Podcasts about security center

The widespread layoffs and resignations unfolding across the federal government represent a prime opportunity for foreign spy agencies. In an April bulletin, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center warned that foreign intelligence organizations are targeting current and former U.S. government employees by posing as consulting firms, corporate headhunters and other job opportunities. Max Lesser, a senior analyst on emerging threats for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, recently uncovered a likely Chinese intelligence operation that targets laid off federal employees using fake consulting firms. I spoke with Max about how he investigated the operation and what feds, current and former, should look out for when they're scrolling LinkedIn and online job boards. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us a textThe FTGN Merch Store is Live!! Help Support the site with official FTGN Gear!The 25th Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth joins Joe for a candid conversation about leadership, self-awareness, and the evolving challenges of guiding the largest branch of the U.S. military. With over three decades of experience in national security, she shares her expectations for Army leaders, the importance of self-development, and why critical thinking and communication skills are essential for success at the highest levels.Secretary Wormuth also highlights her strong support for the Army's Command Assessment Program (CAP), emphasizing early self-development, the power of feedback, and the role of humility and reflection in building resilient leadership teams. She also stresses the importance of maintaining the Army's apolitical stance, fostering public trust, and ensuring continuity through times of change.Topics Covered:The key attributes of effective Army leadersThe role of the Command Assessment Program in shaping leadershipWhy feedback and reflection are crucial for personal growthBalancing professional and personal priorities over a long careerWhy military leaders need to remain apolitical and be non-combatants in the culture warsHonorable Christine Wormuth was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and appointed as the 25th Secretary of the U.S. Army May 28, 2021. The Secretary of the Army is the senior civilian official within the Department of Defense responsible for all matters relating to the U.S. Army.Prior to confirmation, she was the Director of the International Defense and Security Center at the RAND Corporation where she was a frequent writer and speaker on foreign policy, national security and homeland security issues.Prior to RAND, she served in several roles during the Obama Administration. From December 2010 until August 2012 she was a special assistant to the president and senior director for Defense at the National Security Council. Wormuth then served as deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces, and led the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review. From 2014-2016 she served in DOD as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where she advised the Secretary of Defense on the full range of regional and functional national security issues.Wormuth entered the government as a Presidential Management Intern and began her public service career in the Policy Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1996 through 2002. After leaving government, she worked in the private sector on defense issues, and then was a Senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies for five years. A special thanks to this week's sponsors!Veteran-founded Adyton. Step into the next generation of equipment management with Log-E by Adyton. Whether you are doing monthly inventories or preparing for deployment, Log-E is your pocket property book, giving real-time visibility into equipment status and mission readiness. Learn more about how Log-E can revolutionize your property tracking process here!Exray a veteran-owned apparel brand elevating the custom gear experience. Exray provides free design services and creates dedicated web stores for units.Onebrief, the transformative software platform redefining operational planning and military staff workflows

Michael Casey is Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the part of the Director of National Intelligence that leads and supports the counterintelligence and security activities of the U.S. Government. NCSC produces the National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States and includes the National Insider Threat Task Force. NCSC also plays a critical role in conducting outreach to the private sector on foreign intelligence threats: how to recognize them and how to mitigate them. I spoke with him recently from NCSC headquarters in McLean, Virginia about the risks that spies are posing to their enterprises and to future U.S. national security.

In this episode, our Security Center of Excellence team delves into a real-world cybersecurity mystery and its unexpected solution. This incident is a perfect storm, highlighting the complexities of modern IT environments and how seemingly unrelated actions can cascade into significant business disruptions and major security incidents. But here's where it gets fascinating: what appeared to be a sophisticated cyber-attack turned out to be something far more mundane, yet equally dangerous. The hero of this story is an AI-powered assistant, still in its proof-of-concept phase, that cracked the case. Join us as we unravel the mystery of the Phantom Brute Force attack and the AI detective that solved it. This isn't just a mere cautionary tale about the complexities of modern IT environments; it serves as a stark reminder of how easily security can be compromised in unexpected ways. Speakers: John Chirillo, Principal Security Architect, Connection Rob Di Girolamo, Senior Security Architect, Connection Kimberlee Coombes, Senior Security Architect, Connection Show Notes: 00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity Challenges 01:02 The Incident Unfolds: A Case Study 03:51 Utilizing AI Tools for Incident Resolution 10:29 The Role of AI in Cybersecurity 15:35 Bridging Theory and Practice in Cybersecurity 18:00 Best Practices: Hard-Coded Passwords and Change Management 23:43 Empowering Users with AI Tools  

December 10, 2024 ~ A defense policy bill authorized a northern border security center at Selfridge. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel joins Kevin to discuss this.

Pretty much every poll shows the economy remains the #1 voter issue in the upcoming US presidential election. Many of these same polls show immigration and border security as the second most important issue. Concerned by reports of a surge of undocumented immigrants crossing the border illegally in recent years, many voters worry about the economic, social and political implications of this wave of bodies, and wonder if America can effectively absorb & afford them. I recognize this is a quite sensitive topic, one that some would say is outside of the purview of this channel. But this issue does have important economic implications, and from what I hear from viewers, many regular Americans feel they just don't have a good sense of the facts on this situation. So that's why I'm sitting down today with Dr Steven Camarota, who serves as the Director of Research for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a non-partisan Washington, D.C.-based research institute that examines the consequences of legal and illegal immigration on the United States. We're going to do our best to lay out the facts of the situation at our borders, in as non-partisan, respectful and impartial a manner as possible #illegalimmigration #bordersecurity #immigration 0:00 Context For The Discussion 7:00 How The Legal Immigration System Works (And Doesn't) 21:01 How Big Is The Flow Of Illegal Immigrants? 26:50 Why Do We Grant Illegals Work Authorization? 31:04 How "Remain In America" Works 40:08 Will Illegals Impact Future US Elections? 44:28 Why Allow *Any* Illegal Immigration Vs Expanding Legal Immigration? 47:37 Charts Visualizing The Recent Surge In Illegal Immigration 1:01:15 Education Level Differential Between Legal & Illegal Immigrants 1:07:49 Are Illegals Taking Jobs From Working US Citizens? 1:20:20 Can The US Afford To Absorb The Current Volumes Of Illegals? 1:26:23 What Is The Crime Risk From Illegals? 1:35:59 Are Mass Deportations Feasible? 1:40:00 What Reforms To Our Immigration System Would Be Wise To Consider? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thoughtful-money/support

On this episode, U.S. Trade Representative Chief Negotiator Doug McKalip provides an update on efforts to secure new opportunities for U.S. agricultural exports. Also, Matt Turner of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and Wade Greening of the FBI warn of looming agriterrorism threats and provide information on how to keep farming operations secure. In our “Meat Monitor” segment, we learn about another stellar month for U.S. red meat exports, and in “Bushels and Cents,” Ray Bohacz has some important reminders to follow when jump-starting a vehicle. The episode also features the music of Clarksville Creative Sound recording artist EV Mae. Timestamps Intro and news: 0:00 Goatlifeclothing.com advertisement: 5:51 Doug McKalip, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: 6:10 Matt Turner, National Counterintelligence and Security Center: 19:05 Wade Greening, FBI: 41:00 Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation: 47:17 Ray Bohacz, “Bushels and Cents”: 49:51 EV Mae: 51:09

Curt Vincent is cyber security maverick and entrepreneur.  Founder and leader of the 400 person Morgan Stanley Cyber Security Division for 15 years, Senior Vice President and COO for both the Global Networking and Applications Operations Command Center at Bank of America, VP of a Dev/Ops team at Goldman Sachs and a founder of 5 startup companies.  Curt is also a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel where he played cyber cat and mouse with nation states as the Operations Officer of the Army's Global Network Operations and Security Center.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/virtual-ciso-moment/message

March 22, 2024 ~ The new spending bill in Washington, has language in it that would include a border security center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Mark Hackel joins Kevin and Tom to explain what this could mean for the county and state.

