Xander, by contrast, had been eager to tell at least a handful of hilarious and ridiculous stories about the troubles they'd found themselves in during their misspent youth. Despite how flustered he got a couple of times, it was a wonderful night of reminiscing, and a chance for the girls to see Andy in a different light. A piece of advice Andy had never let go of was that as you got older, it was almost important to keep people around you who knew you when you were young and fearless. At least a few times, he'd managed to deflect the conversation off himself and onto other people, a detour letting both Sarah and Emily talk about their experiences making movies, and Xander talking about the process of being relocated from Ohio out to California. Xander's trip had been surprisingly surreal, and he told the group about it in explicit detail. He'd been loaded into an isolation chamber on a cargo plane along with twenty other men, each in their own little plastic bubble tent, although each of the tent also had curtains that could be dropped for privacy. Xander told them he'd found that odd but understood why eventually. The plane had been mostly full of men when it picked Xander up in Ohio. The little isolation chamber was like a emergency field hospital's clean room, with a mattress on the floor as well as a few days of rations, both food and water, and a little sealable chemical toilet. Nearly everything was ziptied to weights to keep it steady. There was also a little headset that connected to a series of voice chat channels all the men could use to talk to one another. The main channel had been too hectic for Xander to stay in for more than a handful of minutes, but he'd eventually peeled off a couple of the men in the plane into a separate channel, and was able to both give them some information and get some on his own. All of the men on the plane had been gathered from cities in the central and eastern United States, and were being ferried out to partners, generally military but some in other branches of the government, and they weren't being let out of their isolation chambers until they'd been paired up with at least one woman, thus, the beds and the privacy curtains. At least a couple of the pods had not only men in them, but also a woman in the middle of the imprinting process . The government didn't want to risk the life of any man, so this was an emergency plan decided to keep as many people as they could safe. The two men Xander spent the afternoon talking with were Klaus, a 26 year old Master Sergeant from Georgia that Xander felt like was probably in special ops of some kind, and Bill, a 34 year old schoolteacher from Tennessee who was being paired up with a prominent Silicon Valley businesswoman he'd dated back in high school. Klaus clearly knew far more than he wanted to share with Xander and Bill, but he'd done his best to give the two men some information to make their journey a little less panic stricken. There were two women in the isolation chamber with Klaus, a twenty year old blonde named Olivia and a twenty two year old Korean American named Naya, or so Klaus told them, as both women were still in the middle of the imprinting process. The man was part of the security forces for the flying hospital that was transporting men and women around the country. He knew what he could and couldn't tell Xander and Bill, and just having a conversation with Klaus had made Xander feel more safe in their travels. He had a calm and casual demeanor to him while discussing how everything had been carefully planned, even if it all felt pretty slapdash. He couldn't answer all of their questions, for security reasons, but he told the two men that the airplane had basically been in motion nonstop for the last three weeks, doing its best to ferry people around the nation. Xander had asked him if it was truly necessary, only to be told how high the casualty rate was for men around the nation. Klaus had seen the stacks of bodies, and the man sounded rattled when he described the hundreds of empty apartments he'd seen in his native Queens, as the corpses had filled up dump trucks, and they'd had to conceal the bodies as they were taking them out in the dead of night. Klaus told them he'd been in a biohazard suit for most of the last week, but now that he had two partners, he would be able to go out and provide an escort for everyone going to and from the plane, although he planned to return to his isolation room with his two partners in between each stop they made. From Ohio they flew down to Nebraska, stopping at Offut Air Force Base, where they picked up a handful of soldiers and dropped off a handful of women. Bill had asked Klaus how long they'd been running these routes. Klaus said they'd been running for a few weeks now, and they were only one of five planes that were crisscrossing the nation. Olivia and Naya had both been brought into the inoculation center in Denver earlier and then swapped planes to meet up with him in New York, where they'd met up after he'd returned bringing in another stable of surviving men. All privacy had basically gone out the window. Klaus told him that most of the men had the option to wait until they were in a house or an apartment or something, but Klaus had been told by his commanding officer that they couldn't spare him that much time, so he needed to just get on with his business on the plane so he could get back to work as soon as he was done. By the time they'd touched down at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Bill had been just about ready to break out into full fledged panic, between the constant shift in air pressure, the take offs and landings done without proper seatbelts and his inability to go anywhere that wasn't his little sealed off compartment, but a quick talking to from Xander had gotten the man to cool down at least a little bit. They were barely on the ground in Nevada an hour, taking people off and bringing new people on, as well as refueling the plan, before taking off again, landing at Oakland airport a few hours later under the cover of night. Their cellphones had been taken from them when they'd arrived at the plane, so Xander had been forced to guess at the time, but he would've placed their arrival in Oakland at something around 2 a.m. or so, although the lock in had made it impossible to use traffic as a gauge. In Oakland, everyone had been taken from their individual compartments and loaded onto a large troop transport truck, with no caution given to cross contamination or infection, as they were all told they would be getting paired up within a few hours, so even if they caught DuoHalo now, it wouldn't matter. Xander had been concerned by that but he had decided to go along with it, because Klaus seemed to consider the whole thing fine, and he was the one loading people onto the trucks. The trucks had ferried them from Oakland up to a staging area next to the lab near Mount Diablo, just adjacent to New Eden, and once there, they'd been introduced to their new partners and from there, sorted into where they were going to go. The building they were using as a staging area felt like a converted aircraft hangar, with a high curved metal ceiling and big fluorescent lights hanging high above them. Although there were some tented parts of the space, similar to what had been inside the cargo hold of the airplane that had brought him here, most of the space was open, with long painted striped lines on the ground, leading people through the processing. Men weren't being given any injections, something Xander had thought was odd, until all the men were given a five minute lecture on "Your New Reality," something that the men were told to take deadly seriously. The lecture included basic things like how they would be receiving their vaccinations (sexually transmitted from their new partners), how their partners would need sexual satisfaction about once a week or so, how their semen would be toxic to any woman they weren't paired with, and how if they ever felt like they were coming down with the symptoms of DuoHalo they should have sex with one of their partners immediately, which would resolve them. At the point when the men had been told that their semen would be toxic to any woman they weren't paired with, a handful of the men had quietly jeered and rolled their eyes, but the next slide in the presentation showed a wound on a woman's arm that had silenced all that nonsense quickly. The end of the lecture included a video message from President Pelosi, urging the men to consider fatherhood like a new version of the World War 2 draft,  every man needed to do his service to help save the country. Extensive tax breaks and financial aid would be provided to families with multiple children, it was stressed. The country needed to be rebuilt. As soon as the lecture was done, they'd been marched single file to a series of processing windows, over a dozen clerks taking people's names and social security numbers before assigning them a holding area to head over to, where they would meet their partners. A sticker was placed on their chest before they were sent on their way. It had all felt very assembly line, as if there wasn't time for kindness or courtesies, and people were simply being pushed through the grinder as quickly as possible. Klaus had joked around with them on the ride over that while it might seem rough, it was being done for optimal performance in getting people in and through the system and into their new lives, wherever they may be. Xander had heard several different locations mentioned,  the San Jose highrises, the Stanford campus, the Berkeley campus, the SF towers, the Altamont sprawl, the Tracy ghosttown,  but when it came time for him to be told where to go, he was told he wouldn't need to go far, as he was being assigned to Dos Eden, the first expansion zone to New Eden. He'd been given four partners on site, with one more to be waiting for him at the location. They'd been waiting for him in the holding area assigned to him, each having arrived sometime over the previous day, so they'd all had a chance to get to know one another. Letting the women have some time to bond in advance of the man's arrival seemed smart to Xander, as they could size each other up without having to worry about keeping their new mate's attention. The women had also been given their injections in the holding area, and so Xander assumed the spaces had also doubled as observation areas, making sure none of the women had suffered any adverse reactions to their injections the day before. Captain Betsy Ross had turned out to be a complete knockout, a blonde pint size pocket rocket dynamo who was training men nearly twice her size in hand to hand close quarters combat, and they had clicked immediately, almost as if they were custom made for each other. She'd kissed him hard enough to nearly knock him off his feet before he'd even been able to say hello. The second woman had been Serena Ortiz, a Latina woman in her late twenties who was a U.S. Marshall, and had built a career out of tracking down fugitives. Tall and statuesque, she had a certain grace to how she'd moved, he'd noticed immediately. She'd spent the past few hours talking with Betsy before Xander's arrival, and the two already had a friendly relationship, having bonded over the fact that they could both kick Xander's ass if needed. The third was a slender blonde woman in her late 30s who had looked hauntingly familiar before her introduction, but Xander had struggled to place her, even after she identified herself as Alicia Geller. When she'd told Xander that he would likely know the role she'd played in her youth, Rascal Rachel, that had made it all come together immediately. Alicia was a child actress who had been the star of a popular kids show until she'd grown out of it and the show had been canceled. Instead of continuing acting, she had retired from show business and gone into education, teaching history to high school students. She seemed a little shy, but had assured him that once they'd had time to get to know one another, she would come out of her shell. The final one on site had been Brooke, and she'd detailed the story to him how her friend Piper was paired up with Andy, and that they had recommended Brooke pair up with Xander, so she had. She'd been wearing a Shelby GT Cobra necklace when they met, and Xander had known it was going to work out just fine. A second sticker was placed on his chest and the girls were told to stay with him, as everyone was sorted into lines and sent towards trucks. Most of the trucks were large troop transports, but Xander had been surprised to see that the vehicle he and his partners were set to was much smaller, and they were the only group loaded up onto it. He'd felt a little bad, since really they could've just been loaded up into an Escalade, him, his four new partners and the MP driving them over to their new home. On the way over, the MP delivered the final set of instructions to Xander, as to why his fifth partner hadn't been waiting for him at the base and was, instead, at the new home. Her name was KC Kadrey, and she was a 20 year old Vietnamese American student over at Stanford, studying mechanical engineering. She'd needed to get her injections a couple of days prior, and there had been some concerns that she might simply just grab the first man she saw and go after him, so she'd been taken to their new home and allowed to settle in. But, the MP warned him, it meant that she might be a bit intense when they arrived. She'd also brought her golden retriever with her, and keeping the large dog at the staging area had seemed problematic. Xander, like all the men who'd been on the airplane, had been forced to travel light, a single wheelie suitcase all he'd been allowed to bring with him. All of his things that had been picked up in Ohio would show up at some point within the next few weeks as the truck conveying them drove cross country, but until they, he would have to make due with the things he had. Xander had been forced to argue with the people picking him up that the one car he'd been restoring, a black 1970 Barracuda, would be part of the things taken to his new home, and while the discussion had gotten a little heated, eventually the people picking him up had relented and loaded it into the truck with the rest of his stuff. Each of the women had a similar amount of things with them, and when they arrived at their new home, they all felt woefully unprepared. Dos Eden was technically part of New Eden, but it was an expansion to the original enclave, and the dwellings there were much more of nice houses than they were the sorts of mansions and manors that made up New Eden itself. The MP driving them over had said she lived in Dos Eden, and she was incredibly thankful, as it meant having a family was a distinct possibility, while the people in many of the other locations were going to be doing lots of relocating and readjusting over the next few years. Those in the tower condo buildings were generally being given an entire floor to themselves, and as needed walls would be knocked down and units combined as families expanded. The views were nice, the MP told them, but it just didn't feel like a home. When they pulled up to the house just around dawn, Xander was a little surprised by it. They had told him not to expect a grandiose mansion, but the home was far nicer than any place he'd ever lived in before, a two story building with five bedrooms and four bathrooms, so not enough that each person had their own bedroom, but they would make it work, all of them agreed. It was mostly glass walls, and Xander found himself thankful for the ring of trees, and the high fences, that would provide him with at least a little privacy from his neighbors, who were only a short walk away on either side. It had a three car garage, and Xander was told there were new Teslas charging inside for them. (Xander immediately planned to turn one of the three garage spaces into his own little workshop where he'd continue restoring the Barracuda.) The driveway was long enough that they would be able to comfortably fit at least four more cars out front if needed. The place had its own pool with hot tub, however, something Xander was astonished to find. He'd never lived in a place with a pool before, and now his home had one. They'd barely gotten in the door before KC had rushed Xander, practically mauling him with love in the entry way to the home. She'd been coherent enough to talk with him, the two of them moving into the master bedroom before he'd had sex with her and she'd fallen into her imprinting process. The other girls had moved into the bedroom somewhere in the middle of their tryst and Betsy had immediately insisted on going second, having stripped down while watching Xander and KC. Alicia had gone third, leaving him with only Serena and Brooke conscious. The three of them had taken a shower together, and somewhere in the middle of the shower, Serena had decided she couldn't wait any further, and had gone through part of the process in the shower and the rest bent over the bathroom countertop. As much as he wanted to, he told Brooke that he was going to need a while before he could imprint her, his entire body more than a little exhausted, as the chemicals from the four women had been flowing through his bloodstream, giving him immunity from DuoHalo and doing some rather significant changes to his body. Brooke had laughed and just suggested they go over to visit Andy and Piper, which brought them up to now. "Fuckin' hell," Andy laughed. "No fucking wonder you look exhausted, Xan. How much have you slept in the last two days?" "Oh, we took a nap after we settled into the house, and I slept a bit on the plane while it was hauling our asses through the skies," his best friend said with a chuckle. "So yeah not as much as I should but more than I do some days. Was your experience similar, Fi?" Fiona's journey had been very similar, with her and Moira catching an earlier flight out of Washington a few days ago, although their plane had made only one additional stop before landing in Oakland, their plane having gone straight from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, where many of the men in the chambers had been unloaded and several women had been loaded on board. Because Fi and Moira had been traveling together, they'd had each other to talk with and neither had felt especially lonely during the voyage. Fi even admitted they had spent much of the time talking about Andy, speculating how much he might or might not have changed over the years. As the hour grew late, Brooke returned to the main room with Piper, suggesting she and Xander head home, reminding the two old friends that they now lived less than fifteen minutes apart, and could see each other as often as they wanted to, but Andy and Xander still hugged for a long minute, thankful to have reconnected on the other side of the disaster, before they walked the two to the door and sent them home. Several of the girls had peeled off and gone to bed over the course of the evening, and at the end of the night, the only people still awake were Andy, Piper and Sarah. Aisling had been the very last to go to bed before reminding Sarah not to stay up too late, otherwise she would be too tired to talk to Maya when she arrived tomorrow, but Sarah had laughed it off and dismissed it. After closing the door behind Xander, he walked back down stairs, intending to clean up the remaining empty beer bottles and glasses left behind in the living room, only to find that Nicolette had beaten him to it, having cleaned it all up and then disappearing into her room for the night, so he couldn't even say thank you to her. "I swear, we've got a ninja for a French maid around this house," he muttered to himself with amusement. Huginn, his black cat, stood up from his perch on the back of one of the couches, stretched by arching his back, then moved to sit back down exactly where he was. "I feel ya, bud," he agreed with the cat. "We should probably see about getting to bed, don't you think, ladies?" Piper shook her head, pushing Andy back to sit down on the couch. "Not for a bit. You can sleep when you're dead," she said with a grin. "Don't you agree, Sarah?" "Oh totally," the tall redhead said, moving to slide in to one side of Andy on the couch. "You lose one third of your life sleeping, well, I mean I guess you don't really lose it since you have to sleep otherwise you'll go insane, but it's, like, a lot a lot of time to be spending doing just one thing." "Besides, I have to say thank you for making sure you brought my best friend to be nearby so I didn't feel so lonely all the time," Piper said, peeling her shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside, leaving her in a sports bra and tight fitted blue jeans, her toned stomach bared to the cool night air. "We've been kinda dancing around each other for the last few weeks, Andy, and I don't want you to think I'm not grateful, because I'm very thankful for all the things you've done for me since we've met." "Piper, you don't have  " he started before she lifted her hand up to cover his mouth, "Andy, enough," she giggled. "You can just say 'you're welcome' when you're being thanked for something, you know. You don't have to try and play down the work that went into it." He smirked a little bit, as she pulled her hand back. "I just don't want you to feel like you owe me anything." "Oh, but Andy, I do owe you," she said, bending down to press a kiss to his lips, just a soft and quick one. "You got me away from that asshole Covington. When I couldn't think straight, you did everything you could to bring me back to being me again, and that's not something anyone would do." She inhaled the scent of him, and he could swear he saw her pupils dilate a little in response. "You remember how I told you I could smell you from far away? I still can, but the raw musk of you is even more intense up close, and I fucking love how you smell, you sexy bastard. It makes me feel warm and safe and gooey and sticky and protected all at once. And I know that at least some of that is just the chemicals flowing through my brain bonding me to you, but you know what?" She leaned in and nibbled on his earlobe a little bit. "I've decided that I don't fucking care why I feel how I feel. I feel how I feel and that's all that fucking matters. You've kept me safe. You've given me space when I wanted it, and been happy to talk with me when I needed that. You helped me get my friend here and kept her safe, and as soon as you thought it was time, you pushed my ass to get back to work and reminded me not to give up on my dreams. So don't you dare fucking tell me I don't have to repay you, because even if you don't think that I do, I do, and I want to." "You're the only one of the girls who says she can smell me anywhere in the house, Piper," he told her. "I hope that's not a sign that anything's wrong because Covington held off so long on letting you get imprinted after the injections." "Oh, there's nothing wrong with me, Andy," she purred, unbuttoning her jeans before pushing them down to her ankles, not having bothered to put shoes on earlier, stepping out of them and her panties, leaving her in just the sports bra. She had such an athletic body that it had a tendency to make Andy feel a little ashamed of how out of shape he was. "I'm just different, that's all. Being able to smell you when you're in the house? I consider that a benefit, not a side effect. I get a little anxious when you leave and I can't smell you, not so much that it bothers me, but just enough that I notice the feeling of longing I have that you aren't on hand. And I've reread that letter you left me over a dozen times, because each time, I think I fall for you a little more." She grinned, grabbing her sports bra, pulling it up over her head, tossing it aside. "So yeah, I was scared of saying that, but I'm definitely falling for you, Andrew Rook. Falling in love with you. That's why I was so deep in thought the other morning. You didn't do anything to make me upset or angry. I just was worried about how to tell you." "Piper, Why would you be worried?" Andy said with a kind smile. "You've got so many beautiful women here, Andy," she said, gesturing back to the house. "I mean, shit, you've got Sarah Fucking Washington with her arm around you right now! I know I'm fit, but I'm not beautiful like she and Em are." At that, he raised a single finger, pointing at her. "How dare you," he said, his tone evening a little bit. "You are fucking stunning, I mean beautiful like you cannot even imagine and I do not want to hear you saying you're not beautiful ever again, okay? Because whatever dumb ass boyfriend or athlete you met who said you weren't pretty was the biggest fucking moron you ever met, and you shouldn't give whatever that prick said another thought ever again. Tell her I'm right, Sarah," he said with a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Yep yep yep," Sarah said with a giggle. "Stop being fucking stupid because you're not just pretty, you're fucking hot, and every girl in this house who likes girls thinks so. Shit, I heard Katie telling Jenny that if she wanted to give her a hall pass for her birthday, she'd want to use it on you over all the other girls in the house." Piper giggled, shaking her head, her dark hair covering her eyes for a minute. "You're fucking lying, Sarah." "Cross my fucking heart, swear to fucking God, may she strike me the fuck down if I'm lying. Katie thinks you're the hottest bitch in the house, so you need to shut the fuck up about saying you aren't fucking pretty because that's the stupidest fucking thing anyone's said today, and people talk, like, the worst amount of shit in this house when they think people aren't listening," Sarah said, rolling her eyes, as if she found the whole thing hilariously sad. "Well, that's something I wouldn't have believed if you hadn't told me," Piper replied with a smile. "And I was talking about us dancing around each other, Andy, and I want to apologize for that. I know we've had a handful of encounters, but I've been, guarded, and I'm sorry for how guarded I've been emotionally. I think maybe I was a little hurt that you didn't want to bring Brooke into this house, even though I know you said you thought she'd be a better match with Xander. I thought maybe that was a polite way of you trying to duck out of meeting her,” She looked down at her feet. "I feel a bit guilty about that right now, having spent a bunch of the evening talking with her. I have known that girl almost half a de