Preacher William, Valerie, & the seeds of discord.A Spring Break 14-part Novel.By FinalStand. Listen to the complete episode at Steamy Stories.Christina's late night visit.Anyway, we were uncoiling from the sofa and Rio was giving me this mysterious look when there was a knock at the door.“Dude, it is 11 o'clock,” Rio muttered. “Only bad news arrives this late.”“I'll go check it out,” I shrugged. There wasn't much else I could do. I opened the door and there stood Christina, looking pretty depressed.“Do you want to come in?” I asked.“I know you have company,” she replied. “Can we talk outside?” It wasn't too chilly but I wasn't wearing too much either.“Of course,” I walked onto the porch, leaving the door mostly closed behind me. “What's wrong?”“I've worked things out with Faith and the other girls,” Christina paced nervously. “We are all going to keep quiet about what you learned and see how we can turn this to our advantage.” I didn't say anything because she hadn't come to tell me the news of what had been the obvious move on her part so I was left wondering what was going on, then I saw it.I opened my arms to the side, palms forward, and waited. She saw the move and looked me over with obvious reluctance for what would come next. Finally, she stepped up to me and rested her forehead on my shoulder and let me encase her in my arms. It sucks to be alone, but it truly sucks being alone and being the one in charge even more.“God, Zane, I fucked up. I could have ruined Heaven's life,” she sighed. “The others trusted me and I let them down.”“You are not doing Heaven any favors by being paralyzed with doubt,” I told her. “You had no idea who you were up against and even if you had, you would still have weighed what was best for Heaven against the risks and pretty much acted in the same manner.”“You don't understand Heaven,” Christina said. “You don't understand her home life.”“Her home life is not my concern, Christina,” I pointed out. “The Heaven here and now is my concern, though, and it is the concern of several more friends she's made since coming to this school, friends she wouldn't have if she stayed in a hole.”“What if I fuck up again?” she worried. “So many girls are depending on me to keep the Chancellor at bay.”“I fuck up all the time and I'm still here,” I countered. “I know what you mean, though. Sometimes when these girls look at me like they expect me to have all the answers and I've got nothing, I want to run and hide.”“We don't have that luxury. We chose to stand up and now we must carry on in our struggle. I don't know about you, but I wasn't raised to quit,” I related to her.“I made a mistake, Zane. I don't make mistakes,” she declared.“I'm confused; have we lost?” I questioned her.“No,” she grumbled, “and that is not what I meant. I brought Faith in, I misread her, and we all suffered because of it. I was deceived.”“Well, someone should remind Christina Buchanan from time to time that she's human, and a pretty smart woman at that,” I replied. “You don't have to win every battle, only the last one.”“That is what my grandfather said,” she mumbled into my shoulder.“He sounds like a clever guy,” I said softly. “He should go far someday.” Since he was one of the richest men in America, I was probably right.“You can be a real jerk at times,” she muttered, but I noted she wasn't moving.“I have to agree with you,” I said, as I got up on my tiptoes and kissed her on the top of the head. I leaned back and tilted her head to me with a finger under her chin. “Christina Buchanan, would you marry me?” No one said anything for a minute.“Can I think about it?” she finally whispered.“Of course,” I assured her. “How could I be in love with you if I couldn't wait for you?”“How can you love me when you don't even know me?” she asked.“That's why it is love and not like,” I answered. “There are times you really piss me off but there is never a moment I don't want to be with you.”“You don't like me?” Christina studied me.“Right now I like you just fine, but you can be a real pain at times. See, I know what's right and you refuse to know your place,” I responded.“And what place is that?” she smiled.“Above me, smiling down,” I leaned in for a kiss.“No,” she shook her head.“No?” I pleaded.“We have a long way to go before I let you treat me like another one of your girls,” Christina informed me.“Okay,” I agreed.“No hard sell in my emotionally vulnerable state?” she mused.“You are safe with me, Christina,” I assured her.“That's good to know, Zane. Now go inside before Rio blows a gasket,” she smiled, slipped out of my arms, and walked toward her car. I still soaked up the marvel of her receding silhouette.Rio was leaning against the wall just inside the hallway when I got back in.“I don't get the two of you,” she grinned.“I love her,” was my only response.“That's good, because she's fucking nuts about you,” Rio laughed. I couldn't decide whether she was kidding or not.Later, we lay together in bed, Rio partially over me where she alternated between listening to my heartbeat and kissing my shoulder. She also had a hand between her legs and was doing some serious vaginal stimulation.“Zane.”“Yes?” I replied.“I had an abortion,” she confided in me.“Oh, okay,” was all I could manage to come back with.“‘Oh.' Is that it?” she sounded a bit hurt.“I figure there is more to the story than you had an abortion. So are you going to tell me what it is?” I inquired. She mulled that over for a few seconds.“I did some really stupid shit, like getting shit-faced drunk at some parties with people I barely knew, and pretty much got used like a whore. I didn't really care, and eventually I got knocked up,” she told me.“My parents, the big Pro-Lifers that they were, smuggled me out of state to a private clinic and aborted the kid. They never asked my opinion on the matter but I imagine that having a pregnant daughter who couldn't even name the father wasn't on their agenda,” she recited bitterly. I wrapped an arm around her, rolled over on her, and kissed her gently on the lips.“I don't know what to say,” I began. “I can't imagine what it was like to go through that.”“Huh,” Rio snorted. “My parents slapped me with anti-depressants and an implant, my ‘friends' told me it was for the best, not being teen Mom material and all, and I treated myself like a whore.”“Hell, I sucked and fucked the entire lawn crew once; I fucked my little brother's friends; and I became known as the girl who would ride bareback at my school. It is a miracle I didn't contract herpes or AIDS,” she recited sadly. “I think I hated just about everybody.”“You know that none of that matters to me; right?” I asked. “You are still that woman I woke up next to on day one.”“To the bitter end,” she recited.“To the bitter end,” I affirmed, my promise to stand by her no matter what.“Why couldn't you be in love with me?” she sighed.“You are asking an eighteen-year-old how this love thing works?” I teased her. “I've been lucky enough to meet five women in the past two weeks I'd like to spend forever with, and I love the one I'm least likely to end up with. I'm clueless.”“Me, Iona, Barbie Lynn, Christina and Heaven?” Rio guessed. I nodded, which made her snicker. “You really want to spend forever with Heaven? You are a glutton for punishment.”“Heaven can be really nice,” I defended my girlfriend.“She's got a permanent case of PMS. Hell knows what would happen if she actually had PMS,” Rio teased me back.“So you don't want to spend any more time with her?” I inquired.“Fuck that,” Rio giggled, “I like them brave, bold, and saucy in the saddle. I'd love breaking her down, or having her break me trying.”“Fine,” I announced after a moment's contemplation.“Fine?” she asked.“I'm not going to break my word to Jill but I can't wait to fuck you until we get back to campus, so how would you like to screw on Pastor Bill's desk before Sunday school?” I suggested.“I'd love to leave a little something extra on that gold-plated conman's desk,” Rio purred.“Now, Zane, do you think you could bend the rules ever so slightly and finger-fuck me? I'm ever so horny,” Rio pleaded. I figured it couldn't hurt too much; right? I rubbed and rubbed one hand down to her crotch where Rio had already pulled her soaked panties down to mid-thigh. With my other hand, I pushed up her top, exposing her ripe nipples, chain and all.I plucked a nipple into my mouth, letting my tongue play along the stud before sucking in more of the breast, increasing the pressure on the nipple itself. Rio was well worked up already and now began to writhe beneath me. My free hand passed below her carefully groomed chevron-shaped pubic mound and along her clit.Her folds welcomed me like molten gold, so hot yet silky smooth to the touch. As she started to moan, Rio stuck the meat of her palm into her mouth and bit down in order to keep quiet. I spent a minute playing with her two studs in her labia before working two fingers deep inside her, twisting them, and seeking out her G-spot.“Gak!” Rio convulsed as I stroked it. Oh, yeah, I thought, as I began to seriously work it over. Rio's fluids were sloshing around my fingers, her other hand began pressing my whole mouth over her breast, and she kept bucking up against me. I now began to alternate between rhythmically tapping her special place and brutally finger fucking her, driving two fingers in and slapping her clit with my palm.“Uh, uh, uh, ugh, ugh, um,” Rio began panting, then her body arched and she screamed into her clenched fist. “Oh, fuck, that's good,” she finally managed to get out. Before I could respond, she grabbed my head and drew me up for a fierce kiss. She tore at my lips and tried to steal my breath away.“Tell me you want me,” she pleaded with a desperate hunger tinged with fear.“I want you, Rio, always,” I responded with my own heat and need. Slowly the passion ebbed from Rio's eyes and a playful demeanor replaced it.“You are such a dumb blonde, Glenda,” she sighed happily. Glenda had been the name that had allowed me admission to school in the first place, Glenn Zane Braxton, Glenda.I answered by pulling my fingers out of her cunt, taking a lick, then pushing them through her lips. Rio daintily sucked on them, pulling them in and cleaning them off before biting down like the little bitch she is and making tears come to my eyes.“What the fuck!” I hissed.“That's for not giving me your dick, Asshole,” she snickered. When I looked ready to explode, she pouted her lips, rolled onto her stomach and stuck her bare ass up in the air for a spanking. I grunted and rolled over onto my side, away from her.“Good night, you witch,” I sulked.There was some rustling behind me a minute later, then Rio snaked an arm around me and pressed her body to my back.“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I act crazy at times.” I rolled over to face her.“I know what I'm getting into, Rio,” I comforted her. “That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt at times.” I displayed my wounded fingers. She kissed my fingers, I kissed her lips, and we both finally went to sleep.Preacher William, Valerie, and the seeds of discord.*You can live without freedom the same way you can live without light, happiness, or music*Jill didn't know what to make of our prompt appearance Sunday morning for breakfast already dressed for church. I'd convinced Rio to not try a hard sell with my aunt, instead playing it calm, cool, and collected. The real reason we wanted to get to church early was because I'd come up with the idea of screwing Rio on Pastor Bill's massive mahogany desk before class and she'd become infatuated with the scheme.GAINING DEFINITIONWe had to remember our Bibles before eagerly heading out the door. Mine went back to my missionary days while Rio's was brand new, a gift from Jill. She'd lost her old one on the trip from Arizona to Virginia, or so she'd told Jill. In reality, she had torn hers apart page by page and stuffed it down the airplane toilet during the flight, her way of spreading the gospel.Once at the church, we split up, Rio and I getting together a few minutes later. I was unsure about the security cameras in the hallway but Rio shrugged it off. She followed the wires to the closet the system was kept in, picked the lock, and deleted the last two hours of footage before deactivating the whole system.I was clever enough to wipe off all our fingerprints before we made for the pastor's office. This time, Rio's improvised, lock picks weren't necessary as the secretary kept the door unlocked. We slipped past her station to the larger office beyond and I chased Rio around to the ‘big chair'.“So, Bad Boy, are you going to make me a Bad Girl?” Rio taunted me.I stepped up between her thighs and got ready to feast on her succulent cunt lips when she held me up.“I don't think we have time for that,” Rio grinned. She slipped out of her panties, which I quickly pocketed (having learned from the first Barbie Lynn incident), and hopped up on the desk facing me.I unbuckled my belt, fixed the button, and unzipped my pants. My penis came smoothly out of my boxers and I lined up with Rio's slit. Her juices were already flowing by the time my cockhead graced her full lips.“Oh, that's what I've been looking for,” Rio moaned, as I pushed forward inch after glorious inch inside her.She wrapped her arms around my neck and came close to doing the same with her legs around my waist by the time I was fully into her. I got a few half-thrusts into Rio, our faces only inches apart, when I began to push her back down on the desk.“No, I want to look into your eyes,” she told me. I nodded and started driving my cock in a strong steady rhythm.“Rio,” I said softly.“Yes,” she breathed heavily.“I like saying your name,” I explained. “I like the sound of it and the way it makes me feel.”“I, ” I was sure she was fighting for a snarky reply but then she smiled and said, “Okay.”“Oh. God, Oh, Fuck,” Rio gasped, as we began, getting her close to climax. I stopped when I first heard the voices. “What?” Rio panted. I pulled her off the desk and looked for a place to hide. There were three other doors out of the room. I took the closest, yanked up my pants, and dragged Rio to it.It turned out to be a large closet with vestments, coats, and a few changes of clothing inside. Before I could finish shutting the door, Rio put her hand in the way. Before I could inquire why, the main office door opened and in came Pastor Bill and Lance Wellington. They were yammering on about something or other; I really wasn't paying attention.All that changed after Pastor Bill took his seat behind the desk and swiveled it to the side. Lance came around the desk and knelt before our spiritual leader. His body blocked my visual but I heard a zipper being undone and some clothes being pushed aside. What Lance proceeded to do was clear enough, though.Rio was between me and the door; she looked over her shoulder and grinned evilly. Before long, she had my cock in her hand and was maneuvering it back to her pussy from behind. I moved my hips down, she arched up, and I slipped back into the hole I'd been in not a minute before. I stayed still while Rio began to ride my cock up and down.There we were, two very different couples separated by less than a dozen feet, both fucking in different ways. Lance was giving Pastor Bill oral attention in a manner that dictated long familiarity to not only cock-sucking, but blowing Pastor Bill in particular. Rio had one hand placed against the door sill in order to stop us from spilling out of the closet while the other was tucked against her stomach.The four of us were pushing toward climax but Pastor Bill was the first one to the trigger. I was still feeling the oily smoothness of my cock inside Rio's vagina while rubbing both breasts through her shirt and bra when Lance began chocking and sputtering. The bastard hadn't even warned Lance that he was cumming.Good ole Pastor Bill reached across the desk to grab two Kleenex. As he did so, his other hand came down to rest on a slick spot Rio and I had left on his desk. He looked at his hand with disgust and wiped it off his hand before handing a tissue to Lance.“Get going to class,” Pastor Bill told his cock-sucking companion.“Of course, Pastor William,” Lance responded as he cleaned his face. As he headed to the door, he turned to the preacher.“Do I have to do another marriage counseling session with Felicity? She is so damn annoying,” he whined.“Lance, you are going to have to keep up appearances and that means spending the occasional night with her,” Pastor Bill lectured him. “As distasteful as she is, she is the socially acceptable choice for your spouse if you plan to have a political career.”“I wish this whole marriage thing was over with already,” Lance sighed. “Then I could stick her in the house and get her out of my life.”“Remember, a woman is a duty, but you know how to get your pleasure. Take your pill when you have to lay with her, and if nothing else, use her back door,” he chuckled.“I suppose so,” Lance conceded, “but I'll have to shut her up. She blathers on and on incessantly and her voice is so grating.”“Well,” Pastor Bill laughed, “you can always use her mouth too.” Lance snorted and left the room; Bill followed a minute later.For our part, the whole exchange between Pastor Bill and Lance got Rio hotter and hotter. She was rocketing back against me until I was afraid the slapping of our flesh would alert our host to our presence.Once he was gone, Rio went off.“Fuck me, damn it,” Rio exulted. “I'm going to rape their asses.” I wasn't sure how that would work. It wasn't like Rio's or my word would go all that far. I decided to spin her back around and kick her leg up over my arm so I could fuck her while gazing into her eyes.The first thing I noticed was the sheer joy etched all over her face. The second thing I noted was her phone in hand, set on record. There was going to be some severe damage over this and I had to do damage control, but first I had to screw Rio to orgasm.“Ah, ah, ah,” Rio moaned. “You are churning me up inside, you fucking brute. This is so fucking good.”“And the video?” I inquired.“Fucking brilliant,” she panted, “My best idea yet.” I drilled Rio several more strong strokes and she gripped me tightly and sexually exploded on me. She kept squeezing my cock with her vaginal muscles as I came in her as she was still cresting her wave.“Oh, Zane,” she wept tears of joy on my shoulder, “You make all this other shit bearable.”“No problem, bro,” I sighed happily, “but we need to talk about the video.”“Yeah,” she snorted, “you have a plan. I'm going to bypass me having a temper-tantrum and get straight to you making me happy with how clever you are.”“We find more ways to bring Felicity over to our side, then hit her with this when she's wavering,” I detailed. “We still need credibility and that's going to take Barbie Lynn on our side. Once we get Felicity, we can get Mrs. Wellington too. That gives us access to everyone in the church.”I set Rio onto her feet and handed her panties too her. Rio shimmied into them and grinned.“Now I'm all sloshy inside. Is that thing a damn fire hydrant?”“You weren't complaining a minute ago,” I countered.“I'm not complaining, but all those bitches in class are going to know I've been fucked,” she snickered.“Who are you going to blame?” I wondered.“Pastor William, our glorious shepherd; I can describe just what his cock looks like now,” she grinned manically.“I think we are back to that whole 'credibility' issue,” I reminded her.“You aren't going to let me have any fun,” Rio pouted.“Well, work on this; I'm pretty sure Lance isn't the only guy here that the pastor is using. Lance was a tool, nothing more,” I told her. “It could be fun to find out who his other toys are.”“I hate you for having a better idea than me,” Rio giggled, “but I love your deviant mind more.”“I love you too, Baby,” I said as I brushed her cheek. “Let's get to class before they get to ridicule us for arriving late.” Rio grabbed my hand and sprinted with me out of the office. We were late to class but only just. This time I'd studied so Mr. Coleman wasn't able to humiliate me, though some wise-ass taunted me about being on a women's committee.“Yes, I do,” I confirmed, “and what committee are you on?”“Athletics committee,” he sneered. I gave him a shit-eating grin right back that gave him pause.“So I hang out with a bunch of MILF's, which is a pretty red-blooded American male thing to do, while you hang out with a bunch of guys, which is pretty homo-erotic,” I chuckled.There was a deafening silence in the room. We had broken up for church service and a few guys were almost out the door. The target of my aggression was first stunned, then angry.“Mr. Braxton, that is quite enough out of you,” Mr. Coleman snapped.“I'm sorry about that, Mr. Coleman. I thought he was ribbing me about my committee so I teased him back about his; I wasn't serious,” I lied.Andy, the guy who'd given me a hard time, elected that moment to get in my face.“That wasn't funny, Braxton,” he snapped. Mr. Coleman remained conspicuously silent.“Gosh, Andy,” I quipped, “I don't know where to begin. How about, we are in a House of God and shouldn't be raising a fist against one another.”“If that doesn't work, do understand that you get the first punch, then I break you like a twig,” I continued with eagerness written all over my face. “You are an elementary school teacher and I have years of martial arts experience.” Andy suddenly paled.“Mr. Braxton,” Coleman growled again. “How dare you threaten somebody?”“Um, Mr. Coleman, Andy got in my face, so what exactly are you getting on my case about? Wouldn't the situation be better served if you stopped him in the first place?” I said.“Andy should be able to take a joke better,” another guy in my class, Christopher Gilbert, joined in. “Besides, Zane's right; the wives on the committee are attractive and their husbands are lucky men.”That seemed to end the matter because Chris Gilbert was the son of somebody and carried weight in this crowd. We continued to depart but I felt obliged to stop Chris.“Thanks, but I'm not sure why you just backed me up there,” I questioned.“Maybe you're not such a bad guy,” he grinned.I had to think that over. I barely knew Christopher Gilbert. He was 23, son of a big real estate guy, he was a property manager, whatever that was.“I have to appreciate the timing of your epiphany,” I joked.“It came to me late Thursday night when I had a security issue at one of my properties,” he grinned. Oh, crap. His daddy must own the mall where I had that little altercation.“Sorry if I cost you a good night's sleep,” was all I could say.“Let me say that, 'damn, you're fast,' and it would have been mean of me to let Andy get his ass handed to him in front of all his friends,” Chris related. “He's really not a bad guy either.”“I'll keep that in mind,” I nodded.We were making our way to the church hall when Rio, Iona, and Barbie Lynn intercepted us.“Hey, Ms. Masters,” Chris said to Barbie Lynn. He looked at the other two girls.“Christopher Gilbert, this is Rio Talon and Iona Becket, two of my classmates and closest friends,” I introduced my buddies.“So, Chris, how do you know Barbie-licious?” Rio smirked.“Huh?” Chris said.“Rio has an intense sense of humor, Chris,” I intervened. “Pay her no mind.” Before Rio cold make things worse, I placed an arm behind her and pinched her butt. “Behave,” I warned her.“Okay, Zane,” Chris chuckled. “Good luck with that one. To answer your question: I know Ms. Masters from a few years back at a youth retreat. We were both counselors. Take care now.” He turned and walked off to his section of the tabernacle while the girls and I went off to ours.“So, Barbie, were you hot for Chris back at camp?” Rio persisted.“Chris? Nah, he had a girlfriend back then; they both went to the University of Virginia. I think they broke up right before they graduated but I'm not sure,” Barbie Lynn informed us. “Besides, I had a fiancé too.”“Had? Have you tossed him over for Zane?” Rio teased. I sighed and Barbie Lynn blushed.“Nah, Shugah, I tossed him over for you,” Barbie Lynn whispered into Rio's ear.“Just for that tantalizing tease, no Honey Glaze for those hot crossed buns of yours,” Rio bantered right back.“Am I the only one who remembers we are in a church?” lectured Iona.“No, you are not,” Christina surprised us. “Now stop trying to make a scene and sit down with the rest of us.” We dutifully obeyed because three of us respected Christina and I had one of Rio's arms twisted behind her back.At the end of service there was no problem getting the gang to go down to the space between the pews and the podium where the important people gathered. I caught Pastor William shooting me a hooded look but I blew him off. I was here for someone else, as was Barbie Lynn and Rio. Iona was tagging along to make sure we kept out of too much trouble.“Hey, Sahara,” I greeted the pastor's wife, who hovered near but wasn't part of the action.“Why, hello, Zane,” she smiled. “Did you enjoy the service?”“I'm still a little fuzzy on the message of seeking wisdom in God's word instead of Man's technology,” I grinned. “After all, I have an app that gives me helpful Bible verses on demand.”“I think you missed the point, Zane,” she shook her head with mirth. “We need to trust the Word of God over the simple technological solutions that fail to take in the moral implications of the results.”“Wow, when you say it that way, it makes sense,” I applauded. Sahara blushed and gave me another smile.Rio and Barbie Lynn had closed in on Felicity, allowing Iona and I to come up behind Mrs. Wellington. I put my hand on the small of her back and positioned myself at her side.“Hello, Mrs. Wellington,” I greeted her. I knew her first look at me would define a lot about how she felt about last night.“Zane,” she beamed at me. “How are you doing today?”“Better now,” I grinned. “I just wanted to say that I'm downloading those files we discussed when I get to campus this afternoon.”“Oh,” Mrs. Bainbridge sneered, “is Mr. Braxton working on a special project already?”“Zane,” Rochelle Wellington smiled to her rival sweetly, “send Kendra a copy of the notes you showed me. Kendra, Zane has a talent for 3-D imagery that the committee will find quite useful. I thought you might find it nice to have our newest member showing some interest.”“Oh, it is his interest that I'm worried about,” Kendra commented, with a pretty obvious look toward Sahara.Before I could respond to that jab, I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to pull me around.“Pastor William wants a word with you,” Lance informed me.“Okay,” I shrugged, then turned back to Kendra. “Mrs. Bainbridge, I admit that it is my fault that I find Mrs. Penny to be kinder, more compassionate, and more spiritually understanding than you. She is a gentle soul who better relates to what a young man needs.”“Pastor William wants to see you now,” Lance insisted.“That's nice, Lance. I'm talking to your mother,” I said dismissively. “Rochelle, thank you for agreeing to mentor me; I appreciate you helping me understand this Church and this community by taking some of your valuable time to listen to my ideas.”“Ladies, have a nice Sunday. Okay, Lance, let's go see what Pastor Bill wants now,” I told him.“His name is Pastor William,” Lance corrected me somewhat angrily.“No, his name is William Penny and he happens to be a pastor,” I jibed. Lance's response was stymied by our arrival at Pastor Bill's circle of cronies.“Ah, Glenn,” Bill greeted me. “I would like to invite you to dine with my wife and I tomorrow night.” I was smart enough to know that wasn't really an invitation, but still,“I'd like to but this week is our first round of testing for the semester so I'm not sure I can break free,” I answered.“You find time enough for other things, like jail,” he lectured me in a personally degrading matter.“Pastor William, as you will learn about me, people who cross me or threaten the ones I hold dear, I beat bloody and leave broken on the ground,” I smiled evilly right back. The confusion that threat caused was evident because I hadn't been quiet.“Jesus loves the Peacemaker,” Pastor Bill bantered back.“Winners write the history books,” I countered.“That is not very Christian of you,” Mr. Wellington, the Mayor, pointed out.“Jesus Christ ended up nailed to a cross; Emperor Constantine, who converted the whole Roman Empire to Christ's worship, got to build his own city,” I responded.“I won't be as famous but I'll do more and get to bury my enemies before I die,” I added.“Are you sure you were a missionary in Thailand?” another church elder asked.“Oh, I was a missionary all right, but not a very good one. I left the hard work to my Uncle Tim and Aunt Jill,” I informed them.“Did they convert many heathen souls to the World of our Lord?” a third man inquired.“It is not that simple. They taught people to read English and got them in the practice of reading the Bible,” I explained. “They have over a thousand years of culture to work against and many of the tenants of Buddhism are close to our own Christian virtues so it is hard work.”“So that would be a 'No',” Pastor Bill gloated.“Really?” I grinned. “When Uncle Tim went missing, 200 of his flock risked floodwaters in an eventually futile effort to save him. How many of us would risk drowning to save you, Pastor William? I would say that when lives were on the line, his flock did their Christian duty.”I noticed Jill standing on the edge of the group listening, her eyes close to tears. Hey, I hated Tim, but I wasn't going to let these spineless bastards degrade the man in front of his widow, no matter how I felt.“I'm sure we would all rise to the challenge,” Mr. Wellington pontificated.“Then you are as good a man as Uncle Tim,” I trapped him with his own words.“Your Uncle Tim gave everything, including his life,” Pastor Bill said with a smug, superior smile. “His willingness to give should be an example for all.”“I'm already giving. The Festivities Committee's budget seems a bit anemic so I'm going to be funding some of their efforts,” I enlightened him.“That is not how tithes are normally handled,” Pastor Bill corrected me.“I'm not a normal guy,” I grinned. “Pastor, I'll look over my schedule and call your house to let you know if I can swing dinner tomorrow. It has been a wonderful chat but I have to be going now.”I turned and left them there, confident I hadn't made any friends among Bill's inner circle. The price of their friendship was way more than I was willing to pay and it wasn't just monetary. My girls swarmed around me, even Jill.“Thank you, Zane,” Jill said softly. “Tim would have been proud.”“Jill, I said that for you, not him. You stood by him and that shouldn't be trampled on by people who don't know any better,” I comforted her.“I was getting ready to cry out 'Blood and Souls for my Lord Arioch,” Rio grinned.“Why did you antagonize them?” Iona wondered.“They are used to bullying people and getting their way. I let them know I was more than willing to fight,” I told Iona.“He also wanted the women to see what he was doing,” Barbie Lynn said. “I saw a few females, Felicity included, who thought a great deal of how Zane handled the situation.”“Girls love watching men fight over them,” Rio laughed as we exited into the parking lot.“Is everyone coming to our place for lunch?” Jill asked. I took a quick look around the girls who nodded their approval.“Sure thing, Jill; we will be at home in an hour,” I answered.Getting back to campus and into casual clothes wasn't a problem, nor was lunch with Jill. We sat around and shot the shit for an hour afterwards but school work demanded that we head back to school to do some actual classwork. I went by Raven's to pick her up because she'd left me a text (by way of Iona) that she'd made some progress over the weekend.“We really should study in the library,” Raven told me as we headed to my room.“The last time I checked, the library didn't have a snack bar,” I told her. Raven was less than convinced and a bit nervous until we opened the door to the bottom of the steps leading to the Solarium where I lived and the voices of multiple girls welcomed us.“You have company?” she questioned me.“All freshmen are welcome in my room, Raven. You'll see,” I informed her.“Is there going to be anyplace for us to study, ” Raven began to confound me, then we came to the point where you could see past the side of the stairs into the Solarium.“Oh, God,” she muttered at the scope of the room, “you, you have pool tables!” she ended up in a near squeal. “I love pool!” She took a few steps forward into the room before looking back at me. “What is all this? Where did this all come from?”“I was given the entire Solarium as my room, sort of, and I decided to convert most of it to a common area for the freshman class,” I said.“How long has this been going on?” she wondered.“We did it yesterday,” Iona said from the closest sofa. She put down her laptop and walked over to us. “Zane paid for the stuff and we students put it in. Let me show you around.”“You do that, Iona,” I told her, as I gave my diminutive friend a hug, “I'll be in my room.”Iona led Raven deeper into the complex of entertainment while I headed to my room, which seemed to be the quietest place to study today.ValerieI passed around the Chinese silk screens that shielded my private area from the rest of the Solarium and saw my new monster-sized bed. I also saw the tall, honey-blonde Amazon reclining on it, looking my way.“Come here, my Love-Monkey,” she said in a deep, husky voice. I'm sure my mouth gaped open.“Ah, I don't believe we've been introduced,” I managed to finally say. She smiled and patted the bed beside her.“You are seriously hot and I'm positive I'd remember you if we'd met, but I don't and I do need to study so I'm going to ask you to please leave,” I groaned. “Trust me, I really don't want to be asking you that either.”I heard laughter from the far side of the bed and Rio slowly raised her body into sight.“Bro, the look on your face is priceless,” she chuckled.“So this is really your room?” the other girl inquired.“I told you it was,” Rio grinned.“Yes, it is,” I responded as well. “In fact, this entire floor is mine, mainly because the Administration has nowhere else to stick me.”“Rio, what's going on here?” I turned to my other friend.“Honest, Boss,” she beamed, “I found her when I got home. She's my new dorm mate, your replacement.”“You were her first roommate?” the newcomer asked.“For all of one night,” I confessed. “Then everyone realized she had boobies, and I didn't, and I developed this current life of seclusion.”“This is your version of seclusion?” she questioned.“What can I say?” I sighed. “I'm a man of creature comforts. That still doesn't explain you on my bed. Rio?”“She is Valerie Palmer, a new addition to the school,” Rio started, “but that's not the cool part. She's a member of the Stormriders motorcycle gang.” Seeing my lack of name recognition, Rio added, “They are a big deal in the West, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, of course.”“Nice to meet you, Valerie.” I knelt on the bed and extended my hand. “I'm Glenn Zane Braxton, but everyone calls me Zane. Welcome to FFU, and what brought you to us?”“Dad is a born-again Christian and he wanted me to come here, so here I am,” she shrugged. Now, to me that made no sense, as she should have been eighteen, thus her own person, but who was I to press into her personal matters.“Damn it, Zane, I keep forgetting you were living in a cave for the past two years,” Rio shook her head. “Her grandfather is Daniel 'Damien' Palmer.” Again, I didn't know who that person was.“My grandfather is doing three life sentences,” Valerie said with a degree of weariness.“Fine. I should take it the Stormriders are not a motorcycle club, then,” I grinned at her.Valerie's eyes and mine locked for several seconds.“Are you arrogant, stupid, or really unconcerned?” Valerie asked me.“A little of all three,” Rio chimed in.“You should never ask a man if he's arrogant because if he is, he won't know it,” I responded.“I'm smart enough to get into this university, but them I'm dumb enough to be the only guy at this university,” I continued. “I can honestly tell you I really don't care who you were before you came here. It is none of my damn business. If you want to be friends, I'm game.” Valerie nodded. “Oh, and Rio is a nutjob, but if you hurt her, I'll make you suffer, I swear it.”“Is that supposed to scare me, rich boy?” Valerie said, becoming very serious and sitting up, “because I'm not impressed.”“I didn't say it to impress you, Valerie,” I met her gaze, “I believe in fair warning. I don't care if you are damaged goods or you are one stone-cold, bad-ass bitch; you mess with Rio and I'll take her pain out of your hide.”“Rio, I thought you told me this guy was cool,” Valerie said to Rio while still looking at me.“Best guy in the whole God-damn world,” Rio beamed.“Zane, have you ever stabbed somebody?” Valerie quizzed me.“On purpose or by accident?” I asked.“How do you stab someone by accident?” Valerie wondered.“You toss their ass into a stand of bamboo so hard the stalks break and they get impaled,” I answered. “I take it you've done it on purpose.” She shrugged.“Do you fight much?” she changed tact.“More than I should,” I replied, “but I butt in where I don't belong too much.”“Me too,” Valerie nodded, “on the 'I fight more than I should' thing.”“Well, I would rather talk shit upfront than spill blood later,” I pointed out.“Like warning me about Rio,” she nodded.“Please believe me, she's a nut and will get on your nerves, so please don't toss her out a window or down the stairs because I'm actually attached to her,” I grinned. Rio flopped on the bed.“I should be mouthing empty denials but Zane's pretty much right,” Rio snickered, “and if he hadn't fucked me silly on the preacher's desk this morning, I'd be in his face about this bullshit.”“You had sex on your preacher's desk?” Valerie smiled.“Zane, what are these girls, what the hell?” Raven went off. “What kind of bedroom is this?”“Raven, you know Rio and this is her new roommate Valerie. Valerie, this is Raven,” I groaned.“Hey, Raven,” Valerie greeted her. “So do you normally walk into Zane's bedroom too?”“No,” Raven blushed. “He invited me over to do some work on our English project.” Iona stepped in behind Raven and waved to Rio.“Iona, Valerie; Valerie, Iona,” I sighed.“Wait!” Valerie raised her hand and looked back to me. “Are you gay? Because I see a lot of girls strolling into your room and none of them have been identified as your girlfriend yet.”“Technically, that would be Heaven,” Iona volunteered. “She's a senior.”“Can we get back to everyone being in Zane's room?” Raven grumbled. “And what is he doing with a bed as big as my entire room back home?” Valerie appraised the room.“Got it,” she laughed. “You are sleeping with her (Iona) and her (Rio), but not you (Raven).”“Of course I'm not sleeping with him,” Raven shot back. “I took a Purity Pledge, as should all of you.”“I'm not a virgin,” Valerie responded.“Me, either,” Rio waved.“I am,” Iona raised her hand.“That's nice,” I directed. “Rio, Valerie, and Iona, please leave. I've invited Raven to my room so we can do actual classwork because I occasionally like to pretend I'm in college for an education.”“On it, Zane,” Rio snickered. “Come on, Valerie, let's go check out the hot tub. I wanted to show you to Zane so he could put you on his 'To Do' list.” Iona shook her head and left.“I've got a boyfriend,” Valerie clarified.“Thank God,” I muttered, which drew looks from all three women. After Rio and Val left, Raven kept staring at me.“I, does this happen to you often?” she finally asked.“Yes, but I've learned to adjust,” I pointed out.We sat down on the bed, Raven pulled out four library books on the period we were looking into, and we began going through them and taking notes.“Is Heaven really your girlfriend?” Raven asked after a while.“Yes, but it is more complicated than that. I love another girl but I don't know if she loves me, and I spend time with a dozen other girls here, plus I have friends at a Sorority House off campus,” I explained.“And you sleep with Rio, who isn't a virgin, and Iona, who is,” she stated, and I confirmed with a nod.“I was wrong. If you can keep all that straight in your head, you have a good grasp of details. We are going to do fine on this term paper.”“Thank you, Raven,” I smiled at her, and for a change, she smiled back.GUST FRONTI would have liked to spend the night with Iona and Barbie Lynn but Iona informed me that Coach Dana Gorman had tested her security code earlier in the day and I figured something was up; nothing good for me and my friends. Sure enough, at 12:10 in the morning, my little buzzer by the bed that informed me that a key code was being entered woke me up.I silenced the alarm (no sense in letting them know that I had it) and waited in bed. Shortly thereafter, the Coach and two female security guards came strolling in.“Alone?” Dana quipped.“You asking me out?” I grinned.“Get up; we need to check the bed, if that is what you call this thing,” she motioned to my sleeping platform. I dutifully got out of bed.“What are you doing?” she snapped when she realized I was naked.“Getting out of bed like you asked me to. I sleep in the nude, or didn't you already know that?” I yawned.“Put some clothes on,” she ordered. I picked up my robe and put it on while they stripped back my sheets and looked for bodily fluids under the dark light. I had been at my Aunt's the past two nights, so yes, my bed was still fresh. Unsatisfied, Dana and her two buddies began roughly going over my place.When they finally discovered nothing (my hiding places were specifically designed), the two officers turned and left.“I'll be keeping an eye on you, Zane. You can expect this to be a regular occurrence,” she promised. I simply stared. We remained looking at one another for a minute because she knew I was up to something.“That's right, step out of line and make my job easier,” she noted. Again I kept my silence. It would have been easy to take this personally but I'd told her this was War and I took that seriously. I doubted I was the sole beneficiary of their attention so I had to get ready to respond to their next move.“Nothing to say?” she asked. I kept staring. “Say something, damn it,” she growled.“Good night, Coach,” I obliged. She shook her head, turned, and walked away. When I saw the door close behind her I went back to my room and took out my phone. I made three calls to the concerned parties and a final call to Iona, to have her wipe my call log. I can't say I slept well that night.Showering in the morning was troublesome enough on normal days but this morning, Rio decided to invite Valerie to join us. I did my best to pretend to ignore her, which wasn't easy. Valerie was around six feet with milky skin where the sun didn't reach and tanned where it did. Her hair was golden-blonde and she was trimmed, not shaved. Her eyes were grey with a hint of blue around the edges; he breasts were a solid C without a hint of sag. There sure were a lot of blondes going to this school.I could see the mental calculations going through her head as she walked in and the other girls eyed her. In the hierarchy of this place, I didn't hold a place; proximity to me showed a girl's status among the crowd. Opal was top dog, but Rio and Iona were marked by their close relationship with me as well.Valerie clearly thought about walking away from it all to spare herself the drama and the grief. She countered that with the knowledge that she had to fit in somewhere in this school, and as non-traditional as she was, her best bet was with us. She answered that internal struggle by taking the shower one down from me, next to Opal.Opal expressed her dominance to Valerie by corralling me into a body massage and a show of mutual affection. I thought Valerie was unimpressed with those actions but as we got into it, I sensed she was intrigued by the notion of having sex without actually having sex, and the sexual arousal that came with it.As I settled in front of the sink to brush my hair, shave, and brush my teeth, Valerie took the sink beside me.“You don't seem to mind all these naked bodies around you,” she noted.“Why should I? I enjoy them and they enjoy me. I like making them happy, and my presence certainly makes their lives more difficult so I'm glad to help,” I explained.“So, do things ever go to the next level?” Valerie asked.“Not here, and not with most of these women; they are virgins and happy about that fact. They want to be virgins on their wedding nights and I respect that,” I answered.“Rio makes you out to be some sort of sex-crazed stud monster,” Val informed me.“Rio's not a virgin and her only plans for marriage involve her being a black widow to her old, rich husbands,” I grinned.“Is she, bi-sexual?” Valerie whispered.“Yes, I can verify that she is,” I replied quietly. “Has she hit on you yet? Wait, silly question, have you thrown her out of your bed yet?”“This morning I found her sucking on my nipple through my nightshirt,” she smirked.“Rio needs constant reminding of where the boundaries are,” I informed Val.“You two talking about me?” Rio came bouncing up. “Is there a three-way in our future? Who gets tied up?” Valerie groaned in response.“Rio, there is such a thing as personal space and acceptable roommate behavior,” I told Rio. “Things like spontaneously feeling her up while she sleeps are BAD!”“God, damn it!” Rio squalled, “But did you see the size of those bad boys? They are huge and puffy and I swear, they were calling out to me across the room.”“In my long and illustrious career with the female nipple, they have never talked to me. If you don't behave, I'm going to have to tie you up at the next orgy and make you watch,” I warned. I couldn't threaten to take away something she had, like her piercings; that would make her dig in her heels. Instead, I went after the things she was looking forward to.“Don't forget to secure her hands over her head so she can't diddle herself,” Valerie got into the sport of things.“Good point,” I agreed.“Major buzz-kill, you two. Valerie, you are trying to make your first day here no fun at all,” Rio teased.“Which reminds me; Valerie, has Rio warned you about Handmaiden's Duty?” I inquired. Rio looked offended that I would say such a thing while Val looked confused.“It is a tradition here that requires all freshmen to perform a task of a non-damaging nature for any and all upperclassmen. They cannot grab you in class or a dorm room, but anywhere else is fair game,” I informed her.“My first task was to be a bench for someone to sit on,” Rio grinned.“Mine was to kiss a girl,” I nodded.“Kiss her? Cordelia damn near passed out, you kissed her so long and deep,” Rio teased me.“The first one was very nice and chaste,” Iona stepped up and added. “It was the second one that curled her toes and started the stampeded on Zane.”“What do I do if a girl asks me to kiss her?” Valerie worried.“Tell her you are waiting for your herpes to clear up,” Rio volunteered.“It isn't likely to happen,” Iona came across with sounder advice. “Homosexuality is frowned on at this campus.”“I'd tell you to kiss them and enjoy the moment, but I'm a guy,” I shrugged.“I'm still not sure what is normal for this place,” Valerie related.“Rio and Zane are aberrations,” Iona offered. “Most of the girls here are fundamentalist Christian virgins who are looking to get married once they graduate this place.”“What is your story?” Val asked Iona.“I was pretty much the girl I just described until I met these two,” she smiled. “Now I feel that I have, options.”“Options like prison time,” Rio laughed, “or becoming a sex toy at an S&M club.”“I was thinking more like taking a summer and roaming the country,” Iona glared Rio.“Maybe I could teach you to ride a motorcycle and you can come with me,” Valerie offered.“That would be wonderful!” Iona brightened up. “When could we start?”“This afternoon, if you like,” Val responded. “My ride is in the parking lot.”“You have a motorcycle, here?” Rio exclaimed.“Rio, it is hard to be in a motorcycle gang without a chopper,” Valerie pointed out.“On that note, I have to go,” I sighed. New girls were starting to migrate in, meaning I had to retreat to my room. “Take care, everyone.”The crapstormThe crapstorm fell on us as we left the dorm. All kinds of upperclassmen snatched up freshmen as they appeared and shadowed Pro-Christina students they couldn't grab. Rio and I were able to shove off of Valerie before she was identified as being with one of us, so she made it to the Dining Hall unmolested.I didn't have to do anything too heinous, carry three backpacks while reciting the Gospel of Luke from memory (ugh). They made Rio sing 'Onward Christian Soldier' because it was the only religious song she'd admit to knowing. She did a horrific hack-job of it too. They had Iona going through the descendants of Noah; she knocked them back flawlessly, Brainiac.It got better at the Dining Hall door where Rhaine oversaw the removal of every electronic device from the incoming students, no phones, tablets or laptops, nothing capable of rapid communication. Then came the assigned seating designed to break us all up. Surprisingly, Valerie looped back around and joined us in the line.She leaned into me.“What the fuck is going on?” she whispered.“There is a war going on between the Pro-Christina faction Rio, Iona and I belong to, and the Pro-Rhaine faction, which is supported by the Administration. I didn't want to get you involved,” I explained as I saw Mrs. Marlowe closing in.“Mr. Braxton, be quiet,” she snapped.“Of course, Ms. Marlowe,” I nodded to her; she glared back. We had assigned seating for breakfast, isolating us. Conversations were kept to a minimum by roving teachers and the mood was getting grim, made worse by a slow drizzle that began to fall outside. Still, things weren't hopeless.As I was putting my food tray away, Paige of the Science Club slipped past me.“Copper Seven,” she whispered.Cordelia, head of the Science Club, was definitely the smartest person on campus. She'd created a list of contingency plans for us to use if things went bad. We should have been getting them on our phones but the Chancellor had stymied us there.Instead, things were circulating by word of mouth. In this case, Copper Seven, things were simple. Copper meant theft and Seven was the code for communications. We were stealing the facility's phones, crashing their computers, and doing whatever mischief we could to make communications difficult, if not impossible.I had the pleasure of passing the word on to Rio, who gave me a look that would have made any brigand with a handful of gold proud. I didn't know the specifics of Rio's criminal history but I knew she definitely had one, and I'd have been stunned if pickpocket and shoplifting weren't part of her repertoire. I'd warned Coach Gorman about making shit like this fascist suppression policy up.I barely recalled what I was forced to perform on the way to Assembly because what happened there was so memorable. We got the standard lecture, then the Chancellor laid into Christina for all the disruptions the student body was going through, Christina and a few other malcontents. What made it memorable was, at the end of Dr. Bass's speech, a freshman I barely knew, Millicent Pierce, stood up and raised her fist in defiance.“That's bullshit!” she cried out.“Sit down and be quiet, child!” the Chancellor commanded. “Coach Gorman,” she then directed our head of security toward the young girl. Millicent wasn't done yet.“You are lying to us!” she screamed out again.As Gorman and a second teacher made their way to our young rebel, Rio stood up with a raised fist.“Shame!” Rio called out. A dozen of us followed suit. Teachers flooded off the stage but Cappadocia figured out that if you joined up with other girls and linked arms, they couldn't drag you out.Girls were screaming at girls, shoving began, and soon blows were being exchanged and Assembly degenerated to a nasty furball. We were threatened with demerits, detention, and finally expulsion, but nothing seemed to curtail the conflict. I saw Ms. Goodswell leave the melee and go to the base of the podium and begin to plead with Bass about something.I could see that Goodswell was trying to get the Chancellor to let Christina come onto the stage and quiet her followers but our Glorious Leader wouldn't budge. Christina could see the gestures and I knew she was about to end things anyway. There was something I had to do before things fell apart.I leapt up and began using the backs and arm rests to jump across the crowd. I made it to Millicent right ahead of Gorman. Millicent seemed stunned to see me hovering over her but it was too noisy to communicate. I pulled her up and retreated back the way I'd come, keeping her out of Gorman's clutches for the moment.“Thanks,” she grinned at me.“Who is your Spiritual Advisor?” I responded. “We need to get you to her so you don't face the Chancellor alone.”“Ms. Trenton,” Millicent responded.Ms. Trenton wasn't one of the 'good guys' but she wasn't on our enemies list either. I located Trenton and angled us toward her.“This is crazy,” Millicent gasped. After all, if we tumbled, we might very well break our necks. Ms. Trenton didn't look happy to see either one of us but she immediately clued into why I was dropping her student off on her. She grabbed Millicent by the arm and led her away. This was a good thing because our rebellion was about spent for the moment.A minute later we had quieted down. Dr. Bass threatened us with a whole new series of punishments before exiling us off to our first classes. I had the joy of gettin