Send us a textJaden is a filthy cheater and decided to triple dip today by talking about Andrew McMahon, who has fronted more bands than can be counted by humans. Zac gets real defensive about The Second Stage Turbine Blade by Coheed and Cambria, and Daniel talks about Love Song by Sara Bareilles.Follow us on Instagram if that's your thing: https://www.instagram.com/theplaylisterspod/

So excited to bring this one to you today.  For the second time, Travis Stever, guitarist of Coheed and Cambria and L.S. Dunes, joins us on the podcast.  Travis is both hilarious and intelligent, and one hell of of guitar player.  We dive deep into everything from balancing two bands, balancing personal and family life while touring, the creative process, and what the state of of Coheed is over 20 years later.  We even squeeze in some great fan questions.  Go check out Coheed and Cambria's Vaxis III: The Father of Make Believe along with L.S. Dunes new album, Violet, today!   In addition to interviewing a member of Scott's favorite band, the guys finally meet in person as they dive into some of Scott's trip to visit Mike.  If you thought Mike was insane before, strap in and have a listen!

Julio Cortázar (Bruselas, 1914-París, 1984), es uno de los escritores argentinos más importantes de todos los tiempos. Es el autor de 'Rayuela', 'Libro de Manuel', y de volúmenes de cuentos como 'Bestiario', 'Final del Juego' o 'Todos los fuegos el fuego' o de 'Historias de cronopios y de famas'. En este episodio incluye cuatro relatos: 'Casa tomada', “Las Ménades”, “La isla a mediodía” y “Axolotl”.

Julio Cortázar (Bruselas, 1914-París, 1984), es uno de los escritores argentinos más importantes de todos los tiempos. Es el autor de 'Rayuela', 'Libro de Manuel', y de volúmenes de cuentos como 'Bestiario', 'Final del Juego' o 'Todos los fuegos el fuego' o de 'Historias de cronopios y de famas'. En este episodio incluye cuatro relatos: 'Casa tomada', “Las Ménades”, “La isla a mediodía” y “Axolotl”.

WBEN Legal Analyst Paul Cambria explains the statute of limitations in the Diocese settlement, what happens if parishes opt not to pay and much more.