Heaven & Mercy calludeA Spring Break 14-part Novel.By FinalStand. Listen to the complete episode at Steamy Stories.*Anyone can be who they want to be; the challenge is being who you need to be*Can Zane go 24 hours without sex?My journey to the Dining Hall this Wednesday was enlivened by carrying, bridal style, a sophomore named Courtney while playing out a scene from Tristan and Isolde. I had Rhaine, Joy, and Mercy as escorts/minders, but Rhaine was now defining her responsibility as keeping me from misbehaving, not stopping me, and the other students from having fun.Tristan and Isolde was some kind of chick-flick taken from a Wagnerian play so technically it wasn't on the ‘banned' list. With me was the added bonus that it wasn't homo-erotic (being a guy in a romantic relationship with a girl, in the play) and that I could actually carry Isolde in my arms.A larger than normal crowd had gathered for my dutiful performance and while I generally received rave reviews, I did catch a few girls talking about redoing the skit with a Sampson and Delilah theme. I pledged to avoid girls with shears like the plague. We bunched up around one of the entrances to the Dining Hall as I finished our script and carefully placed her back on her feet.Among the scattering of applause and the press of bodies, I felt Mercy stumble into me. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open in surprise, and her breathing was coming in ragged gasps. My answer came when I looked over her shoulder and saw Rio, looking very casual but pumping her arm rapidly against Mercy's back.When we got into the food line, Rio smirked and began sucking her forefinger which was sticky and slick.“Seriously, in the middle of the crowd? You just couldn't resist?” I teased her.“Next I'm sticking in the butt plug,” she whispered in a conspiratorial manner. “I have it in my book bag and I'm jumping her after BA. Do you want to help?”“I'd rather face dismemberment than break Iona's schedule,” I sighed quietly.“Some He-Man you are,” she giggled. “You'll go five rounds with Gorman but Iona has you pussy-whipped.”“If I have to go, I could hardly pick a better woman,” I responded, and wrapped an arm around Iona's waist and rested my hand on her hip.“Yes, Zane?” Iona looked up at me with an exotic combination of innocence and genius.“Rio reminded me how lucky we are to have you with us,” was my answer.“Oh, that's nice,” Iona beamed up at me. “I thought it had something to do with Rio putting her hand under Mercy Chaplain's skirt.” I chuckled and Rio grumbled.“I have glasses,” Iona stated, “I'm not blind.”“Did anyone else notice?” I inquired.“No. I think Rio was pretty smooth, but if experience has taught me anything, it is Rio who is going to be the troublemaker, not you, Zane,” Iona stated calmly. “I was paying attention to her.”“Oh, Cordelia wanted to know if you could come by the Science Club today around two-thirty and help us with a little problem we are having,” Iona inquired.“What's the problem?” I asked.“Why didn't Cordy ask him herself?” Rio questioned.“I don't know the answer to either of those questions,” Iona admitted.“It is illegal, illicit, and off the record,” Rio pronounced.“No, it is not,” Iona battled back.“Trust me, I've done my share of things I didn't want the authorities to know about and this stinks of that kind of stunt,” Rio explained.“I'll be with Zane; nothing will happen. Besides, we are the Science Club, not an international criminal syndicate,” Iona told Rio.“I'll be okay,” I promised Rio. On the other hand, the Science Club wasn't all flowers, bells, and puppy dog tails.They hacked the school's computer systems, had illegal internet hook-ups, and were re-wiring a dorm floor for my personal pleasure, and Rio's criminal instincts were more often right than wrong. We were able to get our seats and enjoy most of breakfast before Iona nudged me.“Don't you ever answer your messages?” Iona inquired.“I have them all automatically forwarded to you,” I countered. “It seemed like the sanest thing to do.”“But you don't even know what's going on in your life,” she worried.“Darling, I have you to keep me from falling off the face of the Earth. I trust you to keep me on an even keel. Besides, someone hacked my phone yesterday so I'm not sure how safe I would be without you,” I enlightened her.“Someone hacked your phone?” Iona gasped. “Any idea who?”“Cordelia; she put herself at the top of my Handmaiden's list. I didn't mind, but the fact that she did it means it could be done,” I told her. Iona shot an angry glare in Cordelia's direction.“Don't worry about it, Iona,” Rio joked. “Have you known anyone to mess with Zane and not pay for it eventually?”“That doesn't mean I like it,” Iona kept glaring. I tapped her shoulder, then led her gaze to me by tugging on her jaw.“Let it go. In the social hierarchy, we are freshmen, despite any accomplishments. Trust me, I know: There are some fights you don't get into until you are ready. Cordelia likes you because you are useful but don't try her patience too far or she'll break you.”“I don't like it. This is high school all over again,” Iona grumbled.“The major difference,” Rio pointed out, “you have a sick psycho like me and a stud like Zane who have your back. We've left you alone once and that was only in hopes you would get out from under the hammer that was falling on us.”“Oh, we were told about your conversation with the Chancellor. I liked what you said,” I told her thoughtfully, “but I believe Rio and I could have done it better.”“Who would you have quoted?” wondered Iona. I exchanged a fanatical look with Rio.“THIS is SPARTA!” we shouted in unison, “and then we would have kicked her desk out the window,” I added.Iona sighed, looked down at her tray, and grinned while half the dining hall gazed our way.“You two are nuts,” she chuckled.“Ninja Urban Terrorists,” Rio and I declared together, “that's us.” The rest of breakfast passed without incident or too much Humor.It is not the Distance; It is the Weight on your BackGetting out looked to be a bit less friendly as Rhaine, Joy and Mercy added two other girls to their entourage.“Zane, Rio, Iona, we have a duty for you,” Rhaine announced. “You will carry our books, on your knees, and on the sidewalk.”“Well, Kemosabe, do we ignore them or kick their asses?” Rio looked to me. “Man, here I am without my hate-mallet too.”“I'm going for benign indifference,” I informed Rio. “Rhaine, we already have an assigned Handmaiden duty and we are not required to partake of any task that would result in our physical harm.”“We let Christina get away with it because we were isolated and new, but that's not the case anymore,” I explained. “You break the rules and we'll defend ourselves.”“Then we are taking you to the Chancellor's office,” Rhaine declared loudly. At this time my two buddies were despairing over the lack of appearance by our allies but I tend to have more faith in the fairness of Human nature.“Civil disobedience,” I advised Iona. To Rio, I explained, “Make yourself dead weight.” Rhaine's Traditionalists came forward and we three fell to the ground.“Get up,” Joy demanded of Rio.“Nope, not going to happen,” she gleefully shot back. Joy gave Rio a strong nudge with the foot.“What are you doing?” a cold calm voice pierced the setting. It was Coach Dana Gorman.“I, what, we are doing what Rhaine told us to do,” Joy stammered.“Kicking a student is grounds for dismissal,” Dana informed Joy. “Physical violence is only acceptable in self-defense, and only when withdrawal is not an option.”“Coach Gorman, we were told, ” Rhaine began.“Ms. Ritchie, the Board of Directors can alter the Handbook whenever they wish, and if they ever say that bludgeoning another student merely because they disagree with you is permissible, I'll be sure to let you know.”“Yes, Mam,” Rhaine gulped.“You three, stop loafing about and get to class” Gorman addressed us. “We can all hope you flunk out your first semester, but until you do, I am required to make sure you are in your classes at the appointed time. Now go!” she grumbled to Rio, Iona and I.“Yes, Mam,” Iona and I said as we stood up once more. Rio merely growled. We quickly parted Rhaine and company, then headed to class. Soon enough, Christina and her crowd appeared around us.“What tree were you bitches hiding behind?” Rio griped. That did not get her a pleasant response.“Rio, they were always with us,” I said, putting a hand on Rio's shoulder. “They also sent people to get Coach Gorman and others to get Ms. Goodswell in case things went bad. Cappadocia and Wilhelmina were rounding up the troops in case Rhaine tried to force us. By keeping the field clear of obvious forces, we resolved this fight in a way that didn't make us look bad.”“You got all that while talking to Rhaine and watching every sane FFU girl running away from us?” Rio gawked.“If an ally betrays you, they will stand by and watch. If you don't see them, assume they are fighting elsewhere on your behalf, or so the saying goes,” I related.“That sounds like dark matter, you know it is there because you can't see it,” Iona nodded, “but you see its effects.”“Essentially,” Christina remarked.“I'd like to know one thing,” Faith inquired: “Have you slept with Coach Gorman too? She seems to have joined our side very suddenly.”“She's not on our side and she's not our friend, but I did outline how this fight would work. If they break the rules, we break the rules, and chaos ensues. If the Coach keeps things fair, Rio and I will go down by our own faults or succeed on our merits, Christina will still beat Rhaine, and this year might not suck so much for the average student, freshmen included,” I said.“How do you jibe following the rules with having a different girl in your bed every night?” Hope taunted me with a hint of seduction. Heaven looked equal parts embarrassed and sensually hungry.“I don't believe he has a woman in his bed every night,” Christina corrected.“Expecting Zane to sleep alone is like putting a lion among your sheep and expecting to eat lamb next season; theoretically possible, but it goes against his nature,” Hope laughed.“I have not had a woman in my bed every night,” I sniffed indignantly.“Yeah,” Rio rallied to my defense, “there was that night you barred Barbie Lynn and, actually, I think that was the only night, though he didn't sex me up that first night on campus.”“I think it is safe to say that the female student body has made good use of Zane's time here amongst us,” Chastity noted, as she lightly slapped my shoulder.“Well, in case anyone cares, I'm going to a church function tonight and stopping by the Kappa Sigma house on the way back. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish up some Biology reading and go to bed early,” I declared.“And if you find a girl in your bed when you get in?” Hope teased.“He'll assume it is a day ending in ‘y',” Iona snickered.“Et tu, Iona?” Christina stated loftily.“In that case, please spread the word,” I muttered darkly. “I'm coming home and stealing Iona away to my lair for some much needed discipline and loyalty reinforcement.” Iona remained still while the other girls looked around.“Seriously?” Faith wondered.“I play around a lot but never with Iona,” I explained. “If she doesn't lock her door, she's mine.”“Iona, I'll help you barricade the door,” Heaven offered. Iona didn't say anything but the look she shot Heaven clearly stated ‘don't you dare!'The Research Partnership“Zane?” Virginia Goodswell requested my attention as I approached my English class.“Hey, Teach, I'm ready to have my head stuffed with learning,” I grinned.“That's good, because we are choosing Authors and Works today, along with project partners,” Virginia instructed.“So, Ms. Goodswell, who is my boy Zane partnered up with? Or is there going to be a Thunder Dome match to figure that out?” Rio beamed with failed innocence.“Ms. Talon,” my teacher sighed, “it is a volunteer process, and I'm not sure any girl in my class wants to work with Mr. Braxton.”“Zane, when the feeding frenzy begins, jump for the ceiling lights,” Chastity joked with me. At least I hoped she was joking. The ladies wished me luck and we parted ways. After taking our assigned seats, Virginia went over our latest lessons and then introduced us to our semester project. The first thing to decide was the partnerships.“Before we partner up,” Virginia asked the class, “would any of you consider teaming up with Zane Braxton to get this done? Hands please.” Multiple hands flew up. Virginia looked over the class, nodded, and said, “Thank you.” She looked it over, “Raven, Barbara, and Céline, each of you give me the reason why you don't want to work with Zane.”Ms. Goodswell had chosen the three girls who hadn't raised their hands. Barbara and Celine didn't want to work with me because they were afraid I would rape them the moment we were alone, “sigh”. Raven's answer was that she was afraid that my lack of a structured education would make the paper more difficult.Raven Thorpe was awarded the 'honor' of working with me, a designation she groaned over, and other girls glared at her with jealousy. After class she attempted to shoulder past me but I tapped her arm.“Can we talk for a second?” I inquired.“Don't you have to scurry off and take care of your schedule?” she replied blandly.“Can you stop being a bitch for fifteen seconds so we can figure out which author we can work on?” I snapped angrily. She pulled up short as if she expects to be pimp-slapped next.“Okay, who do you have in mind?” she requested. “And if you say William Shakespeare, I am going to smack you with my book bag.”“I was thinking the political works of Edmund Burke,” I suggested. Raven blinked.“Seriously, I didn't think you even knew who Edmund Burke was, much less that he was the father of modern conservatism,” Raven congratulated me. It was almost like she wanted to pat me on the head and give me a doggy bone.“I was thinking of concentrating more on his works during the American Revolution, but if that's what you are more comfortable with, we could cover his later period works instead,” I offered.“Good point, Zane. Let's talk it over during lunch,” Raven suggested.“Zane,” summoned a female voice from outside the classroom.“Go on,” Raven smirked, “enjoy your disproportionate level of abuse.”“You act like I have any choice in the matter,” I shrugged.It was of little consolation that Raven made it ten more feet from the door when she got snatched up too. This time out, my mistress got to point to a feature on her body and I had to give it a flattering description, I know, my life is utter hell.I had no idea where the Science Club met; I even began to get the sinking feeling they carefully controlled any information about themselves, sort of like a secret society, or the CIA.Paige & the Science Club“Hello, I'm Paige,” spoke this girl, who apparently materialized out of the ether. I'm not paranoid; I've spent the past two years in a region where you have to be alert because Tigers are common and I say this girl freaking ghosted me, Man.“I'm with the Science Club. You will come with me right now,” she smiled like said predator cat trying to disguise herself as a white rabbit.“You are albino,” I noted. She had long white hair, alabaster skin, and a red shadow to her eyes. She was also the only girl to date I'd seen with the dark blue jacket that was part of our winter uniform. She also had a jaunty blue hat and white stockings instead of socks.“You have eyes,” she rolled hers, “now come along.” I started to follow her.“So what is this meeting about?” I asked.“It isn't a meeting; we require you for something,” she replied.“What is it?” I became more cautious.“It is a surprise,” she mocked me. “Stop wasting my time and come along.”“Cool, I'm out of here.” I grinned, turned, and left. Paige staggered and seemed unable to grasp my departure.“Where are you going?” she snapped tartly.“To Archery Club,” I replied, while still walking away.“But, but you said you would come,” she stuttered.“Am I a person? Are you?”“Yes and yes,” she replied with irritation.“Are you an idiot or a child? Because those are the only reasons to forgive your spoiled behavior,” I turned and said. Paige glared. “So you assume you are smarter than me and can be rude to someone who is doing you a favor.”“We are the ones doing you a favor,” Paige snapped back. “Now we want you to repay us.”“Did you discuss payment when you did me the favor of rewiring my room? No? Good, because if you had, I would clearly be suffering a form of amnesia,” I gave back. “If you want something, you can ask as a friend or you can offer me something that makes it worth my while. Now go back to Cordelia and tell her you have returned alone because you were so much smarter than me. If you could only 'speak friend', ” I continued walking away.“Wait,” Paige called out nervously. “I, I, ” and I could almost hear the wheels turning. “Speak friend and enter.” I stopped in midstride.“So you read through my school records and know my top ten influences,” I turned and responded. We stared at each other for almost a minute until she finally gave up and put on her sunglasses. I retraced my steps back to her.“Favorite member of the Fellowship?” I tested her.“Legolas,” she responded. I scoffed and she had the Human decency to look embarrassed.“Ha,” I scoffed again. “Horny girls go for the elf; the marrying kind goes for Aragorn.”“Who is yours, then, wise guy?” she volleyed.“Boromir,” I declared my allegiance.“Ah, of course; the veteran warrior in a doomed struggle; he forsakes his honor only to redeem it in a hopeless fight, perishing in the arms of his brothers,” Paige retorted. “I thought you would have gone for Aragorn, the Uncrowned King.”“Hum,” I winced, “my second choice was actually Frodo but that would have sounded gay.”“You can't be gay; you are not clever enough to conceal that,” she stated.“See, now you are sounding like Saruman the White,” I teased.“Let me guess: because I'm an albino,” she grumbled.“You are an albino? I was talking about your facial hair and that arrogant, know-it-all vibe you've got going on,” I joked. Paige stared at me, suddenly speechless, finally taping her chin.“At least you didn't call me Gollum,” she admitted.“Nah; too much hair and not enough skin slime,” I explained as I ran the back of one finger over her cheek. She flinched slightly.“Are you going to, please, come with me now?” she asked much more politely.“Are you going to have sex with me?” I grinned.“WHAT!?!?” she squawked.“Just joshing you,” I smiled. “You are far too pretty to be interested in me. Let's go.”I'd clearly unsettled her because she didn't say another word to me until we were going downstairs in the Clegger Science Building.“Do you really think I'm pretty?” she asked as we finished the last set of stairs.“I must confess I find most women attractive, but you are far prettier than most,” I replied.“Do you still want to have sex with me?” she said in a casual voice. I took her hand and placed it on my heart. “Hah,” she snorted, “I get it; your heart is beating so yes, you want to have sex with me.”“I was going to say that a steady heartbeat indicated I was telling the truth, but someone keeps insisting they are smarter than me,” I teased her. Am I really asking for another sex partner? What's wrong with me?Her reaction wasn't what I expected it to be and then I realized that she still had something over on me, the reason for me being here. Bitch. She opened a door into a dark room and ushered me in. There appeared to be about ten ladies in the room, playing with a variety of electronics.“Delivered as promised,” Paige called out.“What did he hit you with?” a short caramel-skinned girl inquired.“Fellowship of the Ring,” Paige grinned. Mother-fuckers!“Did he offer to have sex with you?” Cordelia asked playfully.“Yes. And not only gave me a 'pretty' but also a 'far prettier'.” Paige gave me a smug look.“Ha, ha, ha,” I muttered. Idiot me forgot that psychology is also a science, and the reason we don't have a chess club at FFU was also evident; the Science Club devoured them.“Come on, Zane,” Cordelia batted her full lashes at me. “We need a little favor and it won't take fifteen minutes.”“Couldn't you simply coerce me into doing this?” I stated. “I'm sure this whole rigmarole of making me think I'm doing you a favor has to be making things more difficult.”“We are all friends here,” Cordelia smiled.“No, if we were all friends here, Iona would be at my side,” I scolded her. “I admit you did a great scam getting me in this room, but you aren't nearly as good at lying to my face as you think you are.”“Iona, ” Paige started to say.“Don't!” Cordelia snapped, then took a deep breath. “If you threaten Iona he will hit you, no,” she corrected, “He'll hit me,” Cordelia reasoned out.“There are eleven of us,” another girl, Pandora Jaspers, stated, somewhat angry and confident.“I've seen him fight, Pandora. I saw him drop Mercy Chaplain. I've seen him fight Cappadocia Davis and Coach Gorman too,” Cordelia said coolly as we stared at one another. “Unless we curl up in a ball on the ground, he'll beat us down. We'll hurt him, but Zane can take more pain than we can because he cares about her.”“On that note, I'm gone again. Good going Paige; I'm sure you can think of something to make your sisters understand,” I shrugged and moved for the door.“Zane, I need you to strip down and let us attach a series of video and biometric sensors so we can create a 'Virtual Zane' for a little project we are working on,” Cordelia blurted out.I had to think hard about this; not because I didn't want to do it but because I had to figure if this was an honest play or another convoluted turn of the screws. I turned and looked at Cordelia.“There was no way in hell you ever thought I was a professor and you miraculously materialized outside my first class with the knowledge I was actually a freshman, damn, Cordelia, can't you just ask for stuff?” I berated her.“If you ask, you depend on another to get what you want; if you deceive, you win or lose on your own abilities,” she shrugged. “Besides, I did ask you to kiss me; remember?”“Good enough; where do you want me to stand?” I responded.“Wait,” Paige gawked. “Now he is doing it.”“Alright ladies,” one girl grinned. “Everyone pay up. I told you we should simply ask him.”With that, I stepped over to a table and began stripping. Slowly the girls around me stopped what they were doing and openly ogled me. I guess the real me was better than the video.“Aren't you curious about what we are going to do?” Pandora inquired.“You are probably going to tell me that I'm posing naked because it is easier to dress an 'uncluttered' form, or something to that effect, but really, I like Cordelia and Iona is one of my two best friends,” I mulled it over. “Besides, in case you missed it, I've seen all your faces.”Once they took that bit of news in, things went along smoothly, though they had some debate amongst themselves on whether my cock needed its own 'reference point', a sensor attached.The amusing thing was, when the girl running the computer imaging asked me to keep my penis still, I had to reply that certain reactions weren't under my control, which caused a rather awkward moment. When I was finally finished there was another quiet interlude as I got dressed.“So,” Cordelia wondered, rocking back and forth on her feet, “if we need more, data, could we get you to come back?”“Sure,” I smiled back, “you know where I live, and you certainly know what my digits are. Cordelia, I want you to consider that if something happens in my room that ends up on the web that betrays the trust people have put in me, I'm not going to come after all of you looking for excuses. Are we clear?”“Is that a threat, Zane?” Cordelia beamed playfully.“Cordelia, I'm always one step away from being tossed out of here on my ass, so those who chose to trust me and take up my cause are doing it because they are decent folk. I'm not like most people; I can't afford to toss friends away like most of the rest of the people in this room seem to be comfortable with.”“Or what,” Paige smirked, “you'll beat us up?”“No, Paige. I value trust, so if you take that away from me, I'll find out what you value and take that away from you,” I stared at her intently.“I know what you are going to say, Paige,” Cordelia jumped in, “and Zane being expelled will only mean that he has no other distractions from dealing with us and he'll still have people inside the school all too willing to help him.”“Zane, how about if something is done, we give you an off switch for various sections?” Cordelia offered.“Sounds great; let me know how the project works out, but now I have to go to Archery,” I replied, before slipping out the door.“How did he know we were going to wire his room?” I overheard Paige whisper to Cordelia.“You don't seriously think he came here solely because we tricked him, do you?” Cordelia answered. “He knew we would try something and he wanted us to know that he knew.” Yes, I had bumbled into the message I'd wanted to get across despite myself.Does Anyone Want Me Here?I had escaped school with a double date for Thursday Night (Chastity and Hope), then stopped by the house to plead with Aunt Jill to let Rio stay for the weekend. I gave a rational case, a compassionate reason, and then fell down on my knees and told her I really, really, really wanted her to stay. Something in that last argument made Jill relent and I phoned the good news to Rio.All that groveling resulted in me making the Festivities Committee Meeting by only two minutes. I swept into the room abruptly and as the story of my life goes, everyone stopped talking and looked at me. A quick scan of the room told me that two of the eight women knew to expect me, or at least some guy, while the others clearly assumed I'd lost my way.“Can we help you, young man?” an older woman with hair mostly turned to gray.“Welcome, Glenn,” Mrs. Wellington said. “Ladies, Pastor William has asked us to introduce Mr. Braxton to the good works of our Church.” There was a pause.“Thank you, Mrs. Wellington, but no one alive calls me Glenn anymore, and I'm not old or accomplished enough to be Mr. Braxton, like my Father or Uncle Tim. My teachers call me Zane.”“Oh, you are at the University?” a third woman asked politely. She was asking if I went to the University of Virginia.“No, I don't go to U V; I go to FFU, it is a long story,” I replied with trepidation.“I have a daughter at Freedom Fellowship,” one of the women responded with concern.“What is her name?” I tried to be polite, what were the odds?“Pandora Jaspers,” Mrs. Jaspers answered.“Seriously? I've done Handmaiden duty for her, and today I saw her at the Science Club,” I sighed with relief.“What did she have you do?” yet another woman inquired intently.“I helped her create an umbrella walkway when it was raining so that all the students could get to class without getting soaked,” I informed them.“Have you been to 'camp'?” a sixth woman hinted at something.“Camp, no, I can't say I've ever been to a camp,” I evaded, because I had no idea what they meant.“That's enough, ladies,” Mrs. Wellington said. “We have business to take care of. We can worry about Mr. Braxton's confusion at a later time.” Oh, they think I'm gay. Camp = Gay camp where fundamentalists are sure I could be cured of being homosexual. I try not to laugh.“Mr. Braxton, I want you to sit at the chair there,” Mrs. Wellington pointed to a chair away from the table, against the wall. “I want you to take personal notes for the members, things that don't go into the official record. Doreen Saxon,” she indicated the gray haired woman “is our secretary. She takes the official notes of the meeting, so pay attention.”The Meeting for the first of September was called to order, the record of attendance including the difficulty of my name, they kept trying to call me Glenn Braxton while I politely asked for Zane. They went with Glenn. The rest of the group worked out like this:Rochelle Wellington was Chairwoman, Kendra Bainbridge was our Treasurer, and Doreen Saxon was the grey-haired Secretary. The rest of the group consisted of Claire Baker, Theresa Geiger, Columbia Jaspers, Heidi Moulin, and Sahara Penny, the Pastor's wife.As the meeting progressed there was little I could do but watch the group dynamics at work. For starters, Bainbridge was at Wellington's throat; they clearly didn't like one another. The other was an oddity; no one interacted with Sahara Penny. I wasn't sure if it was her non-white heritage (Middle Eastern of some sort), her meek nature, or some past sin, but I decided to take advantage of it.I got up quietly and began walking around the table.“Glenn,” Mrs. Saxon asked, but I ignored her because, damn it, how many times do I have to tell them my name is Zane? I walked over and knelt by Sahara.“Zane,” Mrs. Wellington addressed me, “are you looking for the bathroom?” Bingo!“No, Mrs. Wellington. I was hoping to get some background information on the current discussions as well as contact information for the group. Since the rest of you are treating Mrs. Penny like she has the plague, I figured she would be the perfect candidate to tell me what is really going on here,” I grinned at her. “It is always the quiet ones who know the most.”And everyone stopped talking. Sahara not only looked shocked and frightened to see me, she looked like she wanted to sink under the table when I told the rest of them my reason for being here.“I assure you, Mr. Braxton, we are fully including Sahara in the process,” Mrs. Bainbridge snorted indignantly.“I will gladly accept your reprimand if you can please tell me the last five words you said to her since I arrived,” I requested, with as much innocence as I could beg, borrow, or steal.“I asked her about the children's clothing for the Nativity this year,” Kendra said after a long pause.“That was Claire, not Sahara,” I corrected her. “It is in my notes, but I'm sure Doreen can corroborate my recall of events.”“Well,” she said testily, “I'm sure I said something to her.” Silence.“I apologize for disrupting the meeting. I'll crouch here quietly and conference with Sahara while the rest of you complete the business of the day,” I told them, then turned back to Sahara. “Now, what the heck is up with the live turkey at the Thanksgiving celebration?”In the end, I gathered my information, the meeting concluded its business, and the room emptied until it was me, Sahara, Kendra, and Rochelle.“A Christian gentleman would apologize,” Kendra informed me.“Well, I guess that makes us both poor Christians, because a good Christian woman wouldn't have lied to me,” I calmly replied. Kendra gaped like a fish out of water.“Rochelle!” Kendra snapped to the Committee head.“Zane, you apologize to Kendra right now,” she commanded me, without much passion.“Kendra Bainbridge, I apologize for my rude and uncalled for behavior,” I said with a bow. Neither woman had expected me to fold up like that, so all Kendra could do was huff and storm out of the room.“Thank you,” Sahara whispered, as she touched my hand.“I don't always know the right side to fight on but it is usually by the side of the person being bullied,” I grinned. “It is the Christian thing to do,” I added with a wink.That left me with Rochelle Wellington: MILF, Lance the asshole's Mom, and wife of the Mayor.She looked like she wanted to stand up but couldn't. Me, I had a Sorority meeting to get to, I missed dinner so I had to grab something first, and why in the hell was I even thinking what I was thinking? I sat down beside her.“What's wrong?” I began. She looked at me, tired and somehow forlorn.“You wouldn't understand, Mr. Braxton, Zane,” she sighed.“Try me; the worst that could happen is, I give the expression that every teenager gives an adult when something important is being said but we are too caught up in our own lives to understand.”“Oh, good point, young man,” she sighed, “but I'm afraid I don't have anything even remotely interesting to talk about.” I waited patiently. “I'm feeling sorry for myself. My baby is leaving the nest and it has been so long since I've been alone in the house, I don't know what to do with myself.”“Lance is an only child?” I wondered.“Oh, no, he is the youngest of five,” she responded with sadness. My jaw dropped and she stared at me.“What, did you start having kids when you were ten?” I gawked.“What?” she sounded confused.“I have a hard time believing you are forty, much less the mother of five grown children,” I stammered. At first Rochelle was embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable, but slowly the compliment seeped its way into her psyche.“I, I have a home gym,” she suggested as an answer.“Well, whatever you've been doing has worked. Your husband is one lucky guy, and I hope he appreciates you and all you do to look, act, and feel so young,” I wowed her.“I'm not feeling all that young right now,” she slipped back into her depression.“Where does it hurt?” I changed my focus.“I don't know what you mean?” she asked.“People keep their stress in different places; the back of the neck, the mid-back, shoulders, or temples,” I informed her.“I'm not comfortable talking with you about that,” Mrs. Wellington replied warily.“Sure,” I said popping out of my seat. “I apologize if I crossed any lines,” and I made for the door.“Wait, Zane, I apologize. I'm tired and a bit cranky. I know you didn't mean anything and besides, I'm sure you already have a girlfriend,” Rochelle admitted.“Please don't spread this around, but I have several girlfriends at the moment. They know about each other, I'm not going to lie about my sex life, but they are usually interested in different things,” I told her.“You have, multiple girlfriends, different things? Like what kind of different things?” Rochelle spilled out her confused thoughts.“Some women like sexual contact,” I related, “while others like romantic time together, and still others want companionship.” There was another long pause.“But you are at Freedom Fellowship University, ” she trembled.“I've never taken a student's virginity, if that's what you are asking,” I answered.“Oh, I understand. I've taught all my children that they should be virgins on their wedding day,” Rochelle said with some pride.“I have to disagree with that,” I shocked her, “but that is one of the reasons that women are better than girls.”“And how would you know this?” She now turned in her chair to face me, trying to sound affronted but coming across as deeply curious.“Um, I've had sex with girls in their teens and women in their forties, and women know more, pace themselves better, and generally have better bodies,” I explained. “Teen girls need a few more years to fill out.”Rochelle was utterly speechless, and part of that had to do with the fact that I was being frank and honest, yet not openly coming on to her.“You must not think much of me, then,” she mused, “teaching my children my views on virginity.”“Where did you get that from? If anything, you are proving yourself to be an intelligent, warm, caring, and compassionate woman and mother, who happens to look like she's less than forty years old,” I added. “You did what you thought was right. I can't argue with that.”“Well, good,” she replied.“Now for my part, I was taught that a real man gives his lover multiple orgasms and he should never reach fulfillment before his partner does. Any man who does so is being selfish,” I stated.“How did you come by this, thinking?” she inquired with a small voice.“Um, I've had sex around five hundred times with thirty different partners,” I told her, “so I've not only learned from very good teachers, I've field tested their ideas.”“How can you possibly consider yourself a good Christian, Zane?” she accused me.“Compassion, respect for all living things, and forgiveness, that's what I believe in and what Christianity stands for in my eyes,” I explained.“The Bible is clear on sex and the sanctity of the marriage bed,” Rochelle insisted.“Mrs. Wellington, everything after the death of Jesus is conjecture. We both accept that Jesus was the Son of God, but after he dies, who is to say who was being touched by the Divine, who was building on JC's teachings, and who was simply making stuff up,” I held up my hand to stop Rochelle's protest.“The Catholics have a thousand Saints, most of whom we don't hold to be divinely inspired. You chose to believe that virginity is a girl's sacred duty, but I don't recall Christ saying anything on the subject. You can certainly quote later Gospels or the Old Testament, but that makes it your choice, not the Word of God,” I finished up. Another long pause followed.“I keep my stress in the top of my shoulders,” she suddenly said. I stood up and moved behind her, deciding to not question her changing opinion of me.“It helps if you take off your jacket,” I suggested, then helped her shimmy out of it. She tensed up as my hands weighed down lightly on her shoulders so I kept my touch gentle.Two minutes into the massage, I began squeezing harder and harder, moving my palms back and forth over her bra straps from upper arm to neck.“Rochelle,” I whispered into her ear, “I am going to rotate your shoulders.” I rolled over each shoulder one at a time but when I finished, I pushed her slowly forward until she was resting her elbows on the table and held her head on her upturned hands.When I went back to the massage, I worked her over harder and extended my reach from her mid-back to neck. This was clearly a case of begging forgiveness instead of asking permission. I took my time, relaxing her to a completely detached state. When I brought her back to reality, I was kneeling beside her and tapping her on the arm.“Rochelle? Are you okay,” I asked in a gentle, caring voice. Dreamily, she turned her head from its resting place on her arms to look at my eyes straight-on and mere inches away.“What, huh?” she muttered.“How do the shoulders feel? Has your stress gone away?” I inquired.“Yes, yes,” she popped up, alert once more. “It feels really good, in fact. I haven't felt this way in years,” she added with a smile.“I think it is time for us to go,” I suggested. “Can I help you with your jacket?”“Of course,” she nodded. “Thank you for helping an old lady out.” I held it while she put in one arm after the other but when I settled it on her shoulders, I stepped in and held her there for a moment while I pressed myself against her so she could feel how I felt about 'old ladies'.Rochelle froze when she felt my cock, rigid in my slacks, pressed against her ass. I was unsure if I'd gone too far when she pushed ever so slightly against me.“I've got to be going. I will see you on Sunday but I'm home all weekend with one of my girlfriends in case you need me,” I informed her.I slipped out before she could respond because not only did I have a Sorority function to attend, I also needed to figure out where I could score some Viagra because I clearly had no common sense where sex was concerned. Besides, Sahara was obviously in need of attention because Pastor Bill wasn't giving it to her, and Bainbridge was lashing out due to years of sexual frustration, I repeat: I have no common sense.Every One Like a Fingerprint to MeWhen I was racing to get to the Kappa Sigma House, I hardly expected to be met by one of their pledges and absolutely no one else. After I sat down in the den and the pledge, Tina, got me a soda from the kitchen, we found ourselves staring at one another.“So, I'm here on the correct night; right?” I asked.“Yes, you are, Zane,” she bubbled with anticipation.“Where is everybody?” I prodded her.“They are taking care of Sorority business but they will come get us when they are ready,” she grinned. I knew I was missing something but I didn't know what it was.“Is it hot in here?” I wondered.“Yes,” Tina said after a bit of concentration.“Tina, can I have some Advil? I'm getting a headache,” I yawned.“Okay,” Tina responded, still happy, and still sitting down.“Ah, fuck, you drugged me, didn't you?” I groaned. I doubted I could still stand and then proved my doubts as I slid off the chair. “Damn,” I slurred. Tina walked over to me, took my drink away, and gently maneuvered my body to the floor.“If it is any consolation, I was selected as the pledge most likely to seduce you,” she stated with real sympathy. I might have smiled at her, I wasn't sure, but I definitely passed out.Cough! Someone plunged cleaning detergent underneath my nose and fired me back to consciousness. Holy Mother of God, I'm cold, my wrists and ankles hurt, I'm outdoors in the woods illuminated by torches and surrounded in a semi-circle of bare-footed figures in ankle long brown robes and black hoods.I was cold because I was naked and my limbs hurt because I was suspended on a cross, not a 'T' cross but an 'X' cross. I certainly know some kinky, fucked-up people.“Zane,” a modulated voice addressed me, “you are on trial before Kappa Sigma for your treatment of one of our sisters. You have abused the trust of one sister by seeking romantic relations with another. What do you have to say for yourself?”“If the question is that I had relations with Leigh, then had a similar encounter with Paris, then I confess. In my defense, I never sought to deceive either one and will make amends if permitted,” I promised.“Sisters, we have heard his defense. Will any of you vote in his behalf?” she intoned. No one stepped forward.“Zane, we will give you one chance to save yourself. If you fail, you will be shaved bald and painted in a permanent purple dye.” I assume that means seven days on Human skin. “If you can pick out the woman you have wronged, beg her forgiveness, and are forgiven, you will go free.” I was getting pretty nervous since they were all totally covered except for their toes when the 'leader' nodded and the girls all opened their robes to reveal string bikinis in a variety of colors.Their faces were still covered, though that wasn't really a problem for me anymore.“Choose Leigh and Paris, beg their forgiveness, and you may be pardoned,” the 'leader' commanded.“That's not fair,” I answered right back, “because they are not before me now.”“Think carefully,” the girl with the modulated voice cautioned me.“No, seriously; I'm looking at Josephine, Maria, Cynthia, Sarah, Ferrara, Petra, Yvette, Tawny, Jersey, and Monique,” I named them left to right.“What?” Sarah gasped to her assembled sisters. “Do we have name tags on?”Behind me, I heard snickers turn into giggles, Leigh and Paris. Tawny stepped forward.“How did you know?” she inquired, clearly not the girl with the modulated voice.“Ah, Josephine has a birthmark on her ankle, Maria has the darkest skin tone, and Cynthia's breasts don't angle down the middle or to the side but somewhere in the middle.”“Sarah has slender thighs and her calves curve just so below the knee; Ferrara always paints her nails in these crazy patterns; Petra scrapped her knee backpacking two weekends ago; Yvette, has that tattoo over her right nipple; Tawny, you have a slender neck, a, 38C chest, and a strong swell from your waist to your hips; Jersey is the tallest and has that scar she got in a boating accident in high school; and finally, Monique has the perkiest nipples and the most slender calves,” I recited.Man, even the crickets went quiet after that.“Zane, did anyone help you with this test?” Tawny finally asked.“Nope.”“How could they?” Leigh came to my defense. “You didn't make the line-up until thirty minutes ago.”“Jersey, go check his phone log,” Tawny directed her sister.“I'm getting really cold,” I whispered to Leigh. She looked from my eyes to my waist with sympathy. Jersey walked out of the light but quickly returned with my phone.“His last call was at 2:10 p.m. but he did have a data download at 6:45, it seems to be a bunch of women's names and phone numbers,” Jersey relayed the information to them.“It is my church group, I swear. Honestly, they are all married women in the Festivities Committee that bastard of a pastor assigned me to,” I pleaded.“No phone calls?” Tawny persisted.“No phone calls,” Jersey confirmed.“Okay, Zane, how did you know who we were with our faces concealed?” Tawny wondered.“Is that a serious question?” The deafening pause was its own answer. “You are women; I pay attention to women and to me, each female form is as exacting as a fingerprint. Until now I thought all of this was a joke,” I related. “I mean, if you wanted to scare me, you would have given me something difficult to figure out.”“And you picked all this up at one party?” Tawny sounded bewildered.“Have I mentioned how much I like women?” I reminded her.“But you brought twenty women with you; you always had a woman by your side. How?” Tawny still struggled to understand.“I repeat: have I mentioned how much I like women? I see nothing wrong with being with one woman and looking at others, but I believe it is wrong to be with one woman and thinking about someone else,” I explained. “You should always appreciate the one you are with.”“Um, does any sister believe Zane has earned a reprieve?”For two seconds no one reacted, then Jersey stepped forward.“He knew about my scar,” was her excuse. Five more stepped forward right after that and all had done so by the tenth second.“Very well Zane, you are forgiven,” Tawny announced. Yay, me! “But I have one other issue to address. Zane, I can't have you cutting a swath through my girls so I'm going to demand that you stick to one and only one Kappa Sigma per semester.” I stared at her until she finally had to question me. “What?”“I wish you would stop treating me like a child,” I chuckled.“What makes you think I'm not being serious?” Tawny growled.“We've kissed. You can tell a lot about a person in the way they kiss, and you are very caring and thoughtful,” I told her. “Why would I be out here in the woods naked if I didn't trust you?”“You kissed him!” yelped Leigh. Tawny smirked as she looked at her.“You left me alone with a naked Zane in your room; he looked cold and lonely,” she told Leigh. I was cold and lonely because Tawny tossed Leigh out of her own room and then wouldn't let me get dressed, but only Tawny, Christina, and I knew that.“Besides, Zane, you are naked in these woods because we tricked you into our house and spiked your drink,” Tawny pointed out.“Ah, but would I have been dumb enough to take that drink if I hadn't first trusted you enough to show up, wait, that didn't come out right,” I mumbled.“Are you agreeing to my terms?” Tawny teased.“Nope. I prefer to hold to the illusion I'm living in the Free World,” I declared. “You can certainly tell your sisters what to do because they volunteered for this but I only hang out here because all of you have been so nice to me. If I've been a poor guest, I'll just leave, because I'm not going to pretend I like one sister less than another.”“Zane, you are deep in the woods, tied to a cross, and the only people who know you are here are all bound by Sacred Oaths of Sisterhood, Blood, and Secrecy,” Tawny stated sweetly, as she came up and stroked my cheek. “You aren't in the best place to be dumping us.”“Good point,” I agreed defiantly. “Maybe I should wait to get on my high horse when I can actually get on a high horse, but I'm still not going to take it back.”“We could always keep him in our secret basement,” Monique suggested. When everyone looked at her she added, “Hey, he liked my nipples. Finding a guy who is good with nipples isn't as easy as you would think.” Huh, what? I had a definite feeling I was losing control of events.“You have a secret basement?” I gulped. “I didn't know you had a secret basement.”“Well, duh,” Paris snickered. “It wouldn't be much of a secret if you knew about it.”“We are not keeping Zane chained up for our amusement,” Tawny warned the girls. “We specifically changed the Charter back in '02 so that we can no longer keep men on the premises for more than forty-eight hours.” Yay?“We also can't leave him here,” Tawny continued. “I'm sure Christina will have search parties out looking for you before sunrise.”“I'll stay out here and stand guard over him,” Leigh volunteered.“No,” Tawny scolded Leigh. “We can't let him get fucked to death either.” Leigh looked truly heartbroken.“I think we have to let Zane get off this time,” Tawny sighed.“I was trying to get him off,” Leigh grumbled.“Give it a rest, Leigh,” Tawny demanded. “Paris, give our guest something to drink so we can wrap this up.” Paris disappeared behind me, then reappeared with a glass of water.“Drink up,” she smiled beatifically.“Just promise me I'm not going to wake up in some landfill or tied to a lamppost somewhere public,” I groaned.“Drink it down right now and you might wake up next to me,” Tawny challenged. Needless to say, I drank and quickly, because I'm an idiot who keeps too much blood in the wrong head.When I woke up, I was back in the Sorority house with a different sweet pledge smiling at me and that smell of ammonia in my nostrils. She handed me a folded piece of paper.I said 'you MIGHT wake up next to me' the paper read. 'P.S. See you and the Ladies at our Halloween Bash.'“What's your name?” I asked the pledge. This time the home was filled with the noises of occupancy.“Larissa,” she giggled. “So, are you Leigh's boyfriend?”“Ah, no; I'm community property; the other sisters hand me around like a box of chocolates,” I joked.“Really! That is so great,” she bubbled with excitement. “I can't wait until I get initiated. I want you to make me scream the way you had Leigh singing.” Does no one get my jokes?“Larissa, I am sure you will pass your initiation, no sweat,” I told her as I stood up, feeling a bit drunk. Larissa walked with me to the door and gave me a quick peck on the cheek as I turned to head for my car. I made it to campus with seconds to spare. The crawl up to the Solarium was done in relative quiet, though Barbie Lynn decided to sample my tonsils before letting me up.Not two steps inside the door my phone rang.“Hello, is this Zane Braxton?” this familiar voice greeted me.“That would be me. What can I do for you this night?” I responded.“This is Felicity Tolliver. I wanted you to know that I had dinner with Rochelle Wellington tonight and I think having you on her committee has really improved her mood,” she informed me.I reached the top of the landing and nearly dropped the phone. Iona sat nervously on my bed, which she had made up because I never do it that well. She was wearing lingerie that definitely made her whole form much more feminine.“Felicity, Rochelle and I talked mostly, plus I showed her some techniques to help alleviate stress,” I related, “but you can tell her it was a pleasure to work with such a vibrant and beautiful woman. You two are a lot alike.”There was a pause, then,“I'll tell her that,” Felicity said.“I will be at my home in case she needs something this weekend. I would like to see both of you, as would my Aunt,” I offered.“That would be nice,” she sounded upbeat.“We could also discuss getting some FFU girls coming over to your place and the workshops you could teach on campus in October and November,” I suggested.“That sounds great too,” Felicity agreed. “I would like to spend some time at FFU and having some girls know where Lance's house is would be nice. When do you want to meet?”“How about after dinner, say 8 o'clock?” I suggested. “You can bring Lance.”“After dinner is fine but Lance has a church workshop on Saturday nights,” Felicity sighed. Oh hell, does this woman even get taken to first base? “He's always so busy with his fraternity at school, the Young Christian Men's Republican caucus, and the Christian Men's League at church.” Does this guy spend any time with women at all?“Consider it a date,” I replied. “Now I have a very good reason to go to bed, so good night.”“Good night,” she parted in a friendly manner, which allowed me to hang up and start undressing as I approached the bed. I looked down at my bed buddy once I'd stripped down to nothing.“You look lovely, Iona,” I greeted her. “What do you want to do?”“I'll do whatever you want,” Iona said with a tremor in her voice, looking down at her lap. She looked stunning in her burgundy bra and panties, which were far more lace than substance. I felt the hand of, Christina (?) in all this.“Thank you, Iona. What I really want is to lie down, you beside me so that I can look into your eyes and gently trace lines along your body, and then I want to go to sleep with you in my arms. That's what I really want.”“Really?” she perked up in surprise and relief. I crawled under the covers, holding them open so she could join me.“I like this a lot,” she murmured, as she settled in at my side, snug in the covers. I shifted to my side and cupped her chin before exchanging several soft kisses with her. Afterwards, I did as I told her I would; my hand caressed her body, avoiding nipples and pussy but doing my best to get everywhere else. I elicited sensual moans and ticklish giggles.When I had forced her to push me off so she could catch her breath, I felt I had given Iona what she wanted, and more importantly, what she could live with. I sat back and stared at the Moon through my glass roof. Iona's smiling face slowly invaded my view.“I give up, Iona,” I pleaded. “Right now I want some sleep.”“That's okay. I will sit here and watch over you,” she sighed.“That's, that's a little creepy, actually,” I confessed.“I've watched all of the Twilight movies so I know what secretive romances are all about,” Iona explained.Unfortunately, I knew little of the Twilight series of movies. I knew it involved vampires and werewolves and some chick named Bella but I'd never actually seen any of that. Had I known it involved a 100-year-old vampire breaking into some teenager's room and staring down at her while she slept, I would have been much more concerned, but for now I went to sleep.A lesson in wh

Arm and Qualcomm warn about exploited GPU drivers EU Parliament strengthens spyware protections for journalists NSA creates AI Security Center Thanks to our episode sponsor, Conveyor Does the mountain of security questionnaires in your inbox make you feel like a 2 dollar umbrella in a hurricane? Then you might want to check out Conveyor: the AI security review platform helping infosec teams attack security questionnaires from all angles. Reduce incoming questionnaires by sharing a trust portal with customers and for those questionnaires you do get, use our AI questionnaire completion tool to auto-generate precise answers to entire questionnaires in seconds. Lucid tried a free one week proof of concept and reduced time spent on questionnaires by 91%. Learn more at www.conveyor.com.

The National Security Agency is establishing a new “Artificial Intelligence Security Center” to help spur on the secure development and adoption of AI capabilities, and defend AI advancements from foreign adversaries.NSA Director and Cyber Command chief Gen. Paul Nakasone broke the news during an event at the National Press Club on Thursday.“The AI Security Center will become NSA's focal point for leveraging foreign intelligence insights, contributing to the development of best practices guidelines, principles, evaluation methodology, and risk frameworks for AI security, with an end goal of promoting the secure development, integration, and adoption of AI capabilities within our national security systems and our defense industrial base,” Nakasone said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The National Security Agency is establishing a new “Artificial Intelligence Security Center” to help spur on the secure development and adoption of AI capabilities, and defend AI advancements from foreign adversaries. NSA Director and Cyber Command chief Gen. Paul Nakasone broke the news during an event at the National Press Club on Thursday. “The AI Security Center will become NSA's focal point for leveraging foreign intelligence insights, contributing to the development of best practices guidelines, principles, evaluation methodology, and risk frameworks for AI security, with an end goal of promoting the secure development, integration, and adoption of AI capabilities within our national security systems and our defense industrial base,” Nakasone said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Arecibo Observatory's next phase as a STEM education center starts in 2024 and the NSA has a new security center specifically for guarding against AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Malicious ads in a chatbot. Google provides clarification on a recent vulnerability. Cl0p switches from Tor to torrents. Influence operations as an adjunct to weapons of mass destruction. Our guest Jeffrey Wells, former Maryland cyber czar and partner at Sigma7 shares his thoughts on what the looming US government shutdown will mean for the nation's cybersecurity. Tim Eades from Cyber Mentor Fund discussing the 3 who's a cybersecurity entrepreneur needs to consider. And NSA has a new AI Security Center. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/12/187 Selected reading. Malicious ad served inside Bing's AI chatbot (Malwarebytes) Critical Vulnerability: WebP Heap Buffer Overflow (CVE-2023-4863) (Huntress)  Google gives WebP library heap buffer overflow a critical score, but NIST rates it as high-severity (SC Media)  A new Chrome 0-day is sending the Internet into a new chapter of Groundhog Day (Ars Technica)  Google "confirms" that exploited Chrome zero-day is actually in libwebp (CVE-2023-5129) (Help Net Security)  Google quietly corrects previously submitted disclosure for critical webp 0-day (Ars Technica) CL0P Seeds ^_- Gotta Catch Em All! (Unit 42)  A ransomware gang innovates, putting pressure on victims but also exposing itself (Washington Post)  2023 Department of Defense Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (US Department of Defense) NSA chief announces new AI Security Center, 'focal point' for AI use by government, defense industry (Breaking Defense) NSA starts AI security center with eye on China and Russia (Fortune)  NSA is creating a hub for AI security, Nakasone says (Record) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Referências do Episódio] - TEMPEST TALKS 2023 - https://www.tempest.com.br/tempest_talk/tempest-talks-2023/ - Atualizações de segurança de setembro de 2023 - https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2023-Sep - Security update available for Adobe Acrobat and Reader  | APSB23-34 - https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb23-34.html - Persistent Threat: New Exploit Puts Thousands of GitHub Repositories and Millions of Users at Risk - https://checkmarx.com/blog/persistent-threat-new-exploit-puts-thousands-of-github-repositories-and-millions-of-users-at-risk/  - Atualizações da F5 - https://my.f5.com/manage/s/new-updated-articles#sort=%40f5_updated_published_date%20descending&f:@f5_document_type=[Security%20Advisory]&periodFilter=0&dateField=1 - Atualizações da Dell - https://www.dell.com/support/security/pt-br/ - Atualizações da Asus - https://www.asus.com/content/asus-product-security-advisory/ - Atualizações da IBM - https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/bulletin/  - Atualizações da Suse - https://www.suse.com/support/update/ - Atualizações do Ubuntu - https://ubuntu.com/security/notices - Atualizações da Lenovo - https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/ps500001-lenovo-product-security-advisories - SAP Security Patch Day –September 2023 - https://dam.sap.com/mac/app/e/pdf/preview/embed/ucQrx6G?ltr=a&rc=10 - Atualizações da Mitsubishi Eletric - https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/en/psirt/vulnerability/index.html - Atualizações da Zoom - https://explore.zoom.us/en/trust/security/security-bulletin/ - Atualizações da Zimbra - https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/Security_Center  - Atualizações da Schneider Eletric - https://www.se.com/ww/en/work/support/cybersecurity/security-notifications.jsp  - Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory 2023-40 - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2023-40/  - macOS MetaStealer | New Family of Obfuscated Go Infostealers Spread in Targeted Attacks - https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/macos-metastealer-new-family-of-obfuscated-go-infostealers-spread-in-targeted-attacks/ - OpenSSL 1.1.1 End of Life - https://www.openssl.org/blog/blog/2023/09/11/eol-111/  Roteiro e apresentação: Carlos Cabral  Edição de áudio: Paulo Arruzzo Narração de encerramento: Bianca Garcia

In this episode, Minatee speaks about how she was introduced to infosec, her experience of being in a leadership role and advice for folks interested in moving to leadership role. She has a beautiful insight on how she deals with failures and criticism and also talks about the latest trends in infosec. Tune in to listen to her journey! Speaker Intro Minatee Mishra, who is the Director of Product Security at Philips HealthTech, Bangalore. In her career of 25 years, she has rich experience in architecture, design, development, and is now responsible for securing systems. She has been instrumental in setting up the Security Center of Excellence (SCoE) in Philips. Under her leadership, SCoE got the medical industry first UL firm registration. She is also leading the Philips cross functional team for harmonizing the SBOM generation, Securing Cloud applications, DevSecOps and initiatives around secure development lifecycle. She has a Masters in electrical engineering from IIT Kharagpur, and bachelor's in engineering from NIT Rourkela. She holds CISSP, GCIH, CEH, CCSK certifications. She has been an advocate of product security at various national and international forums like HIMSS, RSA, DSCI, Nullcon etc. She teaches underprivileged children, and likes spending time with family, doing yoga, reading and travelling. You can reach out to her on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/minatee-mishra/ Follow "Stories of Infosec Journeys" podcast on LinkedIn - Stories of Infosec Journeys Twitter - @InfosecJourneys Instagram & Facebook - @storiesofinfosecjourneys Kindly rate the podcast on Spotify and leave a review on Apple podcast.

Dr. Kate Brauman is the associate director for communications and analysis for The University of Alabama's Global Water Security Center. Brauman is a globally recognized thought leader in water resources and ecosystem services. Her research quantifies how changes in nature affect human wellbeing, with a particular focus on water resources. In addition to research, Brauman is committed to and skilled at science communication. In this interview, we'll get to know a little bit more about Kate, her research, and why the GWSC is such an important resource in the world of water. Join the conversation on AWI's social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamawater Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlabamaWaterInstitute  Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Jeff Rothblum is a senior professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee and Cara Mumford is the Majority Subcommittee Director for the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee on the House Homeland Security Committee. In a highlight from the CrowdStrike Government Summit, Mumford and Rothblum explain how their organizations are monitoring national cybersecurity defense. As you've heard on The Daily Scoop Podcast, April is National Supply Chain Integrity Month. It's a partnership between the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and partners across government and industry to raise awareness on the issue. At the CrowdStrike Government Summit, Camille Stewart Gloster, deputy national cyber director for technology and ecosystem security at the White House, tells CrowdStrike's Drew Bagley her organization's mission. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. And if you like what you hear, please let us know in the comments.

April is the sixth annual National Supply Chain Integrity Month, featuring a partnership between the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and partners across government and industry. Director of Supply Chain and Technology Security in the Office of the National Cyber Director Devin Lynch discusses why those types of partnerships are important and where else his office is assisting with the Biden Administration's National Cybersecurity Strategy. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. And if you like what you hear, please let us know in the comments.

Agencies across government face new requirements to develop “operations security” programs to help reduce the risk of employees inadvertently exposing sensitive but unclassified information. “OPSEC” activities have traditionally been linked with military and intelligence agencies. But in a national security presidential memorandum signed in January 2021, President Joe Biden directed all executive branch departments and agencies to implement OPSEC programs, according to Rebecca Morgan, deputy assistant director for insider threat the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies across government face new requirements to develop “operations security” programs to help reduce the risk of employees inadvertently exposing sensitive but unclassified information. “OPSEC” activities have traditionally been linked with military and intelligence agencies. But in a national security presidential memorandum signed in January 2021, President Joe Biden directed all executive branch departments and agencies to implement OPSEC programs, according to Rebecca Morgan, deputy assistant director for insider threat the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a detailed report in September 2022 on the state of the U.S. Counterintelligence (CI) mission. Among other things, the report noted that the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), the nation’s head agency for CI, does not have a clear mission and is limited in its authorities. The […]

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a detailed report in September 2022 on the state of the U.S. Counterintelligence (CI) mission. Among other things, the report noted that the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), the nation's head agency for CI, does not have a clear mission and is limited in its authorities. The Committee further warned that NCSC's work is being hampered by bureaucracy and funding issues. The report also noted that foreign intelligence entities pose a more harmful threat to U.S. interests now than they have at any point in the past. We will discuss the report, its fallout, and the potential solutions to the problem with the former Director of NCSC, The Honorable William Evanina. Featuring: Jamil Jaffer, Adjunct Professor, NSI Founder, and Director, National Security Law & Policy Program, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason UniversityWilliam Evanina, CEO, The Evanina Group; Former Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center is among the many federal offices looking to shore up the security of U.S. supply chains. Jeanette McMillian is the NSCS's assistant director of supply chain and cyber. "Everything from software to semiconductors, pipelines to peanut butter, malware to meat packing, we have seen it all with regards to how global supply chains have impacted our lives," McMillian told me in today's show.