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 12 The girls continue their pitches to Andy. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Nicolette smiled, shaking her head a bit. "I split from Josh the week after the party, because, well, it's not important, beyond the fact that he was a fucking asshole and I was sick of dealing with it. I haven't seen him in years now, and it's actually better that way. If he's dead, good, good riddance, fuck him, he deserved it. As for her partner, well, Bill wasn't a bad guy, although I never really talked much to him, or should I say I wasn't much permitted to talk to him, because he was from the old school of domination, with the leather whip and the iron fist, and he didn't like submissives giving him any back talk. Whitney was mostly happy with him, although she'd admitted to me a couple of times that she could've done without Bill's sadistic streak of inflicting pain on her. Pain wasn't really her thing. She didn't mind it from time to time, but it wasn't something she got off on. Bill did. But Bill died from the virus in April, leaving Whitney sort of lost and directionless." "I'm certainly not into inflicting pain on people, Nicolette, but I don't know that even on my best or worst days I could be fairly described as a dom." Nicolette giggled and waggled a finger in his direction. "You might have the other girls fooled, Master, but not me, and frankly, I don't think Ash buys it either. When I was pitching this to her yesterday, I pointed out to her that sexuality is, well, it's sort of like a menu at a Cheesecake Factory “ there are so many options that you are bound to find things you like just every once in a while, instead of every day. And you are a good and kind man, but I've also seen that sometimes you just want to take something, to claim something. There is a beast in you raging to get out, and I've tried to make sure I'm around to fill that need for you. We all heard it when you were having your first go at Taylor, and even Niko told me afterwards she thought you were holding back a little, like you were worried we might judge you for it, but your household loves you and trusts you, Master." The maid pushed the button and the image changed again, showing a head on almost portfolio picture of Whitney, her wrists bound together in rope, a collar around her neck, still wearing a bra, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, a very lustful look in her icy blue eyes drilling straight into the camera. "She took this photo just for you, Master. Nobody other than the three of us has seen it. Not only does she want to join the staff, she wants you to collar her. Hell, she said if you wanted to, she would even get tattooed or branded for you." "Branded?" Andy gasped suddenly. "I would never!" "Oh, I told her that, and she said that just made you sound even more dreamy, but wanted you to have that option on the table. She doesn't want to be one of your wives, because she says that would put her on equal level with you. She wants to belong to you. She's always going to be submissive, but do you have any idea how hard it's going to be for a single submissive woman to find a sexual partner right now, much less one who isn't a complete asshole? The biggest problem with the BDSM scene, in my eyes anyway, is that too many people don't respect boundaries, that they aren't respectful of one another. Whitney's never going to feel bad about not getting to sleep in your bed, but if you tell her to one night, she will, gladly, as long as it doesn't become a habit. When it comes to the house, she will be the kind of control freak you need running your digital life, but all that desperate need for control, that's why she likes to be completely out of control when it comes to her sexuality. Wearing a collar from you isn't a mark of shame; it's a thing of pride and beauty for her. And all of the women you have in this house, Master, they're all such wonderful and warm women, friendly and inviting, and even though we've told them time and time and time again that we're merely the staff, they're still treating us as friends, because we are their friends, even if we still work for you." Andy had been listening to all of this very intently, because the expression on Nicolette's face wasn't one of concern, but one of excitement, of enthusiasm, of pride. "Why'd she take a picture just for me?" "Because after Bill died half a year ago, she was aimless, and I got, well, to be blunt, I got very worried about her. I couldn't go and check up on her because of the quarantine, but we FaceTimed every day. We still do. And I've told her all about this house, about you, Master, and all your amazing partners, and about a month ago, Whitney started saying something I've been hearing a lot from her lately. 'I wish I had what you have.' She was waking up from her fugue state over the loss of Bill, and she wanted something again, for the first time in months. She wasn't just thinking about what her next meal was, or how to solve some routing problem at work. She had a genuine desire to introduce something, someone into her life again. You. This. All of this," the maid said, gesturing around her. "You two sound very close," Ash said. "I don't know that you made it clear to me just how close when you were presenting to me for practice." Nicolette nodded. "She's, well, she's probably my best friend, the person I can be myself with the most, and I'm worried about her. You have to understand, she's like an old watch that's been wound up too tightly. When I say she's a control freak, I might be understating the case, but before now she's always had that release valve of having Bill to take over for at least a few hours every week, where she wasn't allowed to have any control, and through that, all that pressure got released. You can give that to her again, Master." "Do you really think I'm a good match for her sexually?" Andy said. "I'd hate to bring her here and disappoint her." The French girl's face spread into a mischievous grin. "Like I said, Master, Whitney's going to be like me, not an everyday food, but definitely a delicious treat that you simply must indulge in now and then. And I'm a very good judge of character, so I want you to try and look me in the eyes and tell me that the idea of having a woman who literally will not lift a finger until you tell her to do so doesn't turn you on at least a little bit, to have such total control over a woman that she is waiting with baited breath for you to give her a command. I'll bet everything I own that you can't." Andy smirked and blushed a little bit. "I'm not sure there's many men who could say that. I certainly wouldn't want that if she didn't want that but,” Nicolette nodded vigorously. "But she does, she absolutely, positively, definitively does want that. From you. I think the biggest challenge you'd have with her is the feelings you'd have when you put the collar on her, because I can tell you, her one and only demand is that you collar her when she arrives, and that she only ever takes the collar off to bathe. I know you're going to have reservations about it, which is why I'm spending so much time reassuring you that this is ultimately what she wants. It's an odd thing for a man who describes himself as a feminist to do, collaring a woman, but realize, you are giving her what she wants “ the ability to not have to think for a bit." Ash grinned a little bit. "You forgot to tell him the final thing." Nicolette held her fingers to her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle once more, as she nodded. She then picked up the remote and clicked the button again, as the image advanced one more time. At first, Andy thought the image was the same, but then he saw it, resting atop of her bound wrists. A first edition of "The Demon Dies At Midnight," a small press book he'd done for himself before he'd started writing the Druid Gunslinger books, in many ways the precursor to the whole series. It was a short novel, more of a novella really, that Andy had written just to sort of test the idea of writing long form fiction, and while it shared some similarities with the Druid Gunslinger books, it was a stand alone tale about a freelance demon hunter who traveled the world, trying to find the demon that had laid a curse on him when he was a child. Andy had used a print on demand service for the book, and only 2000 copies had been sold before he had found a publisher for all his work, starting with the Druid Gunslinger books. His publisher had scooped up the rights to his first book along with the Druid Gunslinger books. Once they did, Andy had stopped the print on demand version of it, so those 2000 were all that was ever going to be printed with that cover, a touch more erotic than the publisher was comfortable with. He'd looked and the first editions were worth several hundred dollars on the secondary market now, even though copies of the second edition, the one done by his current publisher with its less racy cover, were available for ten bucks. "She's a fan of yours, Master, going back to the beginning. You can't see it, but that copy of your book is signed, by you, when you were doing signings in Santa Cruz." "She would've been living in Chicago when that book came out!" Andy laughed. "So you can't me she's been a fan of mine since then." "Oh, she bought it on the secondary market a couple of years ago, when she first started getting into your writing, long before I met you. She said it was worth it to have the original rather than a second edition. She reads loads and loads of sci fi and fantasy, but says you're an excellent writer, one of her favorites. When she found out you were my Master, she begged and pleaded with me to find some way for her to be able to join me. I told her I would keep my eye open for an opportunity, but that I didn't want to be disrespectful and ask you on my own." Andy clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "I told you that you could come to me with anything, Nicolette." "I know you did, Master, and thank you for that, but you have been wall to wall busy since you first arrived here a month or so ago, and there just never seemed to be an opportune moment until Hannah started talking to us about you being able to request people, which brings us all up to speed, here and now," she said, gesturing to the image behind her. "I don't just think she's an obvious yes, Master, I think she's the most obvious yes. And if you need a little help stoking the fires of the shades of a controlling bastard that hide inside that warm soul, you know I'm always willing to lend a hand or whatever you might need. Whitney and I have played together sexually before, and if she comes here, I have no doubt that she and I will be play partners again. You have a lot of amazing women on offer for you here, but this one has to be a slam dunk. Thanks for giving me the chance to introduce you to my best friend, and I can't wait to hear you tell me to invite her over." The maid pressed the button and the image of Whitney disappeared to be replaced by "Next: Niko" in white letters on a black background as she stood up and made her way to the door. Andy leaned over to Aisling. "Give me 5 10 minutes, okay?" Aisling grinned and nodded. "You're the boss, boss." He stood up quickly and made his way out into the hallway, closing the door behind him, as he moved quickly to catch up to Nicolette, just as she was about to reach the stairwell leading upstairs. "One sec, Nicolette," Andy said, "I have one more question for you." Nicolette smiled as she turned back to him, standing at the edge of the stairs. "Of course, Master, what can I " As soon as he was within reach of her, he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, bending her forward until her back was nearly perpendicular with the wall, lifting her dress up and tugging her panties aside with one hand, unbuttoning his jeans with another. Before it even dawned on her what was happening, he lined the head of his cock up against her snatch and just shoved forward with one rough, penetrating thrust, sinking hilt deep as a groan was ripped from her throat, deep and sultry. "Was this what you wanted?" "Fuck yes, Master!" she whined, as he drew back and then thrust forward again with a harsh shove, forcing her cunt to swallow up his cock. Her hands reached before her, trying to brace herself, as he reached forward and grabbed her by the throat, making her stand upright, even while scooting forward as best she can, until her tits were mashed against the wall, her face tilted towards the ceiling, when he drew back and then punched forward again. "Is it wrong of me that your filthy little fuckmaid has been fingering her sloppy cunt thinking of her Master slamfucking her best friend?" Andy couldn't help but laugh about that, as he drew back again. "Is that the only thing you've been thinking about?" "Fuck!" she whimpered as he railed her again, lifting one of her legs to allow him to penetrate a little bit deeper. "You know that it isn't, Master. Your bratty little slut thinks about you all the time, imagining her Master doing so many dirty things to her." He shifted his hips a little bit, making sure he was good and slick, before he pulled her away from the wall and then moved her over to a table, forcing her forward, yanking her panties down to her ankles before tugging it off of her entirely. He grabbed the lacy underthing in his hand and then bent her over the table, pushing her knees to make her get a little bit lower, and before it could even register what he was doing, the head of his thick cock pressed against the rosebud of her asshole and just sunk through, greasing its way deep inside of her ass, lubed up with the drippy juices from her cunt. "Fuck oh fuck oh fuck you're fucking thick, Master, that's such a big fucking cock you've shoved up my tight young ass!" Nicolette whimpered, her voice squealing upward in pitch until it was a shrill shriek, more like a siren than a person. "I've been dreaming about being your stuffed little buttslut, Master, so just fucking hammer me already!" Andy had a weird notion, and he decided to follow through on it, as he reached around and stuffed Nicolette's panties into her mouth, and he could swear she clamped down even more tightly in excitement. Her hands were free, so if she wanted to, she could've pulled them out any moment. And yet, she didn't. Instead, the moans burbling from her throat grew more intense, her hips trying to push her ass back into his firm thrusts as much as she could. She was throwing her body back at him any which way she was able, but for the most part, she was simply getting railed, keeping as much of his cock buried inside of her ass for as much of the time as she could. After a minute or so, she started spasming and clamping down on his cock, and he couldn't resist, so he unloaded a heavy load of cum into her asshole, sweat dripping from his forehead against the back of her neck, until he softened enough to slip out of that tight pucker. When he leaned back, he tucked his cock away and pulled up his boxers and jeans, zipping them up, a wry smile on his lips as Nicolette turned around, an incredibly satisfied look upon her face. She pulled her panties from her mouth and that wild grin was the happiest he'd ever seen on Nicolette's face before. "Now that is how you fucking use me, Master," she purred with as much sensuality as she could. "And you have fucking earned keeping these for a bit." She leaned forward and tucked her panties into the front pocket of his jeans. "And don't worry, I'll fish them out of the laundry later." She tipped her head up and kissed him for a moment. "Thanks so much for that! Jesus! Au revoir!" Andy took his hand and wiped sweat from his forehead and grinned a bit to himself as he watched her head up the stairs. "Well then. Job done." When Andy headed back into the room, he found Aisling waiting with a shit eating smirk on her face. "Got your release valve off with the hired help?" she teased. Andy blushed a little bit, realizing that the door wasn't all that thick, and that he had taken Nicolette not all that far from the room, but then he decided he had nothing to be embarrassed about. "Look, she made it abundantly clear what she wanted from me, and so I damn well gave it to her," he said with a laugh, as he moved to sit down in his chair. "It had been over a week for her anyway, so she was due. You can tell Niko we're ready for her now." Niko was practically coming through the door when he said it. "She already knows. She was enjoying listening in on you giving Nicolette exactly what's she's been waiting for for a week now," she giggled. "And she, uh, I, I'm here now. How's presentations been so far?" Andy was about to answer out of reflex when he felt Aisling's hand on his arm, and heard her say, "No dirty snooker from you, missy. He's not tellin' you nuffin'." "He was about to, though," she winked at the redhead. Niko was in her uniform, something Andy had rarely seen her in, even though she wore it nearly every day. When she headed to the base, she always left before he got up, and she changed out of the uniform before she came home, so it was a little surprising to see her decked out in the formal wear. Her hair was up and pinned back, and she even had the chest candy on her uniform, as she'd been known to call it. "Going to present someone from the base?" Andy asked, suspecting it was the reason for the uniform. "You got it," she said, picking up the remote as she pushed a button as the image changed to a rather stern looking blonde woman in her mid forties with a hawkish nose. "I want to introduce you to Captain Tracy Bells, sir. She's a, y'know, we could do the whole thing, Ash, or we could just,” "It's yer call, Niko," the Irish redhead said to her, a conspiratorial grin on her face. Niko nodded, then motioned for Ash to come and join her, which she did, throwing Andy completely off guard. "Look, I'm not pitching Captain Bells to you, Andy," Niko said with a smile. "Because frankly, she's got a giant stick up her ass. I don't really have anyone to pitch you at all, to be frank. That's not why I'm here. It's a pretense." Andy tilted his head to one side. "Then why are you taking up a pitch slot?" "Well, it seemed like the best time that Ash and I could get you all to ourselves. For this," she said, pushing the button, as the image changed. In its place was a selfie that clearly Niko had taken just a day or two earlier, of her and Aisling. They each seemed to be holding something in their free hands, and just as it was dawning on Andy what they were, both girls spoke at the same time. "We're Pregnant!" Andy pointed a finger at Aisling, who nodded, then over at Niko, who nodded as well, then kept jumping his fingertip back and forth between the two of them as they both kept nodding, wild smiles on their faces. "What, both of you?" "Yep!" Niko said, giggling, as both her and Aisling started walking around the table, one on each side of it, closing in on him like a planned maneuver, leaning against the table, pinning him in his spot. "Most of your girls have synched up their time clocks, love," Aisling said, "So it was bound to happen to a couple of us at the same time. Niko and I are just glad it's us first." "Well, we sort of made sure that we were," Niko giggled. "I thought you were both on birth control still!" he said, although the smile on his face made it clear he wasn't upset. "Did everyone stop taking their birth control?" Aisling shook her head. "So far, I think we're the only ones who have." "We both stopped taking them a few months ago," Niko said. "When I started seeing and hearing the horror stories about the hospitals while I was working on base, I knew that this was going to happen, this or something like it, so I told Aisling and we just stopped taking our birth control pills, and well, here we are!" "I ran into town for the tests Saturday morning, and wouldn't you know it, two buns in two ovens, all from one chef!" Aisling said, as Andy wrapped his arms around both of them, hugging them intensely tight. "And you're both happy? I know you both did this intentionally, but sometimes people get second thoughts. I'm not! Getting second thoughts that is. I mean, I'm happy, I promise you I'm happy, but I want to be sure you're both happy." "We're ecstastic, hon," Niko said to him, nuzzling her face against his cheek. "We weren't sure when the best time to tell you would be, but when the whole pitching process started, we wanted to be sure you understood that maybe getting a nanny into the house wasn't such a wild idea." "Who knows?" Andy asked. "Just us and you," Aisling said. "We haven't told anyone yet." Andy kissed Niko, then Aisling, then Niko again, then Aisling again. "It's damn nice to have to some good news for once. So, should we go get lunch and tell the rest of the household?" "Sounds good to me," Andy said. "Niko?" "Absolutely," Niko said. As they headed towards the door, she leaned over and pushed the button on the remote, changing the slide so it was a black screen again with the words "Next: Piper." The last of the girls' pitches to Andy. Chapter 26 Lunch had been great fun. Once Aisling and Niko had told Andy, they'd wanted to tell everyone as soon as possible, so the moment they'd sat down for lunch, they'd told everyone straight out, which had led into a small celebration, and sort of let Andy slip into the background with his thoughts. Sure, the girls all congratulated him, but they were all much more interested in how Niko and Ash were feeling about everything, so Andy could do a little bit of his own research. When he had half a minute, he asked Katie for both more about Lexi, and what she thought of Jade Dillon. He also did a little bit of talking with Sarah about Maya Steele, since clearly they ran in similar circles. When he had a moment, he also pinged Hannah to see if she'd heard anything about Olivia Shoemaker, Asha's "influencer" friend. Finally, he asked Jenny about Katie's ex, Dr. Morgan Fitch. By the end of lunch, he almost wished he'd brought his yellow notepad with him. It was a lot of names, a lot of opinions and thoughts to keep from getting scrambled around in his brain. But his own opinions were starting to bake in, to settle and coalesce into something more solid. His mind was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost overlooked how lunch was, as it always was, amazing. He made sure to tell Jenny just how excellent it was, and she said he could thank her by making sure to bring Alexis into the family. He didn't answer her, but his smile probably gave him away. He didn't mind. When they were walking back towards the meeting room, Aisling slipped her arm around his waist, leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You're happy Niko and I are expectin', right, love?" She had a smile on her face, so she was simply reinforcing what she already knew. "Sometimes you can bit understated 'bout these kinds of things." Andy chuckled a little, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "You know that I am, Ash. I'm sorry if I seemed a little distant at lunch. This is just a lot of information to take in all at once, lots of people to consider, lots of decisions to make. Shit, people's lives and livelihoods hang in the balance of my stupid judgment. The decisions I'm going to make tomorrow have real, genuine consequences, things I gotta live with for the rest of my life, and I don't want to let anyone down. Turning anyone down feels like  " "Stop," Ash said, holding him from walking any further. "I told you up front that nobody was going to hold anything against you, and we're all going to honor that. You didn't have to let anyone have a say, and you're letting everyone have a say. That's all anyone has the right to ask of you." She sighed, then laughed for a second. "Jaysis, if it was me, I'd have thrown the towel in and just taken nobody, but you're not doing that, despite the fact that nobody would've blamed you if you did. Instead, you set down what your reasonable capabilities are, and everyone agreed to them. So stop getting in your own damn way and just get on with it already." He had to laugh with her at that point, nodding in agreement. "Okay, okay, I get it. No more moping about this, and no more overthinking it. Just listen to the pitches, make my decisions and move forward with our lives. I'll hold you to nobody being mad, though." "Everybody knows what's coming down the pipeline, Andy," Ash said. "It'll be alright. I promise you, it'll all be alright. Now let's get these last four underway. There's still a few surprises left to spring on you, and it's always fun to watch your expression when you're caught off guard." "What kind of crazy surprises do you have lined up for me?" he said, as Piper strode through the door confidently, dressed in her Team USA gear, some sort of warm up suit. He was certain she wasn't wearing the full Olympian gear underneath it, but the very presence of the outfit seemed designed to send a message. "You should know she doesn't have anything planned for you, Andy," Piper said, smirking at him. "This is all us." "How are you feeling, Piper? Head starting to clear up? Starting to feel more like yourself again?" Andy asked. "A lot better, yeah. The first few days, it was like, I dunno, like I was walking through fog, like every inch of my body was coated in maple syrup," the brunette volleyball player said, looking around the room a bit before looking back at Andy. "I was living in quicksand, but over the last couple of days, all of that's been lifting and I've felt mostly like myself again. I've been trying to get back on my work out regimen, so that's helped some. But I think the further I get away from that state, the better off I'll be." She looked better, there was no denying. Her eyes didn't have the dark, heavy bags underneath them that they had when they first met. She'd also put a little bit of weight back on, but Andy suspected that was because she had been massively dehydrated when they'd first met. He was glad to see her coming back into being her full self. "A couple more weeks and I'll be right as rain again. But that's not why I'm here today." "Yeah, well, it doesn't hurt for me to ask about you first." "Yeah yeah," Piper said, as she picked up the remote, pressing the button as a Nordic looking blonde appeared on the screen. "I don't know how much you follow the Olympics, but if you do, you might recognize my friend Brooke Maloney here. She's being hyped as the next big thing for the woman's swim team. She's going to enter a number of various swim competitions,  breast stroke, freestyle, relay,  but obviously there aren't any games this year, and she's going out of her mind swimming laps in the compound's pool." The blonde, much like Piper, looked fit, although she looked much shorter in comparison, with broader shoulders and a wide smile on her face, sitting at a table full of athletes. Piper pushed the button again and the screen advanced to a new image, one of Piper and Brooke sitting on a blanket at some outdoor concert. "What do you mean 'compound?'" Andy asked. "A lot of the soon to be Olympians were at the US Training Camp, putting in a hard six months before the Olympics," Piper said. "Me and the rest of the volleyball team were going to be diverted there when the lockdown had been going for a few months, but it was deemed 'too risky' for any of us to be moved. Well, up until our dear Mister Covington decided to scoop me up and tried to make me into his own personal plaything. Thanks again for rescuing me from that, by the by." "I'm just glad you're not mad it's me you're bound to." "We've been over this, Andy," she sighed, a polite smile on her face. "I'm happy it was someone as nice as you. Let's move things forward. Now, one of the dirty little secrets you may not have heard about the Olympics is that after an athlete competes in their particular event, they go back to the Olympic village and they let off all that pent up steam that's been building in them for years. I haven't had a chance to experience myself personally, but our trainers and coaches have been telling us about it for as long as we've been old enough to hear the stories. I don't need that pressure valve any more because, well, I have you. But my friend Brooke, well, she doesn't have that." She pushed the button and the image advanced to another picture of Brooke, this time in Daisy Duke cutoff jean shorts, a white tied up shirt and a wide brimmed stetson hat, somewhere at a country bar, a Corona in hand with a lime. Her blonde hair was done up in short pigtails, which looked odd on her by Andy's reckoning. "Brooke and I have been friends for a couple of years now, and believe me, the Olympics is literally all she thinks about," Piper said. "She wants to win gold medals so much it, it's eating her up inside. Now with the 2020 games being pushed back until at least 2021, she's going out of her mind, like a predator able to see its prey under glass but not being allowed to hunt it." Piper pushed the button and the picture changed to an image of Brooke leaning against a Shelby Cobra, dressed in overalls, covered in grease, a wrench in her hand. "Her only other real passion is classic cars. She's something of a gearhead, and any time she's not training, she's working on cars. She's done more than a couple frame off restorations and more than a handful of heavy mods. She's had a couple of boyfriends over the years, but they never last all that long." "So what's she like in the sack, Pipes?" Ash asked her. "She's about as vanilla as they come," Piper answered. "She likes things slow and steady, smooth and soft. But she'll be a good lover, and a good friend." "Complications you anticipate?" Andy asked. "You're from pretty different worlds, but I've often been told that opposites attract, so maybe that won't be as big an issue as I think it might be," she shrugged. "You're pretty rock'n'roll, and she's a country girl at heart. You're a big city guy and she's a small town girl. She's at church every Sunday and I'm pretty sure you're an aethist. So maybe that's all too much to scale, but then again maybe it isn't. I'm sure whatever you decide, it'll be the right decision." Piper pushed the button and the screen advanced again, back to a black screen, with the words "Next: Sarah" in a cartoonish white lettering. "Any reason you didn't suggest any of the other girls from your volleyball team, just out of curiosity?" Andy asked. "I would've figured they would've been some of your best friends." The brunette smirked, flashing him a little wink. "Oh they are, but there's no way in hell I'm sharing my man with the likes of them. Let'em find their own hunk and they can keep their sticky fingers off of mine." With that, Piper headed out of the room, leaving the door open behind her, striding confidently down the hallway. "So, just to warn you about the next one, Andy, we do know in advance that you have met her a couple of times, but in the pictures we've seen, you always looked friendly, so we're going off that," Aisling said to him, as she texted Sarah to head to the conference room. "If we're wrong in those assumptions, ye can tell us and we'll let the matter drop then and there." "Oh yeah?" Andy said, suddenly wondering what familiar face was going to grace the screen in moments. "Where do I know her from?" The Irish redhead waggled a finger in his direction. "Just be patient, love. She'll up and in front o' ya in just a minute or two." Andy rolled his eyes with a grin. "Then what's the harm in telling me early?" "The harm is Sarah will have my tits in a wringer if I spill the goss before she's here." "Good lord, you girls and your secrets," he muttered in amusement. The statuesque redhead arrived moments later, and she immediately came over to hug Aisling, a giggle slipping from Sarah's mouth. "Congrats again, Ash," Sarah said to her. "I didn't want to say it in front of the others, but I am totally fucking jealous of you right now, you wouldn't even fucking believe me how jealous I am. Today is obviously the day I stop taking my birth control, because, damn, my clock is ticking, girlfriend." Ash shook her head with a mischievous grin. "You don't want to wait until you're a little more settled in first, Sarah? Or until you're married?" Sarah pulled back from the hug, looking over at Andy, licking her lips with a wild smile. "Shit, if I thought I could get him to do it, I'd beg him to fuck me until I was knocked up right here on this table, right here and now. But I've only got ten minutes, so maybe I should just get to the presentation." Andy gestured to the remote with a smile. "Maybe." "One thing first, though." Sarah had come into the meeting in a dress skirt and a dark red silk blouse, but she turned around, did something, then turned back, bringing a glistening finger to Andy's lips before the actress slipped it into his mouth, and he could taste her cunt on it. "Just so you know how much the idea of you breeding me turns me on." She winked at him as she pulled her fingertip from his lips and walked back to the other side of the table. "On with the show, Sares," Aisling poked. "Yeah, totes, Ash, I'm getting' there." Sarah picked up the remote and clicked the button, as the screen behind her flickered to life. "Oh look! It's you! And you're with one of my other total favorite writers, Larissa Cotton!" Andy immediately recognized the shot. It was taken about five years ago, at DragonCon. Andy hadn't wanted to go, but he'd been nominated for a Hugo, an award he'd ended up winning, for "Behind The Darkest Sky," the most successful of the Druid Gunslinger novels, partially because it was the most risky of the books. When Andy had written it, he'd almost thought it might be the end of the series if it didn't work, if the audience didn't trust him to stick around long enough to see the story continue in the next one. He'd left the Gunslinger in a hell of a mess at the end of the book, and while he was over half way through writing the next one when "Behind The Darkest Sky" had come out, he'd still been in a very nervous place about going to a convention. At the Hugo awards for the night, he'd found himself sat with a handful of authors he hadn't met before that night, including Larissa Cotton, a Hispanic woman from Portland who'd written an amazing book called "Ions At Dawn," a technothriller about a woman who finds herself grappling with an archaeological find that threatens to rewrite the basic underpinnings of science. Andy had read all the nominees and found her book fascinating, although maybe a bit too heady for the average reader. Larissa was nothing like any writer he'd ever met before. She was brash, confident, boisterous and outspoken, the loudest presence in any room, and yet, never in a harsh way. She was a plus sized woman, thick but not in an unappealing way. The silver hoop in her nose had been a little off putting, and Andy had found the overwhelming number of tattoos more than a little distracting, almost perhaps no more than the goth Lolita look meets skater punk she'd been rocking at the party. They'd gotten along reasonably well, although Larissa had gotten rip roaringly drunk by the end of the night. Andy and a couple of others had needed to help her back to her hotel room, since she was nearing blackout stages by the end of the night. Andy and Larissa had reminded occasionally in contact since then, but they certainly weren't what Andy would describe as close. They'd met up a couple of times in the years since, but generally it had just been if they'd been in the same town, and then only within a group of people. "Larissa lives up in Portland," Andy said. "Sure, but that can change," Sarah said. "I mean, Emily and I both lived in LA until we moved here. Asha's lived most of her life in London and Piper spent most of her life in Florida. People move, Andy. That can't be an excuse." "Well, no," Andy laughed, "but she was also engaged last I heard." "Wait, what?" Sarah asked. "I talked to her like three months ago, and she didn't mention it, and I didn't see any engagement ring." He shrugged. "Maybe I misheard, or maybe they called it off. It was a couple of years ago, when a bunch of us were getting drunk after our ComicCon panels. She said she'd just sold the film adaptation rights to 'Ions At Dawn' to somebody and we all went out to celebrate." Aisling nodded. "She sold the rights to Sarah, as a matter of fact." The taller redhead pushed the button on the remote and the screen advanced to an image of Sarah and Larissa at a conference table shaking hands. "My production company, Awkward & Dorky Films, to be more specific. We agreed to let her give us a first draft if she agreed to go through the notes and revisions process without too many complaints." "Heh," Andy smirked. "And 'Ris agreed to that? Talk about being prickly to editors. She damn near took my head off when she had me read a first draft of her third book, 'Castle of Yesterdays,' and I gave her notes on it." "It totally couldn't have been as bad as you're making it out to be, Andy," Sarah teased. "Don't be such a baby. Suck it up." "I believe she told me that I could roll up my notes and shove them into my cock until I was crapping them out," he said. "Fuck," Sarah muttered. "You must've been really hard in those notes." "Not really?" He shrugged a little. "I mean, I offered some opinions and I told her that a couple of the chapters went on too long with nothing happening, and that the climax felt overly weak but that it was a great first draft. I mean, I liked the book a lot. But that's what you do with first drafts,  show them to someone, figure out what works and what doesn't, then make a real book out of it." "I liked 'Castle of Yesterdays,' though, Andy!" Sarah whined. "Sure!" he said, waggling a finger at her. "You just read the final version, which went through about six revisions. And, for what it's worth, she ended up using most of my notes. I mean, I didn't hold it against her that she didn't like getting notes. Every author can be a little bit of a prima donna sometimes." "Well, as of July, I don't think she was married or engaged or whatever, and she's completely rad. Also, you two get along, because you've obviously gone out for dinner and drinks before, and she trusted you enough to let you read her first draft of a new book, so that seems good enough to me, don't you think?" "I mean, we weren't close friends, but we were, er, are friendly acquaintances. I don't know that either of us thought the other was their type, though. She seemed to be into people who were way more of the 80s skateboard punk ethos than me." "You saw her with a man at some point?" "Oh yeah," Andy said, "Well, no. I mean, not directly, but she showed me a picture of her and 'her man,' she called him. He was big, fit fellow. Broad shoulders, six pack. About as far from me as any man can possibly get. He looked like he could've bench pressed me for hours without breaking a sweat, and she, well, she looked happy." Sarah shrugged a little bit. "Whoever he was, Andy, he completely didn't last, because when she and I were meeting to discuss our notes for the screenplay, she was sniping about how she hadn't had a proper lay in months. So big and hunky didn't work for her, so maybe you could. I know she thinks you're cute. I told her I had a crush on you and she said 'Well, who could blame you?' so I think she does too." "How well do you know her, Sarah?" The taller redhead shrugged. "Not all that well, but she's been nice to me, and she's someone you know, so maybe that could be something that would work for you." "Do you have any idea whether or not we'd be sexually compatible?" Sarah shrugged with a smile. "It's never come up, so I don't have any idea." "Possible challenges?" "Two writers in the same room might always want to be editing one another?" she giggled. "I genuinely don't know, Andy. But I thought it was a good idea so I wanted to suggest it." "Fair enough then." "One last thing before I go," Sarah said, pushing the button to advance the screen to an image that read "next: Sheridan" on it in a frilly cursive font. "I was telling you at lunch that I think bringing Maya Steele into the family is a great idea, so I wanted to stress that while I haven't changed my mind on that, I did forget to tell you not to ever get into a drinking contest with her. Your head will hurt and your liver will be punching you for days." "And yet, you still think I should bring her in?" Sarah nodded emphatically. "Maya's a bad ass, and you need someone as direct as her in your life. I mean, Neeks handles most of that, but really, Maya's got her beat hands down." "Are you trying to convince me not to bring her in? Someone more direct than Niko?" "It'll be fine, Andy," Sarah said, flipping her hair with one hand. "I already know you're going to pick her, so trust me when I tell you that is the correct decision to make." "And if that isn't the decision I'm making?" "Then you're being a fucking idiot and you'd better come to your senses before your final decision, because no man should be allowed to be that fucking stupid. Obvs. But I know you're totally not and you're really just fucking with me, and that's cool," she said as she walked around the table before leaning down and kissing him firmly, pressing her lips against his for a long moment. "Have fun with the rest of the pitches!" As Sarah walked out of the room, Aisling shook her head while sending the message to Sheridan for her to make her way up to the pitch room. "It can be very hard to remember she's been nominated for an Oscar when she acts like that," the smaller redhead said. "But I guess it's part of her 'girl next door' charm. Anyway, what did you think? You're not mad about Sarah pitching Larissa?" "Why would I be mad?" he laughed. "I just don't know that it'd work. But it's something I'll definitely consider when I'm doing my deliberations, especially since Sarah seems to think Larissa might be into me. I never got that vibe, but  " "But it's well established you barely know a woman's into you even when she's sitting in your lap and whispering into your ear that she wants you to fuck her brains out." Andy gave her a disapproving smirk. "I'm not that bad." "You're not far from it, anyway." Sheridan came strolling into the room, wearing what she had at lunch, far less dressed up than most of the girls, wearing jean shorts over a leotard or a swimsuit, her frizzy blonde hair mostly tucked back, damp but not soaked. Andy half wondered if she'd been swimming in the pool while she'd been waiting. Sheridan had been known to enjoy swimming, even though the weather was dipping into the cooler side. Since her job as a performer was on hold until the pandemic was under control, she'd done her best to find ways to occupy her time. "Heya stud," she said with a wink as she wandered over to sit down in the chair. "I'm not gonna ask you if you've made decisions yet, but I am gonna ask how you're feeling about the process so far. It's hella cool that you're giving us input into that, and it's a big deal, so thanks for that. Anyway, I think you're gonna find my friend a wild ride." "Let's get to it then," Andy said. Sheridan picked up the remote and pushed the button as the screen popped to life, a image of Sheridan sitting with a young woman in her late 20s or early 30s, with jet black hair and skin the color of desert sand. She was a little more on the plump side, with a mischievous smile. They were sitting at a wood table on the patio of some local bar. "This is my friend Tala Jordan," the blonde said. "Her parents immigrated here from Iran in 1970. We met in high school and became besties. She's the one who talked me into quitting smoking. We were roommates in college down at Santa Cruz and we've been roomies on and off again since we both graduated in 2012." "Why do I feel like I've seen her somewhere before?" Andy said, the woman's face looking vaguely familiar in a way he simply couldn't place. "You go to a lot of concerts, Andy?" "Some." "Well, then she's probably been singing with an opening band you've seen at a concert." Sheridan pushed the button and the image advanced, showing Tala playing an electronic keyboard on a stand, and singing into a microphone. He recognized the stage as The Independent, a small but influential club in San Francisco that also tended to get some big name acts. "Boom Goes The Dynamite, Castle Idea, The Grendelles, Lowball Skyscrapers, Girls Gone Danger, hell, probably at least half a dozen more that I can't remember. Every time I talk to her, it seems like she's got some new band she's playing with." "What does she do when she's not playing in a band?" Aisling asked. Andy was certain she probably already knew the answer to the question and was simply asking for his benefit. "She's a carpenter," Sheridan said, pushing a button to advance to a slide of Tala working on a desk. "More specifically, she's a cabinetmaker, most of the time, anyway. She and a couple of her friends opened their own custom furniture house about five years ago, and people really like their stuff, because that's kept her afloat while living in the Bay, although to be fair, she's also gotten a very specific kind of clientele as of late." "What's that?" Andy asked. Sheridan pushed the button again, and the new image showed Tala sitting on top of a desk with dozens of shelves, a hutch atop it that had a number of closed doors on it. "She's become a puzzle maker. Custom puzzle boxes, puzzle desks, that kind of thing. It's a weird little niche, but it pays incredibly well, and she's made stuff for people like Kris Angel, Neil Patrick Harris and Elon Musk. Those projects usually take a month or two's worth of work, but they pay for an entire year or two's worth of mortgage, so she's okay with it." "Fascinating. What's she like as a person?" "She's wicked smart and very funny." She pushed the button and the image advanced again, showing the two of them standing on the Golden Gate bridge, their backs to the Bay. It must have been extremely windy on the day the picture was taken, because both women were doing their best to keep their hair from flying all over the place. Both girls were clearly laughing hysterically. "Some people think she can come across as a bit mean, but they just don't recognize she's only busting their balls a bit. She always told me that the Persian sense of humor can go over the heads of people not smart enough to keep up with her, and that she doesn't mind. She's a lot like Niko, and considering how much you and she get along, I think you'll dig Tala loads." Andy nodded. "Do you think she and I would be sexually compatible? What's she want out of a man?" Sheridan grinned from ear to ear and Andy immediately wondered what he'd said to trigger such a reaction. "If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would've given you an entirely different answer than the one I can give you today, dude. So when I told her about the whole imprinting process, and all about the accident we had with me getting primed early, I expected to see Tala be hella concerned about me, but instead, she got this freaky look on her face, and I realized about half way through my story that she was jilling off, while I told her about it. It turned her on so much she just couldn't help it," the blonde said, licking her lips with wolfish delight. "I'd never known before, but she's always had this pheromone fetish. Like, she gets turned on by the idea of being so turned on that she doesn't have control of her self, that she's turned into some carnal unstoppable beast who is going to fuck even if she has to move hell to get it." Andy swallowed a mouthful of air awkwardly. "When I told her about your first encounter with Piper, I swear to god, she fucking came just hearing about it. She wasn't even touching herself at that point, 'cause she was holding the phone with both hands. I asked her about it, and she said she was kinda embarrassed to talk about it, but admitted that it'd always been a fetish of hers. I found out all of this yesterday when I called to ask her if she'd be interested in me putting her forward for a chance to join you." "And I take it that the tales of the imprinting process only enhanced her interest?" "Totes. Obvs she wants to be here, but she also wants you to edge her all the time." "What do you mean edge her?" "She asked what happens when you try and stretch out the amount of time a girl needs to get her dose, and I told her your story about you and Lauren, and she wants to constantly be going towards that state. That turns her on like you wouldn't imagine. So seems to me like you get multiple ticks in the win column by bringing her here." "Possible challenges?" "Well, being quarantined in New Eden's gonna be rough on her, because she's big into spending time with her parents. She moved into their house when the pandemic started, and I know when people come into New Eden, they can't leave until the pandemic's over, so you'll need to make sure she understands that, but I'm betting the idea of getting to live out her number one sexual fantasy, like, all the fucking time might be enough to convince her that her folks will be okay on their own." "How close are you two, Sheridan?" "She's, like, one of my best friends, maybe my best friend, actually. I think you'd like her a lot. I know we haven't spent, like, loads of time together, but she really wants this, and you've got me, and you seem to like me well enough, so maybe you'd like her too, y'know?" Andy nodded with a smile. "Okay then. Thanks for talking to me about her, and I'll be letting everyone know tomorrow what my decisions are." "Yep, I got the spiel on the rules from Ash before we got started, so I know how it works," she said, pressing the button to advance the screen once more, bold white letters reading "next: Taylor" on the black background. "Just remember, while we all gotta live with'em, you're the one who's gonna have to fuck'em every couple of weeks, so don't take anyone you don't wanna dip your wick into on the regular, y'hear?" With that, Sheridan headed out of the room, leaving Andy and Aisling alone in the room again. "I didn't even know there was a fetish for that kind of thing." "You live near San Francisco, love," Aisling teased. "You more than anyone should know there's a fetish for every kind of thing. And nobody's judging. If it's not your thing, no problem. If it turns you on thinking about it, no problem. To thine own self be true, like Polonius said." "You know it's meant to be bad advice when he says it in Hamlet, right?" Andy replied. "Don't be such a geezer about it." "I'm a writer, Ash. Being a geezer about the English language is right there in the job description." Taylor knocked on the door, and had to be told twice to come in. She was actually dressed in clothing now, Lauren obviously having made an exception for the day, as the girl was still in her time of punishment. Andy wasn't sure that Lauren would make her go the whole month, but as of yet, the Aussie had shown no sign of suddenly doling out leniency. Taylor had on a pair of gym shorts and a white muscle t shirt that did very little to mask her impressive bust, but her hair was drawn back into a modest ponytail, high on her head, done up in a scrunchy. "So I'm the last one, huh?" she said, as she came into the room, looking at the chair then looking at Andy expectantly. "Sit, sit," Andy said. "If she's letting you get dressed to pitch, I'm sure she's fine with you sitting in a chair while you go through the whole process. And if she wasn't, I'm certain she would have said something." "Yeah, I guess you're right," Taylor said, finally moving to sit down in the chair. "Uh, hi! I did want to be sure and say thank you for letting us all do this, sir. I know you've been a little overwhelmed by all the female attention you've been getting, but it's very kind of you to allow us to suggest our friends to you, to make this home a little more like home." "Just as long as none of you get mad if I don't choose the people you pitch," Andy said. Taylor's bright blue eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh,

Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910) (Cambria Press, 2023) is a fascinating book that sits at the intersection of Buddhist studies and premodern Korean literary history. Gregory N. Evon's book unfolds in two parts: the first charts the history of the place, position, and status of Buddhism in Chosŏn Korea, charting how Buddhism went from being outright attacked to grudgingly tolerated. The second part looks at how this background and court intrigue led the Chosŏn official Kim Manjung 金萬重 (1637–1692) — someone typically thought of as a stalwart Neo-Confucian — to find value in Buddhism, so much so that he wove into his novel Lady Sa's Journey to the South (Sassi namjŏng-gi 謝氏南征記) the idea that Buddhism might even hold the key to save Confucianism. Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea should be of interest to those interested in the history of Buddhism, Chosŏn Korea, and premodern literature. It should particularly appeal to readers who might be more familiar with Kim Manjung's more well-known work, A Nine Cloud Dream (Kuunmong 九雲夢). For such readers in particular, this book offers a new and more complex way to think about this author — and the place of Buddhism in early modern Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910) (Cambria Press, 2023) is a fascinating book that sits at the intersection of Buddhist studies and premodern Korean literary history. Gregory N. Evon's book unfolds in two parts: the first charts the history of the place, position, and status of Buddhism in Chosŏn Korea, charting how Buddhism went from being outright attacked to grudgingly tolerated. The second part looks at how this background and court intrigue led the Chosŏn official Kim Manjung 金萬重 (1637–1692) — someone typically thought of as a stalwart Neo-Confucian — to find value in Buddhism, so much so that he wove into his novel Lady Sa's Journey to the South (Sassi namjŏng-gi 謝氏南征記) the idea that Buddhism might even hold the key to save Confucianism. Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea should be of interest to those interested in the history of Buddhism, Chosŏn Korea, and premodern literature. It should particularly appeal to readers who might be more familiar with Kim Manjung's more well-known work, A Nine Cloud Dream (Kuunmong 九雲夢). For such readers in particular, this book offers a new and more complex way to think about this author — and the place of Buddhism in early modern Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910) (Cambria Press, 2023) is a fascinating book that sits at the intersection of Buddhist studies and premodern Korean literary history. Gregory N. Evon's book unfolds in two parts: the first charts the history of the place, position, and status of Buddhism in Chosŏn Korea, charting how Buddhism went from being outright attacked to grudgingly tolerated. The second part looks at how this background and court intrigue led the Chosŏn official Kim Manjung 金萬重 (1637–1692) — someone typically thought of as a stalwart Neo-Confucian — to find value in Buddhism, so much so that he wove into his novel Lady Sa's Journey to the South (Sassi namjŏng-gi 謝氏南征記) the idea that Buddhism might even hold the key to save Confucianism. Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea should be of interest to those interested in the history of Buddhism, Chosŏn Korea, and premodern literature. It should particularly appeal to readers who might be more familiar with Kim Manjung's more well-known work, A Nine Cloud Dream (Kuunmong 九雲夢). For such readers in particular, this book offers a new and more complex way to think about this author — and the place of Buddhism in early modern Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910) (Cambria Press, 2023) is a fascinating book that sits at the intersection of Buddhist studies and premodern Korean literary history. Gregory N. Evon's book unfolds in two parts: the first charts the history of the place, position, and status of Buddhism in Chosŏn Korea, charting how Buddhism went from being outright attacked to grudgingly tolerated. The second part looks at how this background and court intrigue led the Chosŏn official Kim Manjung 金萬重 (1637–1692) — someone typically thought of as a stalwart Neo-Confucian — to find value in Buddhism, so much so that he wove into his novel Lady Sa's Journey to the South (Sassi namjŏng-gi 謝氏南征記) the idea that Buddhism might even hold the key to save Confucianism. Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea should be of interest to those interested in the history of Buddhism, Chosŏn Korea, and premodern literature. It should particularly appeal to readers who might be more familiar with Kim Manjung's more well-known work, A Nine Cloud Dream (Kuunmong 九雲夢). For such readers in particular, this book offers a new and more complex way to think about this author — and the place of Buddhism in early modern Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910) (Cambria Press, 2023) is a fascinating book that sits at the intersection of Buddhist studies and premodern Korean literary history. Gregory N. Evon's book unfolds in two parts: the first charts the history of the place, position, and status of Buddhism in Chosŏn Korea, charting how Buddhism went from being outright attacked to grudgingly tolerated. The second part looks at how this background and court intrigue led the Chosŏn official Kim Manjung 金萬重 (1637–1692) — someone typically thought of as a stalwart Neo-Confucian — to find value in Buddhism, so much so that he wove into his novel Lady Sa's Journey to the South (Sassi namjŏng-gi 謝氏南征記) the idea that Buddhism might even hold the key to save Confucianism. Salvaging Buddhism to Save Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea should be of interest to those interested in the history of Buddhism, Chosŏn Korea, and premodern literature. It should particularly appeal to readers who might be more familiar with Kim Manjung's more well-known work, A Nine Cloud Dream (Kuunmong 九雲夢). For such readers in particular, this book offers a new and more complex way to think about this author — and the place of Buddhism in early modern Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/korean-studies