Preacher William, Valerie, & the seeds of discord. (Part 11)- A Spring Break 13-part Novel.Christina's late night visit.By FinalStand. The player above contains the intro section. Listen to the complete episode by clicking here, at Steamy Stories. Anyway, we were uncoiling from the sofa and Rio was giving me this mysterious look when there was a knock at the door.“Dude, it is 11 o'clock,” Rio muttered. “Only bad news arrives this late.”“I'll go check it out,” I shrugged. There wasn't much else I could do. I opened the door and there stood Christina, looking pretty depressed.“Do you want to come in?” I asked.“I know you have company,” she replied. “Can we talk outside?” It wasn't too chilly but I wasn't wearing too much either.“Of course,” I walked onto the porch, leaving the door mostly closed behind me. “What's wrong?”“I've worked things out with Faith and the other girls,” Christina paced nervously. “We are all going to keep quiet about what you learned and see how we can turn this to our advantage.” I didn't say anything because she hadn't come to tell me the news of what had been the obvious move on her part so I was left wondering what was going on, then I saw it.I opened my arms to the side, palms forward, and waited. She saw the move and looked me over with obvious reluctance for what would come next. Finally, she stepped up to me and rested her forehead on my shoulder and let me encase her in my arms. It sucks to be alone, but it truly sucks being alone and being the one in charge even more.“God, Zane, I fucked up. I could have ruined Heaven's life,” she sighed. “The others trusted me and I let them down.”“You are not doing Heaven any favors by being paralyzed with doubt,” I told her. “You had no idea who you were up against and even if you had, you would still have weighed what was best for Heaven against the risks and pretty much acted in the same manner.”“You don't understand Heaven,” Christina said. “You don't understand her home life.”“Her home life is not my concern, Christina,” I pointed out. “The Heaven here and now is my concern, though, and it is the concern of several more friends she's made since coming to this school, friends she wouldn't have if she stayed in a hole.”“What if I fuck up again?” she worried. “So many girls are depending on me to keep the Chancellor at bay.”“I fuck up all the time and I'm still here,” I countered. “I know what you mean, though. Sometimes when these girls look at me like they expect me to have all the answers and I've got nothing, I want to run and hide.”“We don't have that luxury. We chose to stand up and now we must carry on in our struggle. I don't know about you, but I wasn't raised to quit,” I related to her.“I made a mistake, Zane. I don't make mistakes,” she declared.“I'm confused; have we lost?” I questioned her.“No,” she grumbled, “and that is not what I meant. I brought Faith in, I misread her, and we all suffered because of it. I was deceived.”“Well, someone should remind Christina Buchanan from time to time that she's human, and a pretty smart woman at that,” I replied. “You don't have to win every battle, only the last one.”“That is what my grandfather said,” she mumbled into my shoulder.“He sounds like a clever guy,” I said softly. “He should go far someday.” Since he was one of the richest men in America, I was probably right.“You can be a real jerk at times,” she muttered, but I noted she wasn't moving.“I have to agree with you,” I said, as I got up on my tiptoes and kissed her on the top of the head. I leaned back and tilted her head to me with a finger under her chin. “Christina Buchanan, would you marry me?” No one said anything for a minute.“Can I think about it?” she finally whispered.“Of course,” I assured her. “How could I be in love with you if I couldn't wait for you?”“How can you love me when you don't even know me?” she asked.“That's why it is love and not like,” I answered. “There are times you really piss me off but there is never a moment I don't want to be with you.”“You don't like me?” Christina studied me.“Right now I like you just fine, but you can be a real pain at times. See, I know what's right and you refuse to know your place,” I responded.“And what place is that?” she smiled.“Above me, smiling down,” I leaned in for a kiss.“No,” she shook her head.“No?” I pleaded.“We have a long way to go before I let you treat me like another one of your girls,” Christina informed me.“Okay,” I agreed.“No hard sell in my emotionally vulnerable state?” she mused.“You are safe with me, Christina,” I assured her.“That's good to know, Zane. Now go inside before Rio blows a gasket,” she smiled, slipped out of my arms, and walked toward her car. I still soaked up the marvel of her receding silhouette.Rio was leaning against the wall just inside the hallway when I got back in.“I don't get the two of you,” she grinned.“I love her,” was my only response.“That's good, because she's fucking nuts about you,” Rio laughed. I couldn't decide whether she was kidding or not.Later, we lay together in bed, Rio partially over me where she alternated between listening to my heartbeat and kissing my shoulder. She also had a hand between her legs and was doing some serious vaginal stimulation.“Zane.”“Yes?” I replied.“I had an abortion,” she confided in me.“Oh, okay,” was all I could manage to come back with.“‘Oh.' Is that it?” she sounded a bit hurt.“I figure there is more to the story than you had an abortion. So are you going to tell me what it is?” I inquired. She mulled that over for a few seconds.“I did some really stupid shit, like getting shit-faced drunk at some parties with people I barely knew, and pretty much got used like a whore. I didn't really care, and eventually I got knocked up,” she told me.“My parents, the big Pro-Lifers that they were, smuggled me out of state to a private clinic and aborted the kid. They never asked my opinion on the matter but I imagine that having a pregnant daughter who couldn't even name the father wasn't on their agenda,” she recited bitterly. I wrapped an arm around her, rolled over on her, and kissed her gently on the lips.“I don't know what to say,” I began. “I can't imagine what it was like to go through that.”“Huh,” Rio snorted. “My parents slapped me with anti-depressants and an implant, my ‘friends' told me it was for the best, not being teen Mom material and all, and I treated myself like a whore.”“Hell, I sucked and fucked the entire lawn crew once; I fucked my little brother's friends; and I became known as the girl who would ride bareback at my school. It is a miracle I didn't contract herpes or AIDS,” she recited sadly. “I think I hated just about everybody.”“You know that none of that matters to me; right?” I asked. “You are still that woman I woke up next to on day one.”“To the bitter end,” she recited.“To the bitter end,” I affirmed, my promise to stand by her no matter what.“Why couldn't you be in love with me?” she sighed.“You are asking an eighteen-year-old how this love thing works?” I teased her. “I've been lucky enough to meet five women in the past two weeks I'd like to spend forever with, and I love the one I'm least likely to end up with. I'm clueless.”“Me, Iona, Barbie Lynn, Christina and Heaven?” Rio guessed. I nodded, which made her snicker. “You really want to spend forever with Heaven? You are a glutton for punishment.”“Heaven can be really nice,” I defended my girlfriend.“She's got a permanent case of PMS. Hell knows what would happen if she actually had PMS,” Rio teased me back.“So you don't want to spend any more time with her?” I inquired.“Fuck that,” Rio giggled, “I like them brave, bold, and saucy in the saddle. I'd love breaking her down, or having her break me trying.”“Fine,” I announced after a moment's contemplation.“Fine?” she asked.“I'm not going to break my word to Jill but I can't wait to fuck you until we get back to campus, so how would you like to screw on Pastor Bill's desk before Sunday school?” I suggested.“I'd love to leave a little something extra on that gold-plated conman's desk,” Rio purred.“Now, Zane, do you think you could bend the rules ever so slightly and finger-fuck me? I'm ever so horny,” Rio pleaded. I figured it couldn't hurt too much; right? I rubbed and rubbed one hand down to her crotch where Rio had already pulled her soaked panties down to mid-thigh. With my other hand, I pushed up her top, exposing her ripe nipples, chain and all.I plucked a nipple into my mouth, letting my tongue play along the stud before sucking in more of the breast, increasing the pressure on the nipple itself. Rio was well worked up already and now began to writhe beneath me. My free hand passed below her carefully groomed chevron-shaped pubic mound and along her clit.Her folds welcomed me like molten gold, so hot yet silky smooth to the touch. As she started to moan, Rio stuck the meat of her palm into her mouth and bit down in order to keep quiet. I spent a minute playing with her two studs in her labia before working two fingers deep inside her, twisting them, and seeking out her G-spot.“Gak!” Rio convulsed as I stroked it. Oh, yeah, I thought, as I began to seriously work it over. Rio's fluids were sloshing around my fingers, her other hand began pressing my whole mouth over her breast, and she kept bucking up against me. I now began to alternate between rhythmically tapping her special place and brutally finger fucking her, driving two fingers in and slapping her clit with my palm.“Uh, uh, uh, ugh, ugh, um,” Rio began panting, then her body arched and she screamed into her clenched fist. “Oh, fuck, that's good,” she finally managed to get out. Before I could respond, she grabbed my head and drew me up for a fierce kiss. She tore at my lips and tried to steal my breath away.“Tell me you want me,” she pleaded with a desperate hunger tinged with fear.“I want you, Rio, always,” I responded with my own heat and need. Slowly the passion ebbed from Rio's eyes and a playful demeanor replaced it.“You are such a dumb blonde, Glenda,” she sighed happily. Glenda had been the name that had allowed me admission to school in the first place, Glenn Zane Braxton, Glenda.I answered by pulling my fingers out of her cunt, taking a lick, then pushing them through her lips. Rio daintily sucked on them, pulling them in and cleaning them off before biting down like the little bitch she is and making tears come to my eyes.“What the fuck!” I hissed.“That's for not giving me your dick, Asshole,” she snickered. When I looked ready to explode, she pouted her lips, rolled onto her stomach and stuck her bare ass up in the air for a spanking. I grunted and rolled over onto my side, away from her.“Good night, you witch,” I sulked.There was some rustling behind me a minute later, then Rio snaked an arm around me and pressed her body to my back.“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I act crazy at times.” I rolled over to face her.“I know what I'm getting into, Rio,” I comforted her. “That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt at times.” I displayed my wounded fingers. She kissed my fingers, I kissed her lips, and we both finally went to sleep.Preacher William, Valerie, and the seeds of discord.*You can live without freedom the same way you can live without light, happiness, or music*Jill didn't know what to make of our prompt appearance Sunday morning for breakfast already dressed for church. I'd convinced Rio to not try a hard sell with my aunt, instead playing it calm, cool, and collected. The real reason we wanted to get to church early was because I'd come up with the idea of screwing Rio on Pastor Bill's massive mahogany desk before class and she'd become infatuated with the scheme.GAINING DEFINITIONWe had to remember our Bibles before eagerly heading out the door. Mine went back to my missionary days while Rio's was brand new, a gift from Jill. She'd lost her old one on the trip from Arizona to Virginia, or so she'd told Jill. In reality, she had torn hers apart page by page and stuffed it down the airplane toilet during the flight, her way of spreading the gospel.Once at the church, we split up, Rio and I getting together a few minutes later. I was unsure about the security cameras in the hallway but Rio shrugged it off. She followed the wires to the closet the system was kept in, picked the lock, and deleted the last two hours of footage before deactivating the whole system.I was clever enough to wipe off all our fingerprints before we made for the pastor's office. This time, Rio's improvised, lock picks weren't necessary as the secretary kept the door unlocked. We slipped past her station to the larger office beyond and I chased Rio around to the 'big chair'.“So, Bad Boy, are you going to make me a Bad Girl?” Rio taunted me.I stepped up between her thighs and got ready to feast on her succulent cunt lips when she held me up.“I don't think we have time for that,” Rio grinned. She slipped out of her panties, which I quickly pocketed (having learned from the first Barbie Lynn incident), and hopped up on the desk facing me.I unbuckled my belt, fixed the button, and unzipped my pants. My penis came smoothly out of my boxers and I lined up with Rio's slit. Her juices were already flowing by the time my cockhead graced her full lips.“Oh, that's what I've been looking for,” Rio moaned, as I pushed forward inch after glorious inch inside her.She wrapped her arms around my neck and came close to doing the same with her legs around my waist by the time I was fully into her. I got a few half-thrusts into Rio, our faces only inches apart, when I began to push her back down on the desk.“No, I want to look into your eyes,” she told me. I nodded and started driving my cock in a strong steady rhythm.“Rio,” I said softly.“Yes,” she breathed heavily.“I like saying your name,” I explained. “I like the sound of it and the way it makes me feel.”“I, ” I was sure she was fighting for a snarky reply but then she smiled and said, “Okay.”“Oh. God, Oh, Fuck,” Rio gasped, as we began, getting her close to climax. I stopped when I first heard the voices. “What?” Rio panted. I pulled her off the desk and looked for a place to hide. There were three other doors out of the room. I took the closest, yanked up my pants, and dragged Rio to it.It turned out to be a large closet with vestments, coats, and a few changes of clothing inside. Before I could finish shutting the door, Rio put her hand in the way. Before I could inquire why, the main office door opened and in came Pastor Bill and Lance Wellington. They were yammering on about something or other; I really wasn't paying attention.All that changed after Pastor Bill took his seat behind the desk and swiveled it to the side. Lance came around the desk and knelt before our spiritual leader. His body blocked my visual but I heard a zipper being undone and some clothes being pushed aside. What Lance proceeded to do was clear enough, though.Rio was between me and the door; she looked over her shoulder and grinned evilly. Before long, she had my cock in her hand and was maneuvering it back to her pussy from behind. I moved my hips down, she arched up, and I slipped back into the hole I'd been in not a minute before. I stayed still while Rio began to ride my cock up and down.There we were, two very different couples separated by less than a dozen feet, both fucking in different ways. Lance was giving Pastor Bill oral attention in a manner that dictated long familiarity to not only cock-sucking, but blowing Pastor Bill in particular. Rio had one hand placed against the door sill in order to stop us from spilling out of the closet while the other was tucked against her stomach.The four of us were pushing toward climax but Pastor Bill was the first one to the trigger. I was still feeling the oily smoothness of my cock inside Rio's vagina while rubbing both breasts through her shirt and bra when Lance began chocking and sputtering. The bastard hadn't even warned Lance that he was cumming.Good ole Pastor Bill reached across the desk to grab two Kleenex. As he did so, his other hand came down to rest on a slick spot Rio and I had left on his desk. He looked at his hand with disgust and wiped it off his hand before handing a tissue to Lance.“Get going to class,” Pastor Bill told his cock-sucking companion.“Of course, Pastor William,” Lance responded as he cleaned his face. As he headed to the door, he turned to the preacher.“Do I have to do another marriage counseling session with Felicity? She is so damn annoying,” he whined.“Lance, you are going to have to keep up appearances and that means spending the occasional night with her,” Pastor Bill lectured him. “As distasteful as she is, she is the socially acceptable choice for your spouse if you plan to have a political career.”“I wish this whole marriage thing was over with already,” Lance sighed. “Then I could stick her in the house and get her out of my life.”“Remember, a woman is a duty, but you know how to get your pleasure. Take your pill when you have to lay with her, and if nothing else, use her back door,” he chuckled.“I suppose so,” Lance conceded, “but I'll have to shut her up. She blathers on and on incessantly and her voice is so grating.”“Well,” Pastor Bill laughed, “you can always use her mouth too.” Lance snorted and left the room; Bill followed a minute later.For our part, the whole exchange between Pastor Bill and Lance got Rio hotter and hotter. She was rocketing back against me until I was afraid the slapping of our flesh would alert our host to our presence.Once he was gone, Rio went off.“Fuck me, damn it,” Rio exulted. “I'm going to rape their asses.” I wasn't sure how that would work. It wasn't like Rio's or my word would go all that far. I decided to spin her back around and kick her leg up over my arm so I could fuck her while gazing into her eyes.The first thing I noticed was the sheer joy etched all over her face. The second thing I noted was her phone in hand, set on record. There was going to be some severe damage over this and I had to do damage control, but first I had to screw Rio to orgasm.“Ah, ah, ah,” Rio moaned. “You are churning me up inside, you fucking brute. This is so fucking good.”“And the video?” I inquired.“Fucking brilliant,” she panted, “My best idea yet.” I drilled Rio several more strong strokes and she gripped me tightly and sexually exploded on me. She kept squeezing my cock with her vaginal muscles as I came in her as she was still cresting her wave.“Oh, Zane,” she wept tears of joy on my shoulder, “You make all this other shit bearable.”“No problem, bro,” I sighed happily, “but we need to talk about the video.”“Yeah,” she snorted, “you have a plan. I'm going to bypass me having a temper-tantrum and get straight to you making me happy with how clever you are.”“We find more ways to bring Felicity over to our side, then hit her with this when she's wavering,” I detailed. “We still need credibility and that's going to take Barbie Lynn on our side. Once we get Felicity, we can get Mrs. Wellington too. That gives us access to everyone in the church.”I set Rio onto her feet and handed her panties too her. Rio shimmied into them and grinned.“Now I'm all sloshy inside. Is that thing a damn fire hydrant?”“You weren't complaining a minute ago,” I countered.“I'm not complaining, but all those bitches in class are going to know I've been fucked,” she snickered.“Who are you going to blame?” I wondered.“Pastor William, our glorious shepherd; I can describe just what his cock looks like now,” she grinned manically.“I think we are back to that whole 'credibility' issue,” I reminded her.“You aren't going to let me have any fun,” Rio pouted.“Well, work on this; I'm pretty sure Lance isn't the only guy here that the pastor is using. Lance was a tool, nothing more,” I told her. “It could be fun to find out who his other toys are.”“I hate you for having a better idea than me,” Rio giggled, “but I love your deviant mind more.”“I love you too, Baby,” I said as I brushed her cheek. “Let's get to class before they get to ridicule us for arriving late.” Rio grabbed my hand and sprinted with me out of the office. We were late to class but only just. This time I'd studied so Mr. Coleman wasn't able to humiliate me, though some wise-ass taunted me about being on a women's committee.“Yes, I do,” I confirmed, “and what committee are you on?”“Athletics committee,” he sneered. I gave him a shit-eating grin right back that gave him pause.“So I hang out with a bunch of MILF's, which is a pretty red-blooded American male thing to do, while you hang out with a bunch of guys, which is pretty homo-erotic,” I chuckled.There was a deafening silence in the room. We had broken up for church service and a few guys were almost out the door. The target of my aggression was first stunned, then angry.“Mr. Braxton, that is quite enough out of you,” Mr. Coleman snapped.“I'm sorry about that, Mr. Coleman. I thought he was ribbing me about my committee so I teased him back about his; I wasn't serious,” I lied.Andy, the guy who'd given me a hard time, elected that moment to get in my face.“That wasn't funny, Braxton,” he snapped. Mr. Coleman remained conspicuously silent.“Gosh, Andy,” I quipped, “I don't know where to begin. How about, we are in a House of God and shouldn't be raising a fist against one another.”“If that doesn't work, do understand that you get the first punch, then I break you like a twig,” I continued with eagerness written all over my face. “You are an elementary school teacher and I have years of martial arts experience.” Andy suddenly paled.“Mr. Braxton,” Coleman growled again. “How dare you threaten somebody?”“Um, Mr. Coleman, Andy got in my face, so what exactly are you getting on my case about? Wouldn't the situation be better served if you stopped him in the first place?” I said.“Andy should be able to take a joke better,” another guy in my class, Christopher Gilbert, joined in. “Besides, Zane's right; the wives on the committee are attractive and their husbands are lucky men.”That seemed to end the matter because Chris Gilbert was the son of somebody and carried weight in this crowd. We continued to depart but I felt obliged to stop Chris.“Thanks, but I'm not sure why you just backed me up there,” I questioned.“Maybe you're not such a bad guy,” he grinned.I had to think that over. I barely knew Christopher Gilbert. He was 23, son of a big real estate guy, he was a property manager, whatever that was.“I have to appreciate the timing of your epiphany,” I joked.“It came to me late Thursday night when I had a security issue at one of my properties,” he grinned. Oh, crap. His daddy must own the mall where I had that little altercation.“Sorry if I cost you a good night's sleep,” was all I could say.“Let me say that, 'damn, you're fast,' and it would have been mean of me to let Andy get his ass handed to him in front of all his friends,” Chris related. “He's really not a bad guy either.”“I'll keep that in mind,” I nodded.We were making our way to the church hall when Rio, Iona, and Barbie Lynn intercepted us.“Hey, Ms. Masters,” Chris said to Barbie Lynn. He looked at the other two girls.“Christopher Gilbert, this is Rio Talon and Iona Becket, two of my classmates and closest friends,” I introduced my buddies.“So, Chris, how do you know Barbie-licious?” Rio smirked.“Huh?” Chris said.“Rio has an intense sense of humor, Chris,” I intervened. “Pay her no mind.” Before Rio cold make things worse, I placed an arm behind her and pinched her butt. “Behave,” I warned her.“Okay, Zane,” Chris chuckled. “Good luck with that one. To answer your question: I know Ms. Masters from a few years back at a youth retreat. We were both counselors. Take care now.” He turned and walked off to his section of the tabernacle while the girls and I went off to ours.“So, Barbie, were you hot for Chris back at camp?” Rio persisted.“Chris? Nah, he had a girlfriend back then; they both went to the University of Virginia. I think they broke up right before they graduated but I'm not sure,” Barbie Lynn informed us. “Besides, I had a fiancé too.”“Had? Have you tossed him over for Zane?” Rio teased. I sighed and Barbie Lynn blushed.“Nah, Shugah, I tossed him over for you,” Barbie Lynn whispered into Rio's ear.“Just for that tantalizing tease, no Honey Glaze for those hot crossed buns of yours,” Rio bantered right back.“Am I the only one who remembers we are in a church?” lectured Iona.“No, you are not,” Christina surprised us. “Now stop trying to make a scene and sit down with the rest of us.” We dutifully obeyed because three of us respected Christina and I had one of Rio's arms twisted behind her back.At the end of service there was no problem getting the gang to go down to the space between the pews and the podium where the important people gathered. I caught Pastor William shooting me a hooded look but I blew him off. I was here for someone else, as was Barbie Lynn and Rio. Iona was tagging along to make sure we kept out of too much trouble.“Hey, Sahara,” I greeted the pastor's wife, who hovered near but wasn't part of the action.“Why, hello, Zane,” she smiled. “Did you enjoy the service?”“I'm still a little fuzzy on the message of seeking wisdom in God's word instead of Man's technology,” I grinned. “After all, I have an app that gives me helpful Bible verses on demand.”“I think you missed the point, Zane,” she shook her head with mirth. “We need to trust the Word of God over the simple technological solutions that fail to take in the moral implications of the results.”“Wow, when you say it that way, it makes sense,” I applauded. Sahara blushed and gave me another smile.Rio and Barbie Lynn had closed in on Felicity, allowing Iona and I to come up behind Mrs. Wellington. I put my hand on the small of her back and positioned myself at her side.“Hello, Mrs. Wellington,” I greeted her. I knew her first look at me would define a lot about how she felt about last night.“Zane,” she beamed at me. “How are you doing today?”“Better now,” I grinned. “I just wanted to say that I'm downloading those files we discussed when I get to campus this afternoon.”“Oh,” Mrs. Bainbridge sneered, “is Mr. Braxton working on a special project already?”“Zane,” Rochelle Wellington smiled to her rival sweetly, “send Kendra a copy of the notes you showed me. Kendra, Zane has a talent for 3-D imagery that the committee will find quite useful. I thought you might find it nice to have our newest member showing some interest.”“Oh, it is his interest that I'm worried about,” Kendra commented, with a pretty obvious look toward Sahara.Before I could respond to that jab, I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to pull me around.“Pastor William wants a word with you,” Lance informed me.“Okay,” I shrugged, then turned back to Kendra. “Mrs. Bainbridge, I admit that it is my fault that I find Mrs. Penny to be kinder, more compassionate, and more spiritually understanding than you. She is a gentle soul who better relates to what a young man needs.”“Pastor William wants to see you now,” Lance insisted.“That's nice, Lance. I'm talking to your mother,” I said dismissively. “Rochelle, thank you for agreeing to mentor me; I appreciate you helping me understand this Church and this community by taking some of your valuable time to listen to my ideas.”“Ladies, have a nice Sunday. Okay, Lance, let's go see what Pastor Bill wants now,” I told him.“His name is Pastor William,” Lance corrected me somewhat angrily.“No, his name is William Penny and he happens to be a pastor,” I jibed. Lance's response was stymied by our arrival at Pastor Bill's circle of cronies.“Ah, Glenn,” Bill greeted me. “I would like to invite you to dine with my wife and I tomorrow night.” I was smart enough to know that wasn't really an invitation, but still,“I'd like to but this week is our first round of testing for the semester so I'm not sure I can break free,” I answered.“You find time enough for other things, like jail,” he lectured me in a personally degrading matter.“Pastor William, as you will learn about me, people who cross me or threaten the ones I hold dear, I beat bloody and leave broken on the ground,” I smiled evilly right back. The confusion that threat caused was evident because I hadn't been quiet.“Jesus loves the Peacemaker,” Pastor Bill bantered back.“Winners write the history books,” I countered.“That is not very Christian of you,” Mr. Wellington, the Mayor, pointed out.“Jesus Christ ended up nailed to a cross; Emperor Constantine, who converted the whole Roman Empire to Christ's worship, got to build his own city,” I responded.“I won't be as famous but I'll do more and get to bury my enemies before I die,” I added.“Are you sure you were a missionary in Thailand?” another church elder asked.“Oh, I was a missionary all right, but not a very good one. I left the hard work to my Uncle Tim and Aunt Jill,” I informed them.“Did they convert many heathen souls to the World of our Lord?” a third man inquired.“It is not that simple. They taught people to read English and got them in the practice of reading the Bible,” I explained. “They have over a thousand years of culture to work against and many of the tenants of Buddhism are close to our own Christian virtues so it is hard work.”“So that would be a 'No',” Pastor Bill gloated.“Really?” I grinned. “When Uncle Tim went missing, 200 of his flock risked floodwaters in an eventually futile effort to save him. How many of us would risk drowning to save you, Pastor William? I would say that when lives were on the line, his flock did their Christian duty.”I noticed Jill standing on the edge of the group listening, her eyes close to tears. Hey, I hated Tim, but I wasn't going to let these spineless bastards degrade the man in front of his widow, no matter how I felt.“I'm sure we would all rise to the challenge,” Mr. Wellington pontificated.“Then you are as good a man as Uncle Tim,” I trapped him with his own words.“Your Uncle Tim gave everything, including his life,” Pastor Bill said with a smug, superior smile. “His willingness to give should be an example for all.”“I'm already giving. The Festivities Committee's budget seems a bit anemic so I'm going to be funding some of their efforts,” I enlightened him.“That is not how tithes are normally handled,” Pastor Bill corrected me.“I'm not a normal guy,” I grinned. “Pastor, I'll look over my schedule and call your house to let you know if I can swing dinner tomorrow. It has been a wonderful chat but I have to be going now.”I turned and left them there, confident I hadn't made any friends among Bill's inner circle. The price of their friendship was way more than I was willing to pay and it wasn't just monetary. My girls swarmed around me, even Jill.“Thank you, Zane,” Jill said softly. “Tim would have been proud.”“Jill, I said that for you, not him. You stood by him and that shouldn't be trampled on by people who don't know any better,” I comforted her.“I was getting ready to cry out 'Blood and Souls for my Lord Arioch,” Rio grinned.“Why did you antagonize them?” Iona wondered.“They are used to bullying people and getting their way. I let them know I was more than willing to fight,” I told Iona.“He also wanted the women to see what he was doing,” Barbie Lynn said. “I saw a few females, Felicity included, who thought a great deal of how Zane handled the situation.”“Girls love watching men fight over them,” Rio laughed as we exited into the parking lot.“Is everyone coming to our place for lunch?” Jill asked. I took a quick look around the girls who nodded their approval.“Sure thing, Jill; we will be at home in an hour,” I answered.Getting back to campus and into casual clothes wasn't a problem, nor was lunch with Jill. We sat around and shot the shit for an hour afterwards but school work demanded that we head back to school to do some actual classwork. I went by Raven's to pick her up because she'd left me a text (by way of Iona) that she'd made some progress over the weekend.“We really should study in the library,” Raven told me as we headed to my room.“The last time I checked, the library didn't have a snack bar,” I told her. Raven was less than convinced and a bit nervous until we opened the door to the bottom of the steps leading to the Solarium where I lived and the voices of multiple girls welcomed us.“You have company?” she questioned me.“All freshmen are welcome in my room, Raven. You'll see,” I informed her.“Is there going to be anyplace for us to study, ” Raven began to confound me, then we came to the point where you could see past the side of the stairs into the Solarium.“Oh, God,” she muttered at the scope of the room, “you, you have pool tables!” she ended up in a near squeal. “I love pool!” She took a few steps forward into the room before looking back at me. “What is all this? Where did this all come from?”“I was given the entire Solarium as my room, sort of, and I decided to convert most of it to a common area for the freshman class,” I said.“How long has this been going on?” she wondered.“We did it yesterday,” Iona said from the closest sofa. She put down her laptop and walked over to us. “Zane paid for the stuff and we students put it in. Let me show you around.”“You do that, Iona,” I told her, as I gave my diminutive friend a hug, “I'll be in my room.”Iona led Raven deeper into the complex of entertainment while I headed to my room, which seemed to be the quietest place to study today.ValerieI passed around the Chinese silk screens that shielded my private area from the rest of the Solarium and saw my new monster-sized bed. I also saw the tall, honey-blonde Amazon reclining on it, looking my way.“Come here, my Love-Monkey,” she said in a deep, husky voice. I'm sure my mouth gaped open.“Ah, I don't believe we've been introduced,” I managed to finally say. She smiled and patted the bed beside her.“You are seriously hot and I'm positive I'd remember you if we'd met, but I don't and I do need to study so I'm going to ask you to please leave,” I groaned. “Trust me, I really don't want to be asking you that either.”I heard laughter from the far side of the bed and Rio slowly raised her body into sight.“Bro, the look on your face is priceless,” she chuckled.“So this is really your room?” the other girl inquired.“I told you it was,” Rio grinned.“Yes, it is,” I responded as well. “In fact, this entire floor is mine, mainly because the Administration has nowhere else to stick me.”“Rio, what's going on here?” I turned to my other friend.“Honest, Boss,” she beamed, “I found her when I got home. She's my new dorm mate, your replacement.”“You were her first roommate?” the newcomer asked.“For all of one night,” I confessed. “Then everyone realized she had boobies, and I didn't, and I developed this current life of seclusion.”“This is your version of seclusion?” she questioned.“What can I say?” I sighed. “I'm a man of creature comforts. That still doesn't explain you on my bed. Rio?”“She is Valerie Palmer, a new addition to the school,” Rio started, “but that's not the cool part. She's a member of the Stormriders motorcycle gang.” Seeing my lack of name recognition, Rio added, “They are a big deal in the West, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, of course.”“Nice to meet you, Valerie.” I knelt on the bed and extended my hand. “I'm Glenn Zane Braxton, but everyone calls me Zane. Welcome to FFU, and what brought you to us?”“Dad is a born-again Christian and he wanted me to come here, so here I am,” she shrugged. Now, to me that made no sense, as she should have been eighteen, thus her own person, but who was I to press into her personal matters.“Damn it, Zane, I keep forgetting you were living in a cave for the past two years,” Rio shook her head. “Her grandfather is Daniel 'Damien' Palmer.” Again, I didn't know who that person was.“My grandfather is doing three life sentences,” Valerie said with a degree of weariness.“Fine. I should take it the Stormriders are not a motorcycle club, then,” I grinned at her.Valerie's eyes and mine locked for several seconds.“Are you arrogant, stupid, or really unconcerned?” Valerie asked me.“A little of all three,” Rio chimed in.“You should never ask a man if he's arrogant because if he is, he won't know it,” I responded.“I'm smart enough to get into this university, but them I'm dumb enough to be the only guy at this university,” I continued. “I can honestly tell you I really don't care who you were before you came here. It is none of my damn business. If you want to be friends, I'm game.” Valerie nodded. “Oh, and Rio is a nutjob, but if you hurt her, I'll make you suffer, I swear it.”“Is that supposed to scare me, rich boy?” Valerie said, becoming very serious and sitting up, “because I'm not impressed.”“I didn't say it to impress you, Valerie,” I met her gaze, “I believe in fair warning. I don't care if you are damaged goods or you are one stone-cold, bad-ass bitch; you mess with Rio and I'll take her pain out of your hide.”“Rio, I thought you told me this guy was cool,” Valerie said to Rio while still looking at me.“Best guy in the whole God-damn world,” Rio beamed.“Zane, have you ever stabbed somebody?” Valerie quizzed me.“On purpose or by accident?” I asked.“How do you stab someone by accident?” Valerie wondered.“You toss their ass into a stand of bamboo so hard the stalks break and they get impaled,” I answered. “I take it you've done it on purpose.” She shrugged.“Do you fight much?” she changed tact.“More than I should,” I replied, “but I butt in where I don't belong too much.”“Me too,” Valerie nodded, “on the 'I fight more than I should' thing.”“Well, I would rather talk shit upfront than spill blood later,” I pointed out.“Like warning me about Rio,” she nodded.“Please believe me, she's a nut and will get on your nerves, so please don't toss her out a window or down the stairs because I'm actually attached to her,” I grinned. Rio flopped on the bed.“I should be mouthing empty denials but Zane's pretty much right,” Rio snickered, “and if he hadn't fucked me silly on the preacher's desk this morning, I'd be in his face about this bullshit.”“You had sex on your preacher's desk?” Valerie smiled.“Zane, what are these girls, what the hell?” Raven went off. “What kind of bedroom is this?”“Raven, you know Rio and this is her new roommate Valerie. Valerie, this is Raven,” I groaned.“Hey, Raven,” Valerie greeted her. “So do you normally walk into Zane's bedroom too?”“No,” Raven blushed. “He invited me over to do some work on our English project.” Iona stepped in behind Raven and waved to Rio.“Iona, Valerie; Valerie, Iona,” I sighed.“Wait!” Valerie raised her hand and looked back to me. “Are you gay? Because I see a lot of girls strolling into your room and none of them have been identified as your girlfriend yet.”“Technically, that would be Heaven,” Iona volunteered. “She's a senior.”“Can we get back to everyone being in Zane's room?” Raven grumbled. “And what is he doing with a bed as big as my entire room back home?” Valerie appraised the room.“Got it,” she laughed. “You are sleeping with her (Iona) and her (Rio), but not you (Raven).”“Of course I'm not sleeping with him,” Raven shot back. “I took a Purity Pledge, as should all of you.”“I'm not a virgin,” Valerie responded.“Me, either,” Rio waved.“I am,” Iona raised her hand.“That's nice,” I directed. “Rio, Valerie, and Iona, please leave. I've invited Raven to my room so we can do actual classwork because I occasionally like to pretend I'm in college for an education.”“On it, Zane,” Rio snickered. “Come on, Valerie, let's go check out the hot tub. I wanted to show you to Zane so he could put you on his 'To Do' list.” Iona shook her head and left.“I've got a boyfriend,” Valerie clarified.“Thank God,” I muttered, which drew looks from all three women. After Rio and Val left, Raven kept staring at me.“I, does this happen to you often?” she finally asked.“Yes, but I've learned to adjust,” I pointed out.We sat down on the bed, Raven pulled out four library books on the period we were looking into, and we began going through them and taking notes.“Is Heaven really your girlfriend?” Raven asked after a while.“Yes, but it is more complicated than that. I love another girl but I don't know if she loves me, and I spend time with a dozen other girls here, plus I have friends at a Sorority House off campus,” I explained.“And you sleep with Rio, who isn't a virgin, and Iona, who is,” she stated, and I confirmed with a nod.“I was wrong. If you can keep all that straight in your head, you have a good grasp of details. We are going to do fine on this term paper.”“Thank you, Raven,” I smiled at her, and for a change, she smiled back.GUST FRONTI would have liked to spend the night with Iona and Barbie Lynn but Iona informed me that Coach Dana Gorman had tested her security code earlier in the day and I figured something was up; nothing good for me and my friends. Sure enough, at 12:10 in the morning, my little buzzer by the bed that informed me that a key code was being entered woke me up.I silenced the alarm (no sense in letting them know that I had it) and waited in bed. Shortly thereafter, the Coach and two female security guards came strolling in.“Alone?” Dana quipped.“You asking me out?” I grinned.“Get up; we need to check the bed, if that is what you call this thing,” she motioned to my sleeping platform. I dutifully got out of bed.“What are you doing?” she snapped when she realized I was naked.“Getting out of bed like you asked me to. I sleep in the nude, or didn't you already know that?” I yawned.“Put some clothes on,” she ordered. I picked up my robe and put it on while they stripped back my sheets and looked for bodily fluids under the dark light. I had been at my Aunt's the past two nights, so yes, my bed was still fresh. Unsatisfied, Dana and her two buddies began roughly going over my place.When they finally discovered nothing (my hiding places were specifically designed), the two officers turned and left.“I'll be keeping an eye on you, Zane. You can expect this to be a regular occurrence,” she promised. I simply stared. We remained looking at one another for a minute because she knew I was up to something.“That's right, step out of line and make my job easier,” she noted. Again I kept my silence. It would have been easy to take this personally but I'd told her this was War and I took that seriously. I doubted I was the sole beneficiary of their attention so I had to get ready to respond to their next move.“Nothing to say?” she asked. I kept staring. “Say something, damn it,” she growled.“Good night, Coach,” I obliged. She shook her head, turned, and walked away. When I saw the door close behind her I went back to my room and took out my phone. I made three calls to the concerned parties and a final call to Iona, to have her wipe my call log. I can't say I slept well that night.Showering in the morning was troublesome enough on normal days but this morning, Rio decided to invite Valerie to join us. I did my best to pretend to ignore her, which wasn't easy. Valerie was around six feet with milky skin where the sun didn't reach and tanned where it did. Her hair was golden-blonde and she was trimmed, not shaved. Her eyes were grey with a hint of blue around the edges; he breasts were a solid C without a hint of sag. There sure were a lot of blondes going to this school.I could see the mental calculations going through her head as she walked in and the other girls eyed her. In the hierarchy of this place, I didn't hold a place; proximity to me showed a girl's status among the crowd. Opal was top dog, but Rio and Iona were marked by their close relationship with me as well.Valerie clearly thought about walking away from it all to spare herself the drama and the grief. She countered that with the knowledge that she had to fit in somewhere in this school, and as non-traditional as she was, her best bet was with us. She answered that internal struggle by taking the shower one down from me, next to Opal.Opal expressed her dominance to Valerie by corralling me into a body massage and a show of mutual affection. I thought Valerie was unimpressed with those actions but as we got into it, I sensed she was intrigued by the notion of having sex without actually having sex, and the sexual arousal that came with it.As I settled in front of the sink to brush my hair, shave, and brush my teeth, Valerie took the sink beside me.“You don't seem to mind all these naked bodies around you,” she noted.“Why should I? I enjoy them and they enjoy me. I like making them happy, and my presence certainly makes their lives more difficult so I'm glad to help,” I explained.“So, do things ever go to the next level?” Valerie asked.“Not here, and not with most of these women; they are virgins and happy about that fact. They want to be virgins on their wedding nights and I respect that,” I answered.“Rio makes you out to be some sort of sex-crazed stud monster,” Val informed me.“Rio's not a virgin and her only plans for marriage involve her being a black widow to her old, rich husbands,” I grinned.“Is she, bi-sexual?” Valerie whispered.“Yes, I can verify that she is,” I replied quietly. “Has she hit on you yet? Wait, silly question, have you thrown her out of your bed yet?”“This morning I found her sucking on my nipple through my nightshirt,” she smirked.“Rio needs constant reminding of where the boundaries are,” I informed Val.“You two talking about me?” Rio came bouncing up. “Is there a three-way in our future? Who gets tied up?” Valerie groaned in response.“Rio, there is such a thing as personal space and acceptable roommate behavior,” I told Rio. “Things like spontaneously feeling her up while she sleeps are BAD!”“God, damn it!” Rio squalled, “But did you see the size of those bad boys? They are huge and puffy and I swear, they were calling out to me across the room.”“In my long and illustrious career with the female nipple, they have never talked to me. If you don't behave, I'm going to have to tie you up at the next orgy and make you watch,” I warned. I couldn't threaten to take away something she had, like her piercings; that would make her dig in her heels. Instead, I went after the things she was looking forward to.“Don't forget to secure her hands over her head so she can't diddle herself,” Valerie got into the sport of things.“Good point,” I agreed.“Major buzz-kill, you two. Valerie, you are trying to make your first day here no fun at all,” Rio teased.“Which reminds me; Valerie, has Rio warned you about Handmaiden's Duty?” I inquired. Rio looked offended that I would say such a thing while Val looked confused.“It is a tradition here that requires all freshmen to perform a task of a non-damaging nature for any and all upperclassmen. They cannot grab you in class or a dorm room, but anywhere else is fair game,” I informed her.“My first task was to be a bench for someone to sit on,” Rio grinned.“Mine was to kiss a girl,” I nodded.“Kiss her? Cordelia damn near passed out, you kissed her so long and deep,” Rio teased me.“The first one was very nice and chaste,” Iona stepped up and added. “It was the second one that curled her toes and started the stampeded on Zane.”“What do I do if a girl asks me to kiss her?” Valerie worried.“Tell her you are waiting for your herpes to clear up,” Rio volunteered.“It isn't likely to happen,” Iona came across with sounder advice. “Homosexuality is frowned on at this campus.”“I'd tell you to kiss them and enjoy the moment, but I'm a guy,” I shrugged.“I'm still not sure what is normal for this place,” Valerie related.“Rio and Zane are aberrations,” Iona offered. “Most of the girls here are fundamentalist Christian virgins who are looking to get married once they graduate this place.”“What is your story?” Val asked Iona.“I was pretty much the girl I just described until I met these two,” she smiled. “Now I feel that I have, options.”“Options like prison time,” Rio laughed, “or becoming a sex toy at an S&M club.”“I was thinking more like taking a summer and roaming the country,” Iona glared Rio.“Maybe I could teach you to ride a motorcycle and you can come with me,” Valerie offered.“That would be wonderful!” Iona brightened up. “When could we start?”“This afternoon, if you like,” Val responded. “My ride is in the parking lot.”“You have a motorcycle, here?” Rio exclaimed.“Rio, it is hard to be in a motorcycle gang without a chopper,” Valerie pointed out.“On that note, I have to go,” I sighed. New girls were starting to migrate in, meaning I had to retreat to my room. “Take care, everyone.”The crapstormThe crapstorm fell on us as we left the dorm. All kinds of upperclassmen snatched up freshmen as they appeared and shadowed Pro-Christina students they couldn't grab. Rio and I were able to shove off of Valerie before she was identified as being with one of us, so she made it to the Dining Hall unmolested.I didn't have to do anything too heinous, carry three backpacks while reciting the Gospel of Luke from memory (ugh). They made Rio sing 'Onward Christian Soldier' because it was the only religious song she'd admit to knowing. She did a horrific hack-job of it too. They had Iona going through the descendants of Noah; she knocked them back flawlessly, Brainiac.It got better at the Dining Hall door where Rhaine oversaw the removal of every electronic device from the incoming students, no phones, tablets or laptops, nothing capable of rapid communication. Then came the assigned seating designed to break us all up. Surprisingly, Valerie looped back around and joined us in the line.She leaned into me.“What the fuck is going on?” she whispered.“There is a war going on between the Pro-Christina faction Rio, Iona and I belong to, and the Pro-Rhaine faction, which is supported by the Administration. I didn't want to get you involved,” I explained as I saw Mrs. Marlowe closing in.“Mr. Braxton, be quiet,” she snapped.“Of course, Ms. Marlowe,” I nodded to her; she glared back. We had assigned seating for breakfast, isolating us. Conversations were kept to a minimum by roving teachers and the mood was getting grim, made worse by a slow drizzle that began to fall outside. Still, things weren't hopeless.As I was putting my food tray away, Paige of the Science Club slipped past me.“Copper Seven,” she whispered.Cordelia, head of the Science Club, was definitely the smartest person on campus. She'd created a list of contingency plans for us to use if things went bad. We should have been getting them on our phones but the Chancellor had stymied us there.Instead, things were circulating by word of mouth. In this case, Copper Seven, things were simple. Copper meant theft and Seven was the code for communications. We were stealing the facility's phones, crashing their computers, and doing whatever mischief we could to make communications difficult, if not impossible.I had the pleasure of passing the word on to Rio, who gave me a look that would have made any brigand with a handful of gold proud. I didn't know the specifics of Rio's criminal history but I knew she definitely had one, and I'd have been stunned if pickpocket and shoplifting weren't part of her repertoire. I'd warned Coach Gorman about making shit like this fascist suppression policy up.I barely recalled what I was forced to perform on the way to Assembly because what happened there was so memorable. We got the standard lecture, then the Chancellor laid into Christina for all the disruptions the student body was going through, Christina and a few other malcontents. What made it memorable was, at the end of Dr. Bass's speech, a freshman I barely knew, Millicent Pierce, stood up and raised her fist in defiance.“That's bullshit!” she cried out.“Sit down and be quiet, child!” the Chancellor commanded. “Coach Gorman,” she then directed our head of security toward the young girl. Millicent wasn't done yet.“You are lying to us!” she screamed out again.As Gorman and a second teacher made their way to our young rebel, Rio stood up with a raised fist.“Shame!” Rio called out. A dozen of us followed suit. Teachers flooded off the stage but Cappadocia figured out that if you joined up with other girls and linked arms, they couldn't drag you out.Girls were screaming at girls, shoving began, and soon blows were being exchanged and Assembly degenerated to a nasty furball. We were threatened with demerits, detention, and finally expulsion, but nothing seemed to curtail the conflict. I saw Ms. Goodswell leave the melee and go to the base of the podium and begin to plead with Bass about something.I could see that Goodswell was trying to get the Chancellor to let Christina come onto the stage and quiet her followers but our Glorious Leader wouldn't budge. Christina could see the gestures and I knew she was about to end things anyway. There was something I had to do before things fell apart.I leapt up and began using the backs and arm rests to jump across the crowd. I made it to Millicent right ahead of Gorman. Millicent seemed stunned to see me hovering over her but it was too noisy to communicate. I pulled her up and retreated back the way I'd come, keeping her out of Gorman's clutches for the moment.“Thanks,” she grinned at me.“Who is your Spiritual Advisor?” I responded. “We need to get you to her so you don't face the Chancellor alone.”“Ms. Trenton,” Millicent responded.Ms. Trenton wasn't one of the 'good guys' but she wasn't on our enemies list either. I located Trenton and angled us toward her.“This is crazy,” Millicent gasped. After all, if we tumbled, we might very well break our necks. Ms. Trenton didn't look happy to see either one of us but she immediately clued into why I was dropping her student off on her. She grabbed Millicent by the arm and led her away. This was a good thing because our rebellion was about spent for the moment.A minute later we had quieted down. Dr. Bass threatened us with a whole new series of punishments before exiling us off to our first classes. I had the joy of getting hate blasted my way by both the Chancellor and Coach Gorman. I didn't have long to dwell on it because the moment we stepped out, a new group of upperclassmen descended on us freshmen.“Walk the other way or I'll feed you your lungs,” growled Rio as she stepped in front of a group of us and stared down a slightly larger group of students. At times like this, I really wish Rio knew how to fight. On the other hand, she plays 'crazy' real well and it takes a certain desire to experience pain to conf