We're back with a brand new episode of 5SOL! This time Dante punishes Danny with Brazil's own Sepultura. Join us as we discuss vegetarian substitutes, Coheed and Cambria's new album, nü metal, and eventually Sepultura.  Apple Music playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/5sol-sepultura/pl.u-d3MYFv4L9l Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jXFWwyD5QUvyQA6S6uyil?si=3pizCqWnSVCPM5fOlJGUkw&pi=XQUtVXD4QFSy7

Coheed and Cambria recently released their eleventh studio album, Vaxis III: The Father Of Make Believe, which features a wide spectrum of blazing guitars in "Blind Side Sonny" to the introspective lyrics of "Goodbye, Sunshine." Frontman and songwriter Claudio Sanchez joined A-SIDES for Episode 196 to share details on the creation of the new album, as well as the origins of the band, gaining self-confidence, and even his son's progress in learning music.  Huge thanks to Claudio Sanchez, Virgin Records, 99.9 WWCT, and to everyone who listens! You can follow the band on tour by visiting their website and you'll find their music on your favorite streaming platform.

This month we are joined by Devin Hatcher and Nick Perez, members of The Neverenders- a Coheed and Cambria tribute band experience! Stay tuned for after the interview to hear cuts from both Coheed and beyond to celebrate one year of the Godder Damm Gazzette!

During the past week Israel moved to establish 22 new communities in the area of Judea and Samaria, a move that furthers Israel’s sovereignty over the area. The Bible speaks of sowing Judea and Israel with the seed of men, and this move is further advancement of the angelic hand in bringing about God’s plan.

Se nos fue Peter David, el "writer of stuff", o "escritor de cosas", según el mismo, por la gran variedad de cosas que escribía. Ademá, fue uno de los guionistas de comics más prolíficos de las últimas décadas. Su amplia bibliografía incluye desde una monumental ETAPA de doce años en Hulk, en la que se convirtió en el padre modern del personaje, siguiendo por otras etapas fundamentals en comics como Aquaman, Supergirl, Young Justice, y X-Factor, pasando por mucho Spider-Man, casi cualquier personaje de Marvel, y muchos de DC; hasta sus guiones para television live action y animada, y sus alrededor de cuarenta novelas de Star Trek. Y nos quedamos cortos, porque no mencionamos varias otras franquicias en las que trabajó, ni sus novelas y comics de autor. Además de un TITANES dedicado a su vida y obra, retocamos el sonido de una entrevista que MaGnUs le hizo en 2010 cuando David visitó Montevideo, y que prometió subtitular en algún momento. La entrevista, por supuesto, está en inglés, así que les recomendamos ir a YouTube si precisan los subtítulos. Incluso si hablan inglés, parte de la entrevista está un poco distorsionada, debido al proceso de retoque del audio viejo. Eso si, la entrevista es la única parte con subtítulos decentes (editados por completo), mientras que el resto del programa tiene subtítulos automáticos, que no son muy buenos. La entrevista si, está muy buena, modestia aparte. (Una cosa más, asegúrense de no seleccionar los subtítulos automáticos de YT, porque esos son totalmente automáticos, no tienen la parte editada de la entrevista.) Con música de The Beatles, Route 49 (interpretando a Buddy Guy), y Coheed and Cambria. Próximo programa: Magic Knight Rayearth (Parte I).

This Week on America's Podcast: Coheed and Cambria  Strap on your space helmets and tighten your prog-rock seatbelts, because this week on America's Podcast, we descend into the melodically twisted, comic book-fueled universe of Coheed and Cambria—specifically, their tongue-twisting opus Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. (Yes, that's the full title—breathe now.) We wrangled in the ever-insightful Favio Vegas to help us untangle this prog-rock Rubik's Cube. Is this album a poetic masterpiece that'll make you grab your 10-speed bike and ride toward destiny? Or does it leave you staring into the void, waiting to be Welcomed Home by better decisions? No spoilers—but expect plenty of interdimensional confusion, some mild existential dread, and a whole lotta guitar wizardry. Tracks of the Week slap harder than a caffeine crash at 4AM: Marc goes full nocturnal with “4am T.M.” by Heavy Bones—because nothing says productivity like insomnia and power chords. Jerry walks the straight and sinister path with “Devils Row” by The Reality of Yourself—spooky, soulful, and possibly cursed. Favio chooses the narrative path with “The Story” by Envy of None—turns out even envy has layers. And Mooger closes it out in true Mooger fashion with “I Might Let the Devil Win” by Sevendust—because sometimes, evil just has the better riff. So until next week: grab that 4am TM, start writing your own prog saga, and if you find yourself on Devil's Row… maybe just walk really fast. #coheedandcambria 

Amy gets fingered for the first time.In parts, by Djmac1031- listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.Tommy sat by the edge of the pool, alone with his thoughts as he waited for Amy to come back out of the house.Both of them had made it back unseen and unquestioned from their little secret getaway into the woods.He had just gotten back poolside when Amy's best friend Cindy came over to him.“If you're looking for Amy, I just passed her in the house a minute ago,” Cindy said. “She looked kind of strange, and freaked out a little. You two love birds aren't fighting or something are you?”Tommy sighed inwardly. Cindy was a good friend to Amy, but she was always so damn nosy. She'd been “shipping” the both of them since long before “shipping” had become a catchphrase, and a stupid one at that, Tommy thought.“No, of course not,” Tommy replied, as casually as he could. “I haven't seen her since the Marco / Polo game broke up a while ago and everybody wandered off.”Cindy looked skeptical. “Thought I saw you two still chatting after I got out of the pool,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “You sure somethings not up? You better not have upset my bestie!” she growled.“I don't know what you're talking about,” Tommy said, a little too defensively.“I'm gonna talk to her about it later tonight, ya know. I'm sleeping over. I'll get her to dish, whatever it is, you know that right?” Cindy claimed boldly.Tommy shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “You guys have fun, talk about whatever you want, I don't care.”Cindy gave him a look that said she didn't quite believe that, then spun and walked away.Tommy watched her leave, relieved she was finally gone. He caught himself looking at her plump ass as she retreated, then quickly averted his eyes.Cindy was cute, even beautiful he had to admit. If he was being honest with himself, he found her attractive sexually. But he certainly didn't have any feelings for her. Not like he had for Amy.Tommy's thoughts drifted back to Amy, and their time alone in the woods, and what they'd done together, a series of firsts for both of them.He thought of her final words to him before she left the wooded path for the house: “I love you too.”Was it love, he thought? It was certainly more than just some teenage “crush.”Was it just sexual? No, he thought. He'd had feelings for her long before what became their first sexual explorations together this evening. He was just finally getting around to admitting it to himself, and understanding that Amy had these same feelings too.It was all so new, so confusing. But exciting too, he had to admit.He sat there alone, feet in the water, thinking about all of that, and trying not to think about the handjob Amy had given him just minutes ago, or about seeing and touching her breasts for the first time. The last thing he wanted was to pitch another tent right there by the side of the pool.He looked up from his thoughts and saw Amy's mom heading into the house.Tommy had a moment of panic. He hoped Amy was done doing, well, whatever she was doing in there. She'd been gone awhile.But he supposed she had to clean up the mess he'd made. She was probably washing her suit and towel out, making sure no telltale stains were left behind.He didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he saw Amy bound out the door and down the steps into the yard, and he let it out in a rush of relief.She looked happy and carefree enough, so if she'd encountered her mom it must have gone okay.Amy paused, looking around, and her face lit up in a radiant smile when she spotted him.Amy had to keep herself from running over to Tommy. She felt like she was floating over the grass, not simply stepping across it as she walked towards him, butterflies in her stomach.He stood as she approached, and it struck her, not for the first time, just how handsome he was.His eyes were a strange but beautiful combo of green and brown, with yellow flecks you could only see up close.His hair was a darker blonde than hers, although it was lightened now by the sun and spiky in a short summer cut.His body was lean and lanky, with wide shoulders and long legs. While not super muscular, what he had was lean and firm and strong from the various forms of physical work he always seemed to be doing.Amy's eyes traveled down his hairless chest to his stomach, then (not for the first time) to that hint of a V shape that started just under his abs, pointing the way towards his,“No, stop, not now,” Amy thought. “That way madness lies,” she laughed to herself, remembering her Shakespeare.She hoped he hadn't caught her looking, then realized maybe she wouldn't mind so much if he had anyway.His eyes seemed fixed on her as she approached, and they were speckled moonlight.Amy felt her heart flutter and a tingle between her legs. “Oh girl,” she thought. “If this is love, you're in trouble,” she groaned inwardly.Then they were together, standing face to face.Amy desperately wanted to hug him, to kiss him, but they both knew they couldn't risk such open displays of affection just now.So she instead simply spoke, “Hey there.”“Hey,” Tommy replied, almost a whisper.They both stood there, smiling like, well, two young lovers. Neither knew what to say next. Tommy broke the silence. “Wanna get a snack?”“I'd love to,” was her reply.They spent the rest of the party almost entirely by each other's side. Oh they socialized, chatted with their other friends, even played horseshoes for a while. But they we're always at least close by, making eye contact and sharing secret smiles.The party eventually started to wind down, and people began saying their goodbyes.Tommy kept a respectful distance as many were approaching Amy to congratulate her and say goodnight. She stood for a while with her parents, thanking each guest in turn for coming and for their thoughtful gifts, etc.He felt a sudden tap on his shoulder. It was his mother.“Hey sport, I'm gonna go. Do you want a ride back with me or are you staying for a bit?” They only lived a few blocks away, an easy walking distance, but his mom had driven so she could bring over the food she'd volunteered to make and the graduation gifts they'd gotten for Amy.“Is it okay if I stay a bit? Amy's parents said it was okay if a few of us stayed and watched a movie,” I explained. “I can walk home after, no problem. It's a nice night.”Mom looked at him and grinned. “Wanna spend more time with Amy, huh?” she said knowingly. “Don't think I haven't noticed how much time you two have been spending together lately.” Tommy gulped but said nothing.His mother relented. “Well, okay. I trust you, and I trust Amy's parents. You won't get into too much trouble I think. Just behave yourself, you hear? Be a good gentleman. And be home by midnight.”Tommy smiled and nodded. “Sure mom, you bet. Thanks.”“Just remember: God is watching you.” And with that she turned to make her goodbyes to Amy and her parents.“Yeah, well, we gave him a hell of a show earlier then,” Tommy thought to himself, and had to stifle a laugh.The popcorn was made, some fruit juice poured, (“You guys have had enough soda for one day” Amy's mom had said, stern but kindly) and they were settling down to watch the movie.The only person who wound up staying besides Tommy was Cindy, who of course was sleeping over.Amy and Cindy were on the center couch. Tommy sat alone in a recliner chair off to the side, as Amy's parents came in from the kitchen.“We're heading up to bed now,” Amy's dad started. “We expect you kids to behave yourself.” Amy's mom turned and looked directly at Tommy. “I expect you'll be a gentleman and show respect for our house?” she asked him.“Yes ma'am, yes sir,” Tommy replied, addressing both parents.Mom nodded, then turned to Cindy. “Cindy, you're chaperone. Keep a watch over these two. They've been making eyes at each other all night.”“Mom!” Amy cried, embarrassed.“What? You thought we didn't notice? We're not as blind as you think we are,” her mom shot back.Amy flushed crimson, but said nothing more.“Cindy?” Mom continued, “you heard me right? You're on guard duty. Understand?”Cindy barely contained her eye roll but nodded and replied, “Yes ma'am, of course.”“Just remember,” Dad said suddenly, “leave room for the Holy Spirit,” and looking directly at Tommy, dropped him a wink and smiled.Tommy gulped. He had no clue what to make of that at all, so he simply nodded.Mom threw dad a sharp glare and his smile quickly faded. “Straight home after the movie young man, you understand me?” Mom said.“Yes ma'am, I understand,” Tommy replied.Then they both gave Amy a kiss on the cheek and went upstairs to their bedroom.The room was silent for several moments after they left, finally broken by Cindy. “Well that was awkward,” she blurted.They all laughed, breaking the tension.They'd all changed into some dry clothes earlier, (Tommy had only just remembered to fetch his from his mom's car before she left) and Tommy couldn't help but notice how cute Amy looked in her sleepwear; a pink Hello Kitty pajama top and matching shorts.It was, as all her outfits were, modest, but it left her shoulders bare and he could see the tan lines made by her bathing suit. Suddenly he was thinking about her breasts, exposed and pale in the moonlight, as she'd slowly slipped down the straps,He was snapped out of this memory by a voice. “Tommy? Earth to Tommy!”It was Cindy. “You can't see the TV well from there. Come sit on the couch with us. I'll scoot over, you can sit next to Amy.” She smiled wryly, and Amy elbowed her good naturedly, but put up no further argument.“Yeah, sure, makes sense,” Tommy said casually, trying not to sound too eager.The girls scooted over and he sat down next to Amy, who was now in the middle, Cindy to her left at the other end.Their hips touched as he sat, and he awkwardly tried to figure out what to do with his left arm. He decided to put it around Amy's shoulders. He made sure to keep his hand up on the couch, a safe distance from the tempting curve of her breast.Amy settled her head on Tommy's shoulder, sighing almost imperceptibly in contentment. Cindy heard it though, and this time did not contain her eye roll, but smiled knowingly.They watched the movie like that for a while, in silence. It was some rom-com the girls had picked out, one of their favorites. Tommy didn't really care what they picked. He wasn't there for the movie.It was a PG film and a pretty tame one at that. No sex or nudity of course. Although there were a couple of kissing scenes and during them Tommy could feel Amy shifting slightly under his arm, and knew exactly what she was thinking.About an hour into the movie, Cindy suddenly stood up. Making a show of stretching (Tommy could not help but notice the way her large breasts pushed out from her less modest tank top, despite himself) and, mock yawning, turned to address them.“I'm tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed,” she announced, looking slyly at Tommy for a second. Then to Amy she added, “your parents bedroom is right across the hall from yours. Keep your cell phone nearby. If I hear them stir, I'll text you.”Turning back to Tommy, she said, “There's about 30 minutes left in this movie. If Amy's not upstairs and in her bed in 35, I'm personally knocking on her parents door and waking them up.”“I know your parents told me to chaperone,” she continued, “but I figure if God sees all, let Him keep an eye on you two.”And with a sly wink and a totally knowing grin, she turned and went upstairs.Tommy and Amy both sat silent and shocked as they watched her go.Tommy broke the silence. “I, I can't believe she just did that,” he muttered.Amy just sighed, cupped his face with her hand, turned it towards her own, and whispered, “she's a good friend.”And just like that they were kissing.Tommy's mind was spinning happily. She smelled so good, clean and fresh after her earlier shower. Some kind of floral scented shampoo, he thought, and he also caught a hint of what he guessed was perfume; a light, almost fruity scent. Her hair was loose, wavy, and flowing around her face and neck.He could taste her lip gloss, sweet with a hint of cinnamon.It wasn't long before the arm he still had half on the couch dropped to a more comfortable, intimate position.Breaking the kiss a moment, he looked at her, head tilted, eyes questioning. No words were needed. She simply nodded her consent and shifted herself into a better position for his hand to gently cup her breast.Again he felt her hard little nipple underneath her shirt, already swollen. He could see her neck and what little skin that was exposed just above her chest flush with excitement as she squirmed under his touch.His hand then slid under the soft cotton fabric and found the bare skin of her breast beneath. He was surprised she wasn't wearing a bra, but supposed the top was generally modest enough that she didn't need one.Or, he speculated, she'd left it off on purpose.Amy rested her head back on the couch and closed her eyes, focusing on the incredible sensations, as his hand explored her firm young flesh. He was so gentle, and every time his fingers found her nipples her body jerked as if shocked.Tommy's voice broke through her trance, whispering. “Amy, are you  okay? Tell me if I hurt you, or,”“I'm fine, just, sensitive,” she stammered. She opened her eyes, imploring, “don't stop, please.” She leaned in, finding his lips again.As they continued making out, he felt her hand land on his upper thigh, slowly moving towards his crotch.The loose fitting shorts he was wearing were containing his throbbing erection, but just barely. Then her hand was over it, feeling it's length for the second time that night.Suddenly she was tugging at his waistband, trying desperately to free it.It took all of his willpower to grasp her hand and remove it.“Amy, we can't. It's too risky. And too, messy.”She groaned and frowned. “I know, but,”Tommy lifted her chin up to face him, and spoke softly, lovingly. “Amy, I want it too, but we have to be smart. If your parents walked in on us with my pants down, or if I made a mess again all over your couch,” he paused, removed his hand from her breast, and with one finger made the “throat cutting” gesture across his neck.She nodded, regretfully. “Yeah, you're right. Dammit.”They sat quietly for a moment, just holding each other.She looked at him suddenly, with a determined glint in her eye.“Would you,” she paused, licked her lips, swallowed nervously, started again:“Would you, touch me, somewhere else?” Her voice was a weak whisper.“Where?” said Tommy, not getting it yet.Amy smiled shyly, looked down, and slowly parted her legs.Understanding dawned in his eyes. A huge grin spread on his face, but was quickly replaced by gentle concern.“Are you sure?” he asked sweetly. “Because I don't want to pressure you, or make you feel like you have to,”Amy cut him off sharply but lovingly. “Tommy, if you don't touch my Kitty right now I'll wind up screaming in frustration. Please. I need this.” Her voice was a harsh whisper that contained a desperation he'd never heard from her before.Tommy was utterly taken aback by this outburst. Then he broke into a goofy grin. “Your kitty?” he said incredulously.Amy flushed with embarrassment. “It's what, it's what I've always, called, it. I know, it's silly.”“It's adorable,” said Tommy, “and so are you.”His hand went to the bare skin of her right thigh, slowly caressing her soft, tan skin.Her breathing became heavier as his hand slid higher up her thigh, finding the hem in the leg of her pajama shorts, then slipped under it.His fingers found the edge of her panties where they met her thigh, then paused.She moaned, put her hand on his, pushed it further. “Please,” she groaned, “please keep going.”His fingers started to work their way under the edge of her panties when she suddenly stopped him.“Just don't, just don't push your fingers, inside. Not all the way,  okay? I'm still a virgin, and I wanna stay that way for now. At least till we're ready to,” she stopped herself, then shrugged, “, well you know. Touch anywhere else you want, just don't push inside,  okay?”Tommy nodded, understanding. He knew enough about the female anatomy to understand what the hymen was and how it could be broken. He certainly didn't want to push Amy beyond what she was ready for.“Don't worry, I don't ever want to hurt you, Amy. Please tell me if I do. And stop me if I go too far. I've never done this, and I want it to be right,” he said.“Just touch me,” she hissed. “I'll guide you if needed, okay?”Without further hesitation, his hand slid up again, finding her panties, but instead of going under them he suddenly changed direction and went over the fabric, cupping her entire “Kitty” in his palm.What he found was warm, almost hot, and he could feel moisture seeping its way through the gusset, warm and slippery like a lotion or oil.He looked at her with happy confusion, and she smiled. “It gets that way sometimes. When it's, excited.” She winked at him wickedly. “But you're torturing me, Tommy. Here, let me just,”With a quick move, her hand was suddenly inside her pajama shorts, and with a jerk she pulled her panties aside, allowing him easier access. He instantly felt the hot wet flesh of her virgin cunt under the palm of his hand.He wasn't sure who gasped louder at the moment of contact, him or her.Amy's eyes rolled back in her head as his fingers started to explore her soft folds.Tommy was mesmerized by what he was feeling. His fingers gently probed and explored her swollen labia, then found where they separated as his fingers slipped between them, locating the entrance to her vagina.He stopped there, remembering his promise not to probe too deep.Cautiously, he stuck a finger tip in, then looked at Amy. “This okay? Not too much?”Her breath was hitching, as she struggled to keep quiet despite the immense pleasure. “Ya, yes, it's fine,” she stammered. “Juh, just a little deeper. There, stop! Now just slide it in and out a bit.”He followed her instructions and she closed her eyes again, imagining, as she had when she'd masturbated earlier, that it was the tip of his cock sliding in and out of her virgin hole.She felt like a fire hydrant the way she was gushing from the gentle fingering. Tommy felt it too.“It's so wet,” he said, his voice a low marvel. “I know, sorry,” she stuttered, barely able to speak.“Don't be,” he whispered in her ear. “I got you way messier earlier, remember? Besides, I'm assuming this means I'm doing a good job, right?”“Oh, yes, yes you, oh, oh God, don't stop, a little faster, oh, oh Jesus, I'm gonna,” Amy suddenly bit down on her lip so hard she thought it might bleed, as she felt the wave of her orgasm hit her, knocking her head back against the couch, her arm squeezing Tommy's waist so tight he could barely breathe, her other hand flying to her mouth to cover her scream as her body shook uncontrollably.“Don't stop don't stop don't stop,” her voice came muffled from under her hand as she felt a fireball of pleasure spread outwardly from her vagina, simultaneously up towards her head and down to her toes. Then her sounds were no longer words, but high pitched squeals. Her body rocked forward, then back, then shook with what looked like a convulsion. Her eyes rolled back in her head.Amy gives her first blowjob.Amy had been sitting with her eyes closed in a state of utter relaxation, wrapped in Tommy's strong embrace. Suddenly they opened, and looking down, she saw Tommy's erection, still straining against his shorts.“Oh, Tommy, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot about, that,” she gestured to his crotch. “Are you sure I can't, you know, help take care of it? It seems so unfair to leave you that way.”Tommy glanced at the TV. There were maybe ten minutes left in the movie. Plenty of time, really. But he was still worried.“Amy, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you to. But I'm just concerned about making another mess all over you, or worse, on your parents couch!”Amy looked sad, then thoughtful. She looked up at him suddenly, with a gaze that was both shy yet determined.“I have, I have an idea,” she said, her voice shaking, “but I don't know what you'll think of it.”Tommy looked at her quizzically, so she continued, “I could, I could, you know, put it in my, in my mouth.” She blushed at her own brazen words.Tommy's eyes went wide. “You mean,?”Amy simply nodded. Her face still flushed but also filled with love and determination. “Yes,” she answered. “I want to please you that way. Please?” she begged, pouting.Her plea broke any remaining willpower he had left to resist. He kissed her, then smiled. “How could I possibly refuse that pretty face?” he chuckled.He sat back, loosened his shorts, then slid them down. His cock sprung free immediately.Despite having seen and touched it in this state earlier that evening, Amy still couldn't help but giggle at how his penis bounced and twitched all on it's own.“What would be the, you know, best way to, you know, do that?” she asked, suddenly feeling bashful.“Um,” Tommy thought, “maybe on your knees? On the floor?”Amy nodded and slid down to the floor, placing herself between Tommy's legs.This seemed like a good position, she thought, as she got her first really good, close up look at his penis. There was a long, thick vein that ran up the underside of it, from the bottom of the shaft up to the strange indentation of flesh just under the tip that reminded Amy vaguely of her own folds just above her clit. She observed his balls again, in their strange little sack of flesh, covered in small dark hairs.“It's all such a strange looking thing,” she thought to herself, “but somehow beautiful, and arousing.”Amy took his throbbing member in her hand, feeling it pulse in her grip, then started to lean forward towards it.Just as her lips approached his swollen head, she froze. Letting go, she looked up at him, suddenly afraid.“I,” Amy started, “I don't, I don't know what I'm doing,” she stammered. “What if I hurt you?”“You don't have to do this, Amy, we can stop right now,” Tommy said, concerned.“No, no, I'm just, I wanna do good,” Amy smiled weakly, “just afraid I won't be.”“Relax, take your time, go slow, you'll be fine baby. I'm so worked up this won't take long anyway,” he laughed, calming her. Then he echoed her earlier words, “I'll guide you if needed,  okay?”She nodded, smiled, then advanced once more towards his throbbing cock. She felt Tommy's hand touching her face in gentle reassurance, then brushing her hair back away from it. She met his gaze and smiled.Her lips found his head and kissed it tentatively. As before in the woods when she touched it for the very first time, it suddenly started bouncing up and down like a diving board someone just leapt from.She suppressed her mirth this time, determined to get down to business. Again taking his thick shaft in her tiny hand, she held it steady, as she kissed the tip more confidently now. Tommy gasped, feeling the warmth of her lips make contact with his sensitive glans.Feeling bolder, Amy parted her lips and slowly took the tip in her mouth.Tommy winced suddenly, and whispered through his clenched jaw, “mind the teeth!”Amy's mouth let go immediately, and she blurted, “Shit, sorry! You  okay?”“Fine, I'm fine, just, it's  okay baby, try again,” Tommy said reassuringly.Amy's cheeks flushed hot, but she nodded and slid her lips over the tip of his cock again, this time making sure to keep her teeth clear.She got past the tip easily enough, then took another inch or so. Here she paused yet again. She had no idea how far she should or could go, or what to do next.Sensing her confusion and hesitation, Tommy spoke to her softly. “Only go as far as you're comfortable, baby, then just slide it in and out, kinda like what you did with your hand earlier, but using your mouth instead. Does that make sense?”“Mmm hmm,” Amy replied through her full lips, the vibrations causing a groan of pleasure from Tommy. She made a mental note that he liked that.Slowly, Amy started to move her head, up and down, feeling the hot flesh of his cock sliding across her tongue, feeling the ridge of his tip passing in and out of her lips; a very strange yet pleasurable sensation.She was starting to get the hang of it. Using her right hand to hold his cock steady, her grip gentle yet firm at the base, Amy continued to bob her head up and down over his cock, although she still only dared to take about a third of it.It was incredibly hard, yet also felt somehow soft and spongy in her mouth. She was surprised to realize it had no real taste to it at all besides a hint of salt.She was so busy concentrating on what she was doing that she barely remembered to check to see how Tommy was handling it.Looking up, she saw him covering his mouth with his hand, trying to contain his groans and gasps. But his eyes spoke volumes as to the pleasure he was receiving.Their eyes met again, and Amy somehow managed a smile despite having the first penis she'd ever seen, touched, and now sucked in her mouth. She started humming again softly, grinning up at him with a wicked sparkle in her ocean blue eyes.That sent Tommy over the edge. These sensations were all too new to him, far more intense and pleasurable than anything he'd ever managed to create with just his hand. There was no way he could hold back for long.Amy suddenly felt his penis swell in her mouth, like it was expanding somehow. The earlier handjob she'd given had clued her in on what this meant of course; his climax was imminent.Now was the moment of truth, Amy realized. Would she be able to handle him squirting all that thick, sticky stuff in her mouth?Despite being completely inexperienced, Amy was a smart girl. She decided the best course of action in a split second.Quickly she lifted her head up so that her mouth now only held his throbbing cock head. Her lips sealed tight around the ridge forming a vacuum. The hand that had been gripping his base now started to stroke his shaft up and down as he'd taught her before, jerking him while applying gentle suction with her mouth.If she was going to try to catch all of his squirt, she decided she should treat his cock like a straw and try to suck it out. That's just what she did, and she felt the first blast pushing its way up his shaft under her hand, forcefully shooting out the tip.It hit her tongue; hot, salty, but also sweet somehow. The texture was thick and creamy, like some strange combo of yogurt and egg whites. Amy tasted it for only a microsecond before acting on instinct and working the slimy glob to the back of her throat and swallowing.Just in time for the second blast. This one caught her less prepared, and she choked slightly, then kept going.But there was simply too much to keep up with. Her mouth was filling up faster than she could swallow, and with horror she realized some of his cum was leaking out past her lips despite her best efforts at containment and about to drip on the couch.Suddenly she felt a hand just under her chin. Tommy, thinking quickly, had grabbed some fortunate nearby napkins and was using them to catch the run off oozing from her lips and down her chin.She took the napkins gratefully, and quickly mopped up her chin. Amy pulled her mouth back until her lips were resting just over the slit of his tip, then slowly stroked his still hard shaft, feeling the last few drops squeeze out on her tongue.She rolled his cum around on her tongue a bit, savoring the taste this time. It didn't taste bad, nor did it taste good, she thought. Just, odd. But it certainly wasn't terrible or anything. And just the notion of what exactly it was, and just how it had wound up in her mouth, sent pleasant little shivers through her.Amy looked up at Tommy, the tip of his penis still on her lips, and grinned proudly. She'd done it! She'd actually made him squirt with her mouth! And managed to keep it from getting truly messy by actually swallowing almost all of it.Amy felt his penis starting to soften slightly in her hand. She marveled at the fascinating biology of it all for a moment before deciding on a whim to lick him completely clean of the last few splashes of cum that were stuck to him.She heard Tommy moan, and felt his body tremor, as she gently finished cleaning his shaft and head with her tongue. Then, giving it one last kiss, she reluctantly let go of his slowly deflating penis.Amy then felt a sudden pang of guilt. Not for giving her first blowjob, no. She actually felt proud about that. She just felt bad for being so focused on what she was doing that she'd totally missed out on seeing most of Tommy's reaction.She looked up at him again. His face was flushed, but grinning ear to ear. She noticed with some alarm that his lower lip was bleeding, and called his attention to it.“Really?” Tommy muttered, as if coming out of a trance. He tentatively touched his lip, saw the blood on his fingers, then chuckled softly. “Well, it was either bite my lip or scream so loud I'd wake your parents. Small price to pay, I guess,” he said laughing. “It's not bad, it'll be fine, don't worry.” He dabbed his lip with a fresh napkin, wiping off the blood.Amy got up off her knees and sat beside him on the couch, then simply wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug that he returned in earnest.“That was beautiful, Amy. Absolutely amazing. Thank you so, so much,” he whispered in her ear, followed by, “I love you.”“I know,” she whispered, grinning again. Tommy laughed. “Well played, princess.”Looking up, Tommy noticed the credits were now rolling on the movie.“Shit, I better get moving,” he sighed, reluctantly letting go of Amy and reaching down to pull his shorts back up.“Wait,” whispered Amy, “just a second, I just wanna, ,” her hand wrapped around his now soft penis and gave it a gentle squeeze, “say goodbye.” Then she giggled. “It's so strange how different it feels when it's soft,” she marveled.“Yeah, well keep that up and you'll wake it up again,” he said, only half joking. He already felt it starting to stir despite having just had his second orgasm within a couple of hours.“Take a last look,” he cracked before pulling his shorts up and adjusting everything back to normal.Their eyes met again, and Amy gently kissed him, taking care not to put too much pressure on his sore lip. But it had already stopped bleeding and he didn't wince at her kiss, simply returned it.Finally they broke the kiss, and Tommy stood up. “Time for me to go, babe, sorry.”Amy nodded, then suddenly looked troubled. Noticing the look, he asked, “What is it? What's on your mind?”Amy took a moment to gather her thoughts, then finally spoke. “Tommy, I, I've really, enjoyed everything we've, done together tonight. All of it. And I don't feel guilty or shameful about it. Does, does that make me, a slut?” she asked with a gulp.“No, God no,” Tommy gasped. “Do you love me?” he asked her, looking in her eyes.“Yes, so much,” she replied earnestly.“I love you too, Amy. And I don't think it's wrong for two people who love each other to, to do these things, to, to make each other feel good. To, please each other,” he said, “no matter what some guy in a collar says from a pulpit.”Amy's face relaxed and broke into a warm, grateful smile. “Thank you,” she said softly, “that makes me feel better. Because I feel that way too.”“I gotta say,” said Tommy, “It kinda surprised me the way you swore when you were orgasming. It was, it was kinda hot.”Amy blushed but grinned. “Yeah, that surprised me too, actually,” she said, then just shrugged.They shared one last embrace, a quick final kiss, and then Tommy was out the door.He turned to look back at her, waved, and whispered loudly, “I love you. See you again soon.”“I love you too,” she mouthed silently, blew him a kiss, and closed the door.&l