Preacher William, Valerie, & the seeds of discord. (Part 11)- A Spring Break 13-part Novel.Christina's late night visit.By FinalStand. The player above contains the intro section. Listen to the complete episode by clicking here, at Steamy Stories. Anyway, we were uncoiling from the sofa and Rio was giving me this mysterious look when there was a knock at the door.“Dude, it is 11 o'clock,” Rio muttered. “Only bad news arrives this late.”“I'll go check it out,” I shrugged. There wasn't much else I could do. I opened the door and there stood Christina, looking pretty depressed.“Do you want to come in?” I asked.“I know you have company,” she replied. “Can we talk outside?” It wasn't too chilly but I wasn't wearing too much either.“Of course,” I walked onto the porch, leaving the door mostly closed behind me. “What's wrong?”“I've worked things out with Faith and the other girls,” Christina paced nervously. “We are all going to keep quiet about what you learned and see how we can turn this to our advantage.” I didn't say anything because she hadn't come to tell me the news of what had been the obvious move on her part so I was left wondering what was going on, then I saw it.I opened my arms to the side, palms forward, and waited. She saw the move and looked me over with obvious reluctance for what would come next. Finally, she stepped up to me and rested her forehead on my shoulder and let me encase her in my arms. It sucks to be alone, but it truly sucks being alone and being the one in charge even more.“God, Zane, I fucked up. I could have ruined Heaven's life,” she sighed. “The others trusted me and I let them down.”“You are not doing Heaven any favors by being paralyzed with doubt,” I told her. “You had no idea who you were up against and even if you had, you would still have weighed what was best for Heaven against the risks and pretty much acted in the same manner.”“You don't understand Heaven,” Christina said. “You don't understand her home life.”“Her home life is not my concern, Christina,” I pointed out. “The Heaven here and now is my concern, though, and it is the concern of several more friends she's made since coming to this school, friends she wouldn't have if she stayed in a hole.”“What if I fuck up again?” she worried. “So many girls are depending on me to keep the Chancellor at bay.”“I fuck up all the time and I'm still here,” I countered. “I know what you mean, though. Sometimes when these girls look at me like they expect me to have all the answers and I've got nothing, I want to run and hide.”“We don't have that luxury. We chose to stand up and now we must carry on in our struggle. I don't know about you, but I wasn't raised to quit,” I related to her.“I made a mistake, Zane. I don't make mistakes,” she declared.“I'm confused; have we lost?” I questioned her.“No,” she grumbled, “and that is not what I meant. I brought Faith in, I misread her, and we all suffered because of it. I was deceived.”“Well, someone should remind Christina Buchanan from time to time that she's human, and a pretty smart woman at that,” I replied. “You don't have to win every battle, only the last one.”“That is what my grandfather said,” she mumbled into my shoulder.“He sounds like a clever guy,” I said softly. “He should go far someday.” Since he was one of the richest men in America, I was probably right.“You can be a real jerk at times,” she muttered, but I noted she wasn't moving.“I have to agree with you,” I said, as I got up on my tiptoes and kissed her on the top of the head. I leaned back and tilted her head to me with a finger under her chin. “Christina Buchanan, would you marry me?” No one said anything for a minute.“Can I think about it?” she finally whispered.“Of course,” I assured her. “How could I be in love with you if I couldn't wait for you?”“How can you love me when you don't even know me?” she asked.“That's why it is love and not like,” I answered. “There are times you really piss me off but there is never a moment I don't want to be with you.”“You don't like me?” Christina studied me.“Right now I like you just fine, but you can be a real pain at times. See, I know what's right and you refuse to know your place,” I responded.“And what place is that?” she smiled.“Above me, smiling down,” I leaned in for a kiss.“No,” she shook her head.“No?” I pleaded.“We have a long way to go before I let you treat me like another one of your girls,” Christina informed me.“Okay,” I agreed.“No hard sell in my emotionally vulnerable state?” she mused.“You are safe with me, Christina,” I assured her.“That's good to know, Zane. Now go inside before Rio blows a gasket,” she smiled, slipped out of my arms, and walked toward her car. I still soaked up the marvel of her receding silhouette.Rio was leaning against the wall just inside the hallway when I got back in.“I don't get the two of you,” she grinned.“I love her,” was my only response.“That's good, because she's fucking nuts about you,” Rio laughed. I couldn't decide whether she was kidding or not.Later, we lay together in bed, Rio partially over me where she alternated between listening to my heartbeat and kissing my shoulder. She also had a hand between her legs and was doing some serious vaginal stimulation.“Zane.”“Yes?” I replied.“I had an abortion,” she confided in me.“Oh, okay,” was all I could manage to come back with.“‘Oh.' Is that it?” she sounded a bit hurt.“I figure there is more to the story than you had an abortion. So are you going to tell me what it is?” I inquired. She mulled that over for a few seconds.“I did some really stupid shit, like getting shit-faced drunk at some parties with people I barely knew, and pretty much got used like a whore. I didn't really care, and eventually I got knocked up,” she told me.“My parents, the big Pro-Lifers that they were, smuggled me out of state to a private clinic and aborted the kid. They never asked my opinion on the matter but I imagine that having a pregnant daughter who couldn't even name the father wasn't on their agenda,” she recited bitterly. I wrapped an arm around her, rolled over on her, and kissed her gently on the lips.“I don't know what to say,” I began. “I can't imagine what it was like to go through that.”“Huh,” Rio snorted. “My parents slapped me with anti-depressants and an implant, my ‘friends' told me it was for the best, not being teen Mom material and all, and I treated myself like a whore.”“Hell, I sucked and fucked the entire lawn crew once; I fucked my little brother's friends; and I became known as the girl who would ride bareback at my school. It is a miracle I didn't contract herpes or AIDS,” she recited sadly. “I think I hated just about everybody.”“You know that none of that matters to me; right?” I asked. “You are still that woman I woke up next to on day one.”“To the bitter end,” she recited.“To the bitter end,” I affirmed, my promise to stand by her no matter what.“Why couldn't you be in love with me?” she sighed.“You are asking an eighteen-year-old how this love thing works?” I teased her. “I've been lucky enough to meet five women in the past two weeks I'd like to spend forever with, and I love the one I'm least likely to end up with. I'm clueless.”“Me, Iona, Barbie Lynn, Christina and Heaven?” Rio guessed. I nodded, which made her snicker. “You really want to spend forever with Heaven? You are a glutton for punishment.”“Heaven can be really nice,” I defended my girlfriend.“She's got a permanent case of PMS. Hell knows what would happen if she actually had PMS,” Rio teased me back.“So you don't want to spend any more time with her?” I inquired.“Fuck that,” Rio giggled, “I like them brave, bold, and saucy in the saddle. I'd love breaking her down, or having her break me trying.”“Fine,” I announced after a moment's contemplation.“Fine?” she asked.“I'm not going to break my word to Jill but I can't wait to fuck you until we get back to campus, so how would you like to screw on Pastor Bill's desk before Sunday school?” I suggested.“I'd love to leave a little something extra on that gold-plated conman's desk,” Rio purred.“Now, Zane, do you think you could bend the rules ever so slightly and finger-fuck me? I'm ever so horny,” Rio pleaded. I figured it couldn't hurt too much; right? I rubbed and rubbed one hand down to her crotch where Rio had already pulled her soaked panties down to mid-thigh. With my other hand, I pushed up her top, exposing her ripe nipples, chain and all.I plucked a nipple into my mouth, letting my tongue play along the stud before sucking in more of the breast, increasing the pressure on the nipple itself. Rio was well worked up already and now began to writhe beneath me. My free hand passed below her carefully groomed chevron-shaped pubic mound and along her clit.Her folds welcomed me like molten gold, so hot yet silky smooth to the touch. As she started to moan, Rio stuck the meat of her palm into her mouth and bit down in order to keep quiet. I spent a minute playing with her two studs in her labia before working two fingers deep inside her, twisting them, and seeking out her G-spot.“Gak!” Rio convulsed as I stroked it. Oh, yeah, I thought, as I began to seriously work it over. Rio's fluids were sloshing around my fingers, her other hand began pressing my whole mouth over her breast, and she kept bucking up against me. I now began to alternate between rhythmically tapping her special place and brutally finger fucking her, driving two fingers in and slapping her clit with my palm.“Uh, uh, uh, ugh, ugh, um,” Rio began panting, then her body arched and she screamed into her clenched fist. “Oh, fuck, that's good,” she finally managed to get out. Before I could respond, she grabbed my head and drew me up for a fierce kiss. She tore at my lips and tried to steal my breath away.“Tell me you want me,” she pleaded with a desperate hunger tinged with fear.“I want you, Rio, always,” I responded with my own heat and need. Slowly the passion ebbed from Rio's eyes and a playful demeanor replaced it.“You are such a dumb blonde, Glenda,” she sighed happily. Glenda had been the name that had allowed me admission to school in the first place, Glenn Zane Braxton, Glenda.I answered by pulling my fingers out of her cunt, taking a lick, then pushing them through her lips. Rio daintily sucked on them, pulling them in and cleaning them off before biting down like the little bitch she is and making tears come to my eyes.“What the fuck!” I hissed.“That's for not giving me your dick, Asshole,” she snickered. When I looked ready to explode, she pouted her lips, rolled onto her stomach and stuck her bare ass up in the air for a spanking. I grunted and rolled over onto my side, away from her.“Good night, you witch,” I sulked.There was some rustling behind me a minute later, then Rio snaked an arm around me and pressed her body to my back.“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I act crazy at times.” I rolled over to face her.“I know what I'm getting into, Rio,” I comforted her. “That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt at times.” I displayed my wounded fingers. She kissed my fingers, I kissed her lips, and we both finally went to sleep.Preacher William, Valerie, and the seeds of discord.*You can live without freedom the same way you can live without light, happiness, or music*Jill didn't know what to make of our prompt appearance Sunday morning for breakfast already dressed for church. I'd convinced Rio to not try a hard sell with my aunt, instead playing it calm, cool, and collected. The real reason we wanted to get to church early was because I'd come up with the idea of screwing Rio on Pastor Bill's massive mahogany desk before class and she'd become infatuated with the scheme.GAINING DEFINITIONWe had to remember our Bibles before eagerly heading out the door. Mine went back to my missionary days while Rio's was brand new, a gift from Jill. She'd lost her old one on the trip from Arizona to Virginia, or so she'd told Jill. In reality, she had torn hers apart page by page and stuffed it down the airplane toilet during the flight, her way of spreading the gospel.Once at the church, we split up, Rio and I getting together a few minutes later. I was unsure about the security cameras in the hallway but Rio shrugged it off. She followed the wires to the closet the system was kept in, picked the lock, and deleted the last two hours of footage before deactivating the whole system.I was clever enough to wipe off all our fingerprints before we made for the pastor's office. This time, Rio's improvised, lock picks weren't necessary as the secretary kept the door unlocked. We slipped past her station to the larger office beyond and I chased Rio around to the 'big chair'.“So, Bad Boy, are you going to make me a Bad Girl?” Rio taunted me.I stepped up between her thighs and got ready to feast on her succulent cunt lips when she held me up.“I don't think we have time for that,” Rio grinned. She slipped out of her panties, which I quickly pocketed (having learned from the first Barbie Lynn incident), and hopped up on the desk facing me.I unbuckled my belt, fixed the button, and unzipped my pants. My penis came smoothly out of my boxers and I lined up with Rio's slit. Her juices were already flowing by the time my cockhead graced her full lips.“Oh, that's what I've been looking for,” Rio moaned, as I pushed forward inch after glorious inch inside her.She wrapped her arms around my neck and came close to doing the same with her legs around my waist by the time I was fully into her. I got a few half-thrusts into Rio, our faces only inches apart, when I began to push her back down on the desk.“No, I want to look into your eyes,” she told me. I nodded and started driving my cock in a strong steady rhythm.“Rio,” I said softly.“Yes,” she breathed heavily.“I like saying your name,” I explained. “I like the sound of it and the way it makes me feel.”“I, ” I was sure she was fighting for a snarky reply but then she smiled and said, “Okay.”“Oh. God, Oh, Fuck,” Rio gasped, as we began, getting her close to climax. I stopped when I first heard the voices. “What?” Rio panted. I pulled her off the desk and looked for a place to hide. There were three other doors out of the room. I took the closest, yanked up my pants, and dragged Rio to it.It turned out to be a large closet with vestments, coats, and a few changes of clothing inside. Before I could finish shutting the door, Rio put her hand in the way. Before I could inquire why, the main office door opened and in came Pastor Bill and Lance Wellington. They were yammering on about something or other; I really wasn't paying attention.All that changed after Pastor Bill took his seat behind the desk and swiveled it to the side. Lance came around the desk and knelt before our spiritual leader. His body blocked my visual but I heard a zipper being undone and some clothes being pushed aside. What Lance proceeded to do was clear enough, though.Rio was between me and the door; she looked over her shoulder and grinned evilly. Before long, she had my cock in her hand and was maneuvering it back to her pussy from behind. I moved my hips down, she arched up, and I slipped back into the hole I'd been in not a minute before. I stayed still while Rio began to ride my cock up and down.There we were, two very different couples separated by less than a dozen feet, both fucking in different ways. Lance was giving Pastor Bill oral attention in a manner that dictated long familiarity to not only cock-sucking, but blowing Pastor Bill in particular. Rio had one hand placed against the door sill in order to stop us from spilling out of the closet while the other was tucked against her stomach.The four of us were pushing toward climax but Pastor Bill was the first one to the trigger. I was still feeling the oily smoothness of my cock inside Rio's vagina while rubbing both breasts through her shirt and bra when Lance began chocking and sputtering. The bastard hadn't even warned Lance that he was cumming.Good ole Pastor Bill reached across the desk to grab two Kleenex. As he did so, his other hand came down to rest on a slick spot Rio and I had left on his desk. He looked at his hand with disgust and wiped it off his hand before handing a tissue to Lance.“Get going to class,” Pastor Bill told his cock-sucking companion.“Of course, Pastor William,” Lance responded as he cleaned his face. As he headed to the door, he turned to the preacher.“Do I have to do another marriage counseling session with Felicity? She is so damn annoying,” he whined.“Lance, you are going to have to keep up appearances and that means spending the occasional night with her,” Pastor Bill lectured him. “As distasteful as she is, she is the socially acceptable choice for your spouse if you plan to have a political career.”“I wish this whole marriage thing was over with already,” Lance sighed. “Then I could stick her in the house and get her out of my life.”“Remember, a woman is a duty, but you know how to get your pleasure. Take your pill when you have to lay with her, and if nothing else, use her back door,” he chuckled.“I suppose so,” Lance conceded, “but I'll have to shut her up. She blathers on and on incessantly and her voice is so grating.”“Well,” Pastor Bill laughed, “you can always use her mouth too.” Lance snorted and left the room; Bill followed a minute later.For our part, the whole exchange between Pastor Bill and Lance got Rio hotter and hotter. She was rocketing back against me until I was afraid the slapping of our flesh would alert our host to our presence.Once he was gone, Rio went off.“Fuck me, damn it,” Rio exulted. “I'm going to rape their asses.” I wasn't sure how that would work. It wasn't like Rio's or my word would go all that far. I decided to spin her back around and kick her leg up over my arm so I could fuck her while gazing into her eyes.The first thing I noticed was the sheer joy etched all over her face. The second thing I noted was her phone in hand, set on record. There was going to be some severe damage over this and I had to do damage control, but first I had to screw Rio to orgasm.“Ah, ah, ah,” Rio moaned. “You are churning me up inside, you fucking brute. This is so fucking good.”“And the video?” I inquired.“Fucking brilliant,” she panted, “My best idea yet.” I drilled Rio several more strong strokes and she gripped me tightly and sexually exploded on me. She kept squeezing my cock with her vaginal muscles as I came in her as she was still cresting her wave.“Oh, Zane,” she wept tears of joy on my shoulder, “You make all this other shit bearable.”“No problem, bro,” I sighed happily, “but we need to talk about the video.”“Yeah,” she snorted, “you have a plan. I'm going to bypass me having a temper-tantrum and get straight to you making me happy with how clever you are.”“We find more ways to bring Felicity over to our side, then hit her with this when she's wavering,” I detailed. “We still need credibility and that's going to take Barbie Lynn on our side. Once we get Felicity, we can get Mrs. Wellington too. That gives us access to everyone in the church.”I set Rio onto her feet and handed her panties too her. Rio shimmied into them and grinned.“Now I'm all sloshy inside. Is that thing a damn fire hydrant?”“You weren't complaining a minute ago,” I countered.“I'm not complaining, but all those bitches in class are going to know I've been fucked,” she snickered.“Who are you going to blame?” I wondered.“Pastor William, our glorious shepherd; I can describe just what his cock looks like now,” she grinned manically.“I think we are back to that whole 'credibility' issue,” I reminded her.“You aren't going to let me have any fun,” Rio pouted.“Well, work on this; I'm pretty sure Lance isn't the only guy here that the pastor is using. Lance was a tool, nothing more,” I told her. “It could be fun to find out who his other toys are.”“I hate you for having a better idea than me,” Rio giggled, “but I love your deviant mind more.”“I love you too, Baby,” I said as I brushed her cheek. “Let's get to class before they get to ridicule us for arriving late.” Rio grabbed my hand and sprinted with me out of the office. We were late to class but only just. This time I'd studied so Mr. Coleman wasn't able to humiliate me, though some wise-ass taunted me about being on a women's committee.“Yes, I do,” I confirmed, “and what committee are you on?”“Athletics committee,” he sneered. I gave him a shit-eating grin right back that gave him pause.“So I hang out with a bunch of MILF's, which is a pretty red-blooded American male thing to do, while you hang out with a bunch of guys, which is pretty homo-erotic,” I chuckled.There was a deafening silence in the room. We had broken up for church service and a few guys were almost out the door. The target of my aggression was first stunned, then angry.“Mr. Braxton, that is quite enough out of you,” Mr. Coleman snapped.“I'm sorry about that, Mr. Coleman. I thought he was ribbing me about my committee so I teased him back about his; I wasn't serious,” I lied.Andy, the guy who'd given me a hard time, elected that moment to get in my face.“That wasn't funny, Braxton,” he snapped. Mr. Coleman remained conspicuously silent.“Gosh, Andy,” I quipped, “I don't know where to begin. How about, we are in a House of God and shouldn't be raising a fist against one another.”“If that doesn't work, do understand that you get the first punch, then I break you like a twig,” I continued with eagerness written all over my face. “You are an elementary school teacher and I have years of martial arts experience.” Andy suddenly paled.“Mr. Braxton,” Coleman growled again. “How dare you threaten somebody?”“Um, Mr. Coleman, Andy got in my face, so what exactly are you getting on my case about? Wouldn't the situation be better served if you stopped him in the first place?” I said.“Andy should be able to take a joke better,” another guy in my class, Christopher Gilbert, joined in. “Besides, Zane's right; the wives on the committee are attractive and their husbands are lucky men.”That seemed to end the matter because Chris Gilbert was the son of somebody and carried weight in this crowd. We continued to depart but I felt obliged to stop Chris.“Thanks, but I'm not sure why you just backed me up there,” I questioned.“Maybe you're not such a bad guy,” he grinned.I had to think that over. I barely knew Christopher Gilbert. He was 23, son of a big real estate guy, he was a property manager, whatever that was.“I have to appreciate the timing of your epiphany,” I joked.“It came to me late Thursday night when I had a security issue at one of my properties,” he grinned. Oh, crap. His daddy must own the mall where I had that little altercation.“Sorry if I cost you a good night's sleep,” was all I could say.“Let me say that, 'damn, you're fast,' and it would have been mean of me to let Andy get his ass handed to him in front of all his friends,” Chris related. “He's really not a bad guy either.”“I'll keep that in mind,” I nodded.We were making our way to the church hall when Rio, Iona, and Barbie Lynn intercepted us.“Hey, Ms. Masters,” Chris said to Barbie Lynn. He looked at the other two girls.“Christopher Gilbert, this is Rio Talon and Iona Becket, two of my classmates and closest friends,” I introduced my buddies.“So, Chris, how do you know Barbie-licious?” Rio smirked.“Huh?” Chris said.“Rio has an intense sense of humor, Chris,” I intervened. “Pay her no mind.” Before Rio cold make things worse, I placed an arm behind her and pinched her butt. “Behave,” I warned her.“Okay, Zane,” Chris chuckled. “Good luck with that one. To answer your question: I know Ms. Masters from a few years back at a youth retreat. We were both counselors. Take care now.” He turned and walked off to his section of the tabernacle while the girls and I went off to ours.“So, Barbie, were you hot for Chris back at camp?” Rio persisted.“Chris? Nah, he had a girlfriend back then; they both went to the University of Virginia. I think they broke up right before they graduated but I'm not sure,” Barbie Lynn informed us. “Besides, I had a fiancé too.”“Had? Have you tossed him over for Zane?” Rio teased. I sighed and Barbie Lynn blushed.“Nah, Shugah, I tossed him over for you,” Barbie Lynn whispered into Rio's ear.“Just for that tantalizing tease, no Honey Glaze for those hot crossed buns of yours,” Rio bantered right back.“Am I the only one who remembers we are in a church?” lectured Iona.“No, you are not,” Christina surprised us. “Now stop trying to make a scene and sit down with the rest of us.” We dutifully obeyed because three of us respected Christina and I had one of Rio's arms twisted behind her back.At the end of service there was no problem getting the gang to go down to the space between the pews and the podium where the important people gathered. I caught Pastor William shooting me a hooded look but I blew him off. I was here for someone else, as was Barbie Lynn and Rio. Iona was tagging along to make sure we kept out of too much trouble.“Hey, Sahara,” I greeted the pastor's wife, who hovered near but wasn't part of the action.“Why, hello, Zane,” she smiled. “Did you enjoy the service?”“I'm still a little fuzzy on the message of seeking wisdom in God's word instead of Man's technology,” I grinned. “After all, I have an app that gives me helpful Bible verses on demand.”“I think you missed the point, Zane,” she shook her head with mirth. “We need to trust the Word of God over the simple technological solutions that fail to take in the moral implications of the results.”“Wow, when you say it that way, it makes sense,” I applauded. Sahara blushed and gave me another smile.Rio and Barbie Lynn had closed in on Felicity, allowing Iona and I to come up behind Mrs. Wellington. I put my hand on the small of her back and positioned myself at her side.“Hello, Mrs. Wellington,” I greeted her. I knew her first look at me would define a lot about how she felt about last night.“Zane,” she beamed at me. “How are you doing today?”“Better now,” I grinned. “I just wanted to say that I'm downloading those files we discussed when I get to campus this afternoon.”“Oh,” Mrs. Bainbridge sneered, “is Mr. Braxton working on a special project already?”“Zane,” Rochelle Wellington smiled to her rival sweetly, “send Kendra a copy of the notes you showed me. Kendra, Zane has a talent for 3-D imagery that the committee will find quite useful. I thought you might find it nice to have our newest member showing some interest.”“Oh, it is his interest that I'm worried about,” Kendra commented, with a pretty obvious look toward Sahara.Before I could respond to that jab, I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to pull me around.“Pastor William wants a word with you,” Lance informed me.“Okay,” I shrugged, then turned back to Kendra. “Mrs. Bainbridge, I admit that it is my fault that I find Mrs. Penny to be kinder, more compassionate, and more spiritually understanding than you. She is a gentle soul who better relates to what a young man needs.”“Pastor William wants to see you now,” Lance insisted.“That's nice, Lance. I'm talking to your mother,” I said dismissively. “Rochelle, thank you for agreeing to mentor me; I appreciate you helping me understand this Church and this community by taking some of your valuable time to listen to my ideas.”“Ladies, have a nice Sunday. Okay, Lance, let's go see what Pastor Bill wants now,” I told him.“His name is Pastor William,” Lance corrected me somewhat angrily.“No, his name is William Penny and he happens to be a pastor,” I jibed. Lance's response was stymied by our arrival at Pastor Bill's circle of cronies.“Ah, Glenn,” Bill greeted me. “I would like to invite you to dine with my wife and I tomorrow night.” I was smart enough to know that wasn't really an invitation, but still,“I'd like to but this week is our first round of testing for the semester so I'm not sure I can break free,” I answered.“You find time enough for other things, like jail,” he lectured me in a personally degrading matter.“Pastor William, as you will learn about me, people who cross me or threaten the ones I hold dear, I beat bloody and leave broken on the ground,” I smiled evilly right back. The confusion that threat caused was evident because I hadn't been quiet.“Jesus loves the Peacemaker,” Pastor Bill bantered back.“Winners write the history books,” I countered.“That is not very Christian of you,” Mr. Wellington, the Mayor, pointed out.“Jesus Christ ended up nailed to a cross; Emperor Constantine, who converted the whole Roman Empire to Christ's worship, got to build his own city,” I responded.“I won't be as famous but I'll do more and get to bury my enemies before I die,” I added.“Are you sure you were a missionary in Thailand?” another church elder asked.“Oh, I was a missionary all right, but not a very good one. I left the hard work to my Uncle Tim and Aunt Jill,” I informed them.“Did they convert many heathen souls to the World of our Lord?” a third man inquired.“It is not that simple. They taught people to read English and got them in the practice of reading the Bible,” I explained. “They have over a thousand years of culture to work against and many of the tenants of Buddhism are close to our own Christian virtues so it is hard work.”“So that would be a 'No',” Pastor Bill gloated.“Really?” I grinned. “When Uncle Tim went missing, 200 of his flock risked floodwaters in an eventually futile effort to save him. How many of us would risk drowning to save you, Pastor William? I would say that when lives were on the line, his flock did their Christian duty.”I noticed Jill standing on the edge of the group listening, her eyes close to tears. Hey, I hated Tim, but I wasn't going to let these spineless bastards degrade the man in front of his widow, no matter how I felt.“I'm sure we would all rise to the challenge,” Mr. Wellington pontificated.“Then you are as good a man as Uncle Tim,” I trapped him with his own words.“Your Uncle Tim gave everything, including his life,” Pastor Bill said with a smug, superior smile. “His willingness to give should be an example for all.”“I'm already giving. The Festivities Committee's budget seems a bit anemic so I'm going to be funding some of their efforts,” I enlightened him.“That is not how tithes are normally handled,” Pastor Bill corrected me.“I'm not a normal guy,” I grinned. “Pastor, I'll look over my schedule and call your house to let you know if I can swing dinner tomorrow. It has been a wonderful chat but I have to be going now.”I turned and left them there, confident I hadn't made any friends among Bill's inner circle. The price of their friendship was way more than I was willing to pay and it wasn't just monetary. My girls swarmed around me, even Jill.“Thank you, Zane,” Jill said softly. “Tim would have been proud.”“Jill, I said that for you, not him. You stood by him and that shouldn't be trampled on by people who don't know any better,” I comforted her.“I was getting ready to cry out 'Blood and Souls for my Lord Arioch,” Rio grinned.“Why did you antagonize them?” Iona wondered.“They are used to bullying people and getting their way. I let them know I was more than willing to fight,” I told Iona.“He also wanted the women to see what he was doing,” Barbie Lynn said. “I saw a few females, Felicity included, who thought a great deal of how Zane handled the situation.”“Girls love watching men fight over them,” Rio laughed as we exited into the parking lot.“Is everyone coming to our place for lunch?” Jill asked. I took a quick look around the girls who nodded their approval.“Sure thing, Jill; we will be at home in an hour,” I answered.Getting back to campus and into casual clothes wasn't a problem, nor was lunch with Jill. We sat around and shot the shit for an hour afterwards but school work demanded that we head back to school to do some actual classwork. I went by Raven's to pick her up because she'd left me a text (by way of Iona) that she'd made some progress over the weekend.“We really should study in the library,” Raven told me as we headed to my room.“The last time I checked, the library didn't have a snack bar,” I told her. Raven was less than convinced and a bit nervous until we opened the door to the bottom of the steps leading to the Solarium where I lived and the voices of multiple girls welcomed us.“You have company?” she questioned me.“All freshmen are welcome in my room