Two life long friends start to explore intimacy together.In 4 parts, By D j mac 1031 - listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.The pool party had been going on for several hours, and it was well after dark, when Amy asked me if I'd wanted to go for a walk in the woods behind the house.She was 18, I was 19, but we'd known each other since we were toddlers, our families being very close and part of the same church group.The party was to celebrate her high school graduation (I graduated the year before) and was mainly our families along with some of our mutual friends from church and school.As I said, we'd been friends for a long time, but it was only in recent months that things seemed to change between us.Talking about our futures, our questions of what we wanted to do with our lives, our secret bonding over our mutual distaste of our parents' particular brand of religion, had brought us closer together as friends, but also somehow felt more than ‘just' friends.I'd certainly started noticing her beautiful body more recently as well.Amy was blonde, with curly shoulder length locks, now damp around her face. Blue eyes that almost matched the pool water we were currently floating in.Her one-piece bathing suit was modest (I'm sure her parents had some say in that) but still couldn't help but highlight the curves of her perfect apple sized breasts, or the roundness of her ass that hadn't quite lost its “baby fat” yet.She was well tanned of course; it was her pool and she spent a lot of time sunning herself when she wasn't actually swimming in it.We'd been playing Marco Polo for awhile along with our friends, and there was the usual silliness, splashing, and occasional “accidental” groping of random body parts as we all chased each other around the pool, taking turns being the “blind” player.My hands had found Amy's body on more than a few occasions when it was my turn. I was starting to think she was letting me catch her just so my hands could brush against her hips, her back, and yes once right across her round bubble ass.We'd been taking a break from the game and just floating nearby each other, catching our breath, when she asked about going for the walk.Most of our friends had left the pool already, getting snacks or drinks or just drying off.“You really wanna?” I asked, surprised. We'd been spending a lot of time together recently, but both of us having very religious conservative parents made it difficult to actually pursue any kind of true dating relationship.We weren't girlfriend and boyfriend yet, not by any stretch, but had certainly progressed beyond mere childhood friends in the past several weeks.I still remember my surprise when she kissed me right on the lips at her graduation ceremony just a few days ago.Oh it was quick, and she'd been hugging and kissing lots of folks. But it wasn't accidental on her part and it certainly didn't feel platonic.“Yeah, come on, it'll be fun, I promise,” she replied. The smile on her face was mischievous to say the least.I was a bit scared honestly. Both our parents would freak out if they caught us sneaking off together. I honestly couldn't wait to get out of my house and away from all the religious nonsense. But until then I had to put up with their repressive bullshit that made it incredibly difficult for me to even consider dating any girls on a regular basis, let alone get laid.We climbed out of the pool, grabbed our towels, and took a look around.Our parents all seemed busy, chatting away with some of the other parents in attendance, drinking, laughing, and playing some card game.I didn't think they'd notice us.“ Okay, let's go, lead the way I guess. You know these woods better than me.”Amy didn't hesitate. She took my hand and led me to a little path that was barely visible in the dark.As we got to the edge by the tree line, we both took one more look around, saw no one noticing us, and quietly slipped through the trees and down the path.We hadn't gone very far when we came to a little clearing. A few stumps marked where some trees had been cleared, and a small pile of wood to one side, apparently the remains of some makeshift fort.“My brothers cleared this spot years ago; they used to have sleep-outs in their fort. They never let me come here with them but I've always known about it. They eventually forgot about it as they got older, but I never did. It's a nice spot to just get away and be alone for a while,” she explained.“Yeah, it's pretty cool I guess” I said, then, awkwardly, “not that many bugs here.”She laughed. “I keep it clear here so it doesn't get overgrown. And I sprayed some bug killer here earlier this afternoon. Just in case.” She had that mischievous grin again and a twinkle in her eye I couldn't fathom.“In case what?” I asked stupidly. God, the cluelessness of a teenage boy.“In case this” she said, and suddenly she was in my arms, her lips pressed to mine.I froze for a moment, but thankfully, instinct took over, and I kissed her back.She broke the kiss after a few seconds, almost reluctantly. "I've been wanting to do that forever, you know. I've been waiting so long for the right moment.“I smiled, hoping she couldn't see how red my face was in the moonlight that shone down on us."Wow. Well I'm, I'm glad you did Amy. That was, that was really, that was really nice.” I stuttered around the words like an idiot.“I'm glad you liked it. Because I wanna do it again.” She smiled, looking at me in anticipation.This time I made the move, pulling her gently by the waist, leaning down a bit (she was shorter than me) and moving in for another kiss.She met me halfway and once again our lips connected.We were both inexperienced, but we got the hang of it quickly. I tested her lips with my tongue; they parted and accepted it. She offered her tongue in return, and we explored, if a bit awkwardly, the art of French kissing.We'd break the kiss only for a few moments to look into each other's eyes, smile, then right back at it.My hands up until that point had remained on her hips. Her arms were up around my neck and she was standing on her toes to help get some height.I decided to be a bit bolder, and slowly started moving my hands. First just slowly up then back down her sides. I repeated this move a few times and her body seemed to respond positively, so I got braver.My hands went back to her hips, then slowly around to her back. While the front of her suit was modest, the back was mostly open, allowing my hands to gently caress her soft, perfect skin.She broke the kiss and giggled, “that tickles!”“Sorry,” I said, lying.“I didn't say stop, did I?” She replied softly, then started kissing me again.My hands continued rubbing her back, but now I was moving them in small slow circles, lower, and lower still, stopping just above her ass.I could feel her wriggling, trying to stand taller, and realized she was trying to actually move her ass UP and into my hands!I took her signal and went with it, sliding my hands down and finally cupping the perfect teen bubble ass I'd up until then been able to admire only with my eyes.“Mmm,” she moaned as she broke the kiss. “Finally. Took you long enough,” she giggled again playfully.“I was trying to be a gentleman,” I joked.“Well stop trying so hard” she shot back playfully.“Oh yeah?“ I said in mock annoyance. "Well then,” and with that I playfully grabbed her ass harder.What happened next happened quickly. My pull on her ass threw her off the balance of her toes, and she fell forward, right into me, our bodies touching fully for the first time.And that's when I realized I had a massive erection.I felt her lower stomach lean right into it when she slipped, felt the simultaneous jolt of pain from the impact and pleasure from, well, the contact.She was laughing at first, then suddenly went quiet as she looked down, confused for a moment.Then her eyes went wide as she looked up at me.“Is that, is that your,” Now she was the one stuttering. "Is that what I think it is?“ She managed to get out.My face went beet red. "Yeah, um, look, sorry, I,”“It's  okay” she cut in. “Did I, did I hurt you?”“No,” I replied. (it had hurt, but only a little really and I didn't want to make her feel bad.)“Oh,  okay, good.” She said, biting her lip.We stood there in awkward silence for a moment. But she didn't back away, and I certainly didn't want her to. My cock was throbbing, straining against the fabric of my suit, and while separated by my suit and her own, I still enjoyed the contact of another person, especially my beautiful friend Amy, touching up against my penis, even if only indirectly.I didn't want the moment to end. But I didn't know how to continue.Amy finally broke the silence. "Is that, because of me?“ She asked shyly."Yes” I managed.She pulled away from me and I almost groaned. I didn't want her to move.But she only pulled back far enough to look down to see the tent pushing up from my swimsuit.Her eyes again went wide. “Wow. I mean I knew they got, bigger, when guys got, uh; but I didn't think they'd get that, big, or,” She stopped, looking both confused and excited.I was embarrassed, yet also feeling a sense of pride, and excitement. My life-long friend was seeing my erected penis for the first time, even if it was covered by my suit, and it was giving her a good show.“Have you never seen a guys, you know, thing before?” I asked, hoping mine was truly her first.“Well, no, not really. A picture in a textbook once. but it was just a drawing, and not this big, or,” she paused.“Hard?” I finished for her.“Yeah,” she laughed. "I never saw a hard one, or a real one.“ She gulped."Yeah, they're usually smaller and soft, normally. But get much bigger and harder when, excited” I explained simply.“So you're, excited, because of me?”“Yes,” I replied, “Amy, you're so beautiful, and I'm so happy to be here, kissing you, and touching you. I've wanted this for a long time too, and now that it's happening, I can't help but get, well, turned on. I hope this doesn't upset you.”“No, not at all. I, I love it” she said, grinning widely.“Can I, can I touch it? She stammered.My heart jumped. This is gonna happen? My brain screamed silently in joy."Of course,” I managed to say, “I'd, I'd love that.”She came in closer to me again. I could smell the chlorine in her hair, but also just, well, her. Her bright face shined in the moonlight, beautiful, without a stitch of makeup on.Her left arm went around my hip to my back, and with her right, she slowly, tentatively, reached out and placed the palm of her hand over the bulge of my suit.My cock jumped immediately at her touch, and she was startled, pulling her hand back in surprise.“It moved!” She gasped. “Wait, it, it moves?”“Yeah it does that,” I smiled, begging silently for her to touch it again.She burst out laughing. “Oh my God, that's great! It moves!” She laughed so loud I was afraid the whole party behind us would hear.“Shush,” I whispered, and she tried to contain herself, finally quieting to the occasional giggle.Her hand reached out, more boldly this time, and again my throbbing member jumped at her touch, but this time she didn't pull away.Instead, she started gently rubbing it with the palm of her hand. It bobbed and twitched with her movements and she smiled brightly, like a kid on Christmas with a new toy, enjoying how it responded to her touch.I was enjoying it too. Not exactly the way I did it on my own of course, but hell, any touching was good touching, when it came to a beautiful girl with her hand on your cock.“Does that, does it feel, good?” She asked shyly.“Oh god yes, Amy. It feels amazing, so so good! Please don't stop.” I begged.She smiled such a beautiful smile, and continued exploring.“I want to, I wanna see it” she said suddenly.I felt I must be dreaming. If so, please, whatever you do, God, be merciful, please don't wake me up now!I couldn't even manage the words so just nodded, and she slowly tugged down my suit, struggling a bit to get it over the protruding obstacle, until I helped by undoing the string and tugging with her.It suddenly popped out, springing upward in all its full glory.She had to stifle another laugh; not a cruel one, mocking me, but a joyful, playful excited laugh that spoke to how thrilled she was to finally see it.“Wow! Holy crap!” She whispered. “It looks even bigger in person! And so, veiny! Are you sure that's not painful? It looks so swollen!”“Not painful at all, it actually feels really pleasurable, and very sensitive to, being touched” I said, hinting at what I hoped she'd get back to.She grinned wickedly and took the hint, and her hand again reached for my cock. Within moments I was feeling, for the first time ever, the incredible feeling of skin on skin contact from someone other than myself touching my cock.Now, she was using her fingers, running them up my shaft, tracing their way to the tip, then, back down. My body was literally shaking in bliss.Suddenly she giggled again.“What's so funny now?” I asked, not harshly.“I just now noticed your, what's the word? Testicles, right? They're, don't be mad, please, but they're just silly looking. Like little balls in a sack.”“Yeah well that's why we call them balls,” I laughed. "And it's okay, I'm not mad. They are kinda goofy looking.“Her hand cupped them gently, and she looked up at me, questioning. "Is this okay? I don't wanna hurt them, I know it can really hurt a guy getting hit there.”“You're fine, just be gentle with them, don't squeeze, just rub,” I said.She gently rubbed them for a few seconds, feeling their weight, being very careful.“What feels better, touching your, balls, or your,?” She must have felt embarrassed to say penis or cock or whatever other term, because she just gestured at my twitching member.“My cock?” I said, seeing how she'd react if I said it.She flinched at the word, not used to using or hearing the “dirty” words too often I suppose.“Yeah, your, cock,” she repeated, trying out the word, then deciding she liked it.“Your big hard cock.” Her face had that wicked grin again.“Yeah touching my cock feels better, honestly,” I grinned back. “Especially when you are touching it.”She took that as an invitation to continue.“Tell me how to, to touch it the way, the way you like,” she asked nervously.“Okay. Well,” I paused, then continued, “what you were doing felt really good, but it's better if you, well, here, let me show you.” And with that I took her hand and guided it into the more familiar grip around my shaft, then showed her how to stroke it, pulling the skin gently up around the tip, then back, the way every guy figures out how to do as soon as he hits puberty.She got the hang of it pretty quickly and I let go, allowing her to continue at her own pace.“It feels so warm,” she gasped, “and, I can feel your pulse in it” she marveled.Suddenly she looked up at me. “It's, beautiful.” She said, then kissed me.I pulled her in close as we kissed, her hand never letting go.I was close to cumming, I knew I wouldn't last much longer if she kept going. I grabbed her hand and made her pause, trying to extend the moment. She looked up at me questioningly.“Just needed a pause for a second.” I explained. Suddenly, I had a thought.“Can I,?” I stammered, as I moved my hand towards her beautiful firm boobs, waiting for her consent.She bit her lip, then nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.I touched her breast gently, my hand over her suit still, heard her gasp, felt her shudder. I could feel her nipple, stiff and swollen, poking through the fabric.Her hand suddenly left my cock, and I looked at her, curious. She simply smiled then reached up and slowly slipped the shoulder straps of her bathing suit down.She hesitated for only a moment, then continued, exposing to my delighted eyes her firm, young breasts for the first time.They stood, perky and oh so round, their pale pinkness a sharp contrast to the rest of her tanned skin. Her nipples were tiny points sticking up from the middle of her light pink, puffy areolas.My face must have been interesting; with my mouth agape and my eyes wide, because she giggled again, nervously.“Do you like them?” She asked quietly.“They're beautiful. Just like you Amy,” I replied lovingly. She blushed but smiled.With my left arm still holding her close, my right hand again found her perfect tits.I went from one to the other, alternating between a gentle caress and soft squeezes. I could feel her heart racing beneath her left breast. I gently rolled her left nipple between my fingers, then gave it a slight tug. She gasped in surprise and (I'd hoped) pleasure.“Was that  okay? I didn't hurt you?” I asked, concerned.“No, I'm fine, it felt good, just, sensitive,” she managed to say, breathing heavily.We kissed again, and then I felt her hand return to stroking my throbbing boner.After about another minute or two of this, her stroking my cock, me playing with her breasts, I felt the familiar sensation of my climax approaching, knowing I would not be able to hold it back any longer.“Amy,” I gasped, breathing heavy, “you're going to make me, oh God, I can't hold it back,” I moaned, tried not to scream my pleasure, and managed to get out “Please, just don't stop, don't stop, don't,”My cock swelled; she gasped but didn't let go, kept stroking, as the first blast of hot cum shot from the tip of my cock.It hit her right between her exposed breasts. She jumped but stayed close, still not letting go, still jerking me steadily as blast after sticky blast continued to burst from my straining organ.Cum went everywhere; more squirted on her suit, her hand, her arm. Some dripped on her feet, and I could hear her squealing and giggling.Her eyes met mine, confused and questioning. "Just a little more, please, I'm begging you.“ I groaned, and she kept her grip, milking the last remaining drops, watching them ooze out the tip to drip to the grass below.Finally, I could take no more, and grabbed her hand gently, pulling it away from my still hard but finally satisfied cock."So, so good, Amy, that was so good, thank you, oh thank you,” I struggled and finally managed to control my breathing as I repeated, “Oh, thank you.”“You're welcome,” she said gently, and her lips found mine once more.That kiss lasted, seconds? Minutes? A lifetime? Forever?Finally it broke, and we both laughed. We shared a mutual mix of embarrassment and excitement at the state we found ourselves in. My cock, hanging there, slowly deflating. Her breasts still exposed. Cum everywhere.“Holy shit that was a mess!” She exclaimed. “I knew, I knew something would, you know, come out, but, wow, holy shit!”I realized with horror the mess I had made on her. “Oh god, Amy, I'm sorry, really, it just happened so fast, I wasn't thinking, I,”She cut me off. “It's  okay. I, I loved it. I loved making that happen. I loved that you felt good. I loved that it was because, because of me.” I could hear the pride in her voice, like a sense of accomplishment.“Shit, we better clean up” she gasped suddenly. She then grabbed the towel she had brought and started desperately wiping away the spunk from her boobs. “Take one last look” she said as she fixed her suit, covering up her breasts to my dismay.She then continued cleaning herself, mopping up the jizz that had splattered on her suit, hands and feet.“It's  okay, don't worry,” she said; to herself or me I wasn't sure. “I'll clean most of this up and in the dark no one will notice the stains, and I'll jump back in the pool real quick and that should,” She paused, looked at me, still standing there, cock deflated now but sticky with my cum, then laughed and threw me the towel. "Here, clean up and put that away,“ she said quickly, ”we gotta get back before someone notices we've been missing.“I quickly wiped myself down, and noticed her eying my penis one last time."It's, softer now.” She whispered.“Yeah, you, you tired it out.” I winked and smiled. She laughed, again looking pleased with herself.We quickly finished cleaning up, did a double check on each other, adjusted our clothing to make sure everything was back in place, then shared one last, lingering kiss.I looked her in the eye, resolved to tell her my feelings. “Amy, I, I lov,”“Hush.” She said, cutting me off. “We gotta go! Now!”We crept down the path, back the way we came. I could hear the sounds of the party again as we came to the end of our tree cover.We stopped, peaking out cautiously, seeing who may be looking in our direction.It looked clear, and I was about to step out when Amy stopped me.“Wait,” she whispered. “I'll go first. My mom knows I like to visit that clearing alone sometimes. I tell her I pray out there, but I really just go to get away from them and be alone sometimes. If she or someone else sees me coming out alone, that's my story, that I slipped away for a quiet moment of prayer.”You genius, I thought as I smiled admiringly at her.“You wait a few minutes. If I get back without questions, I'll head right for the house, wash my suit off better and make sure to rinse this towel out. Wait till I'm in the house, then come out. If anyone questions you, tell them,” Here she paused, hesitated.“I'll tell them I had to pee and the bathroom was occupied. Embarrassing, but better than the truth” I whispered back.She smiled. “That will work, good thinking.  Okayhere I go. Oh one last thing,”She paused, kissed my lips quickly, touched my cheek gently,“, I love you too.”Then she turned, and stepped out from the trees, walking slowly back towards the yard.Amy cleans up, then has a few minutes of alone time..Looking around, the coast was clear, and she made a beeline up the stairs and towards the bathroom. In the hallway, she almost plowed into her best friend Cindy, who had just exited the bathroom.“Hey, there you are,” said Cindy. “I was looking for you earlier. Where were you?”Amy panicked for a moment but quickly collected herself, and managed a calm, casual reply. “Oh just went for a walk, needed some quiet time to reflect, be with God, ya know?” Amy then made a move to get around Cindy, trying to reach the bathroom before Cindy noticed anything suspicious.But it was too late. “You look, flushed. Nervous. You okay? Something wrong?” Cindy asked.“No nothing,” Amy spat out too quickly. “Just, just really gotta pee.” She tried again for the bathroom.Cindy caught her up again. “Something is up, I can tell. Come on, dish!” she pleaded.“I'll, I'll tell you about it later, I promise,” Amy stammered.“You better, bestie,” Cindy called after her as Amy finally made it to the bathroom and slammed the door.“Whew, finally,” Amy whispered to herself. She double checked to make sure she locked the door, then turned to examine herself in the mirror.Her face broke into a huge grin. “I can't believe we just did that,” she thought, recalling the recent time she'd just spent alone in the woods with Tommy.Her good Christian upbringing told her she should be feeling guilt and shame, like a wanton little slut that men would never respect, let alone marry.But she didn't really believe any of that. Instead, all she felt was the joy and excitement of a young woman discovering both love and the pleasures of the flesh at the same time.She composed herself quickly; can't dwell on that just yet. Things to do first.She examined her bathing suit in the mirror. Despite her best efforts, she could still see the dried remains of Tommy's, sperm? Semen? She knew there was a difference but couldn't remember what. It had dried to dark patches on her light blue suit.“I'll have to change it,” she thought. “I'll tell mom I spilled something on it.” She quickly stripped off her suit and as she did so, noticed another stain. This one in the crotch.“Wow, girl, you really got yourself excited, didn't you?” she thought. The gusset of her suit was damp and sticky, and as she held it up closer to examine it, she caught a strong whiff of the scent of her vagina that not even the pool chlorine could drown out.It wasn't an unpleasant smell. She'd smelled it before of course, during her relatively recent discovery and explorations of the pleasures of self pleasure. She found herself wondering if Tommy would enjoy her scent.Masturbation was a “sin” her parents would condemn, no doubt, but she'd felt no shame in touching herself, in discovering how her body reacted to the exploration of her fingers over her most intimate parts.Almost absent mindedly, Amy ran her hand over the fine blonde pubic hair covering her mound. Slipping downwards between her legs, she discovered the slick warm wetness that still lingered there. She felt the pulsing and throbbing of the little bump at the top that she knew would give her incredible pleasure if she just,“Not now, dammit,” she swore to herself. “Get this done, quick.”She stooped, still naked, and quickly washed out her suit along with the towel she'd used to wipe herself down earlier, making sure to get all of Tommy's sticky stuff off of both.Looking down, she noticed a faded drop of, cum, she decided to call it, a word she'd heard before somewhere, dried now but still visible on her left breast.She touched it, tentatively, then smelled her finger. On a sudden whim, she tasted it.The taste was faint, but tangy and salty. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to taste it fresh, and her vagina throbbed at the thought.“Not now!” she thought again, and quickly jumped in the shower, soaping and rinsing her whole body as quickly as possible. Her private parts begged her to linger over washing them. She ignored it.Finished bathing, Amy grabbed a fresh towel, dried off, and wrapped herself in it. She then scooped up the wet suit and soiled towel. She'd put them in her bedroom hamper, and hopefully remember to do her own laundry first thing tomorrow.She cracked the bathroom door and peeked out. All clear.Her bedroom door was just a few steps down the hall and she made it through and behind it in seconds. Again she quickly locked her door.She walked over to her bedroom window that overlooked the yard where the party was still going on and peeked out through the curtains.Her parents were still playing the card game they'd been at with the other parents when she and Tommy had first snuck off to the woods for what turned out to be way more than just the kissing she'd planned on.She looked around for Tommy, and saw him sitting alone by the edge of the pool, dangling his feet in the water, looking lost in thought.She had a sudden overwhelming desire to knock on the window, get his attention, and flash him her boobs. A desire she quickly squashed. “If my parents saw that they'd chain me in the basement for a month with a rosary,” she said, grimacing at the thought.She would go back out and join him soon, she thought. Hopefully get to talk privately but if not, at least spend time with him, basking in their secret shared stolen moments together.“But first,” she thought, “God help me but I need to take care of this first.”Amy closed the curtains, making sure they were completely covering her window. She doubted anyone could see anything that high up, but she was taking no chances.She walked over to her bed, dropped her towel, and lay naked over the bedspread.“I've only got a few minutes or I'm gonna need another story to tell,” she thought.But a few minutes was all she'd need really.Amy had only truly discovered masturbation last summer. It was her 18th birthday party, another pool party, and of course Tommy had been there.They'd been swimming of course, along with the usual horse play.Nothing had happened between them then, but at one point while she was sunning herself on the deck, Amy saw something.Or at least, she thought she did.Tommy had just climbed out of the pool near her, and as he stood up, his suit was clinging to him tightly, and Amy, who was lounging in her pool chair, sunglasses on, saw quite clearly the outline of his, well, she was pretty sure it was his penis.It only lasted a second, as he adjusted his suit and the fabric fell away from it, but that moment locked in Amy's mind.She'd suddenly become fascinated with seeing it again, and found herself, over and over again throughout the day, stealing glances at his crotch when she thought he wasn't looking, keeping her sunglasses on so she wouldn't be obvious about it.Every time he moved, everytime he bent or even walked, she looked for any telltale signs of it under his suit, to the point she was probably over imagining every curve of the fabric of his bathing suit.That night when she crawled into bed, that singular moment of him stepping out of the pool, suit tight and clinging around the outline of his genitals, was replaying over and over in her mind, not allowing sleep to come.She'd touched herself before that night, off and on, even though she'd been taught that was a sin of course.But that night, she felt a hot ache between her legs she'd never experienced before, an ache that begged to be touched, massaged, fondled, fingered.She'd experienced her first true orgasm that night, and in the months since had figured out the best ways to bring that incredible feeling over and over again.And almost every time, she wound up thinking about the outline of Tommy's penis in his bathing suit.Now though, oh, she had so, So much more to think about!She'd kissed him. Made out with him!She hadn't just seen the outline of his penis this time. She'd actually seen it fully hard and erect and literally making a tent in his suit.She'd actually touched it! First over his suit, then actually took down his shorts and literally saw and touched it fully exposed!It even moved, like it had a mind of its own! Oh how that had made her laugh with delight.And best of all, she'd made him squirt! Everywhere!Amy's mind raced with all of this as she rubbed her clit furiously. She had no time for a slow build up and didn't need it.Her vagina was on fire; swollen, slick and dripping as she rubbed herself.She never used her fingers too deeply, wanting to keep her virginity intact, but explored deep enough to imagine the tip of Tommy's cock, (“Yes, cock, that's what he called it,” she remembered) pushing its way into her tight virgin opening.

Coheed and Cambria & L.S. Dunes guitarist, Travis Stever is our one year anniversary episode's very special guest! It was truly an honor to have Travis join us for a conversation that covers Violet, The Father Of Make Believe, The Nyack Chapter, favorite songs, and more!

As the world held its breath, the Cardinals of the Catholic Church elevated a man to the position of “holy father”, yet the Lord Jesus Christ instructed his followers to “call no man father”. The Catholic Church lives up to the scriptural description of AntiChrist and Man of Sin with this latest conclave. The protestant world has stopped protesting, but the scripture is clear on the inevitable future of this system that has gone astray from the Bible. 

Jeff and Jeremy dive into a wild video circulating online of a bar fight at the serene Cambria Pines Lodge, where punches fly, hair gets pulled, and even a guy with a walker nearly joins the fray. The duo debates whether slow cider or valley tourists sparked the chaos, while questioning if any bar can turn into a dive bar with the right (or wrong) patrons. Things take a turn when a caller from Bakersfield, camping in Avila Beach, defends her city and raves about breathing "liberal air" on the Central Coast. From Kumbaya moments post-brawl to conservative air blowing through North County, this episode is packed with laughs, local gossip, and unexpected tangents. full scoop on fisticuffs, RV camping, and the great air debate!

The National Weather Service says showers are likely today with a high near 54. More showers are likely overnight with a low around 49. In news, a Cambria homeowner was injured in a barn fire. And extras are needed for the Buffalo Bills themed Hallmark holiday movie. In sports, the Buffalo Bisons couldn't keep pace with the hard hittting Iowa Cubs on Saturday, losing 10-2 in Des Moines. They play again today. Also playing today, the Buffalo Bandits, hoping to win their second game against the Vancouver Warriors, taking them back to the National Lacross League finals.

Join Piers Kicks as he hosts BEN.ZZZ, founder of Cambria, for an insightful conversation about building high-stakes, risk-to-earn MMOs inspired by Runescape. Cambria is pioneering unique game worlds like Duel Arena and Gold Rush, recently concluding a season with a $1.5 million prize pool.Cambria: https://cambria.gg

Sponsors:BetterHelp: Get 10% off your first month of therapy at betterhelp.com/musicspeaks.Hosts:James CoxBlake MosleyAmanda DolinEpisode Summary:In this episode, the hosts dive into the fascinating world of supergroups, exploring the unique collaborations and musical magic that happens when talented artists come together. They discuss three notable supergroups: LS Dunes, Better Lovers, and Temple of the Dog, sharing insights into their formation, music, and impact on the industry. The conversation also touches on the importance of connection in mental health, emphasizing the need for positive relationships and community support.Key Topics:LS Dunes: A supergroup featuring members from Circa Survive, My Chemical Romance, Coheed and Cambria, and Thursday. They discuss the band's formation during the COVID-19 pandemic and their debut album "Past Lives."Better Lovers: Formed by members of Every Time I Die, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Fit for an Autopsy. The hosts explore the band's journey and their debut album "Highly Irresponsible."Temple of the Dog: A classic supergroup formed as a tribute to Andrew Wood, featuring members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The hosts reflect on their iconic album and its legacy.Connection and Mental Health: Amanda shares insights on the importance of fostering connections for mental well-being, encouraging listeners to engage with their communities and support networks.Additional Segments:Personal anecdotes and music traditions shared by the hosts.Discussion on the evolving nature of supergroups and their impact on the music industry.Contact and Social Media:Email: James at james@whenwordsfailmusicspeaks.com, Blake at blake@whenwordsfailmusicspeaks.com, Amanda at amandadolan@whenwordsfailmusicspeaks.comSocial Media: Follow on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok @WhenWordsFailMusicSpeaksPodcastYouTube: Subscribe for interviews, music video reactions, and more at youtube.com/whenwordsfailmusicspeaksSpecial Thanks:Stanley, the graphic designerNancy Rose, for promotion and collaborationUpcoming Projects:Launch of the When Words Fail, Music Speaks radio station. Submit your music at whenwordsfailmusicspeaks.com.Other Podcasts by Blake:South Carolina Spook ShowNot Religious Podcast

Everything You Need To Know About Christians (Titus 3:3-8) || Walk With Jesus || Mike Kelsey 

Everything You Need To Know About Christians (Titus 3:3-8) || Walk With Jesus || Mike Kelsey 

The Kent-Burningham household took a road trip to Cambria (we're already laughing too) AFTER Lala made a couple of new “mom friends” (wait till you hear this story)! They stopped at the Madonna Inn, and toured the Hearst Castle, and got their fill of art and kitsch. All the stories. Plus, are you ready for Saturday's Pink Moon! Check your zodiac signs! And did you watch the White Lotus finale? Shocking! And there's a special message for the trolls hating on RHONY's Erin Lichy!   GTL video episodes available Fridays at 9am Pacific on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@GiveThemLalaPodcast?si=9oETguBpysJbttBz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, we sit down with Ellie Knips, a marketing professional with over a decade of experience in the building materials industry. From backing trailers into docks during internships to leading national campaigns at Andersen Windows, Ellie's journey is one of grit, curiosity, and fearless growth. She shares how she transitioned from Cambria's interior-focused marketing to Andersen's content-driven role—despite having no formal background in social media. We dive into how she built trust with builders, navigated big career leaps, and learned to embrace uncertainty and “figure it out” moments. We also talk about the importance of authentic storytelling, building strong brand partnerships, and why betting on yourself is often the smartest move you can make. Whether you're in construction, marketing, or just trying to level up your career, this episode is packed with real talk, insight, and inspiration. Episode Outline: Ellie Kanips' Career Journey and Role at Anderson Windows (0:00) Ellie's Transition from Cambria to Anderson (5:42) Leadership and Learning from Challenges (11:51) Storytelling and Audience Connection in Marketing (23:51) Building Strong Partnerships with Vendors (33:13) Challenges and Growth in New Roles (43:57) Final Thoughts and Reflections (46:47)   Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/T706l2dJumw Partners:  Andersen Windows Buildertrend Velux The Modern Craftsman: linktr.ee/moderncraftsmanpodcast Find Our Hosts:  Nick Schiffer  Tyler Grace  Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

On episode 181 of The Compound and Friends, Michael Batnick and Downtown Josh Brown are joined by Tom Lee to discuss: how bull markets end, the trade war, odds of a recession, the case for a Bitcoin reserve, Tesla's crash, Tom's “Granny Shots” stock picks, and much more! This episode is sponsored by Cambria. Visit cambriafunds.com/351 to take the next step in innovative, tax-savvy investing today. Sign up for a free trial of Fundstrat at: http://fundstrat.com/tom Sign up for The Compound Newsletter and never miss out!: https://www.thecompoundnews.com/subscribe Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecompoundnews Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecompoundnews LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-compound-media/ Investing involves the risk of loss. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be or regarded as personalized investment advice or relied upon for investment decisions. Michael Batnick and Josh Brown are employees of Ritholtz Wealth Management and may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this video. All opinions expressed by them are solely their own opinion and do not reflect the opinion of Ritholtz Wealth Management. The Compound Media, Incorporated, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here https://ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. The information provided on this website (including any information that may be accessed through this website) is not directed at any investor or category of investors and is provided solely as general information. Obviously nothing on this channel should be considered as personalized financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. See our disclosures here: https://ritholtzwealth.com/podcast-youtube-disclosures/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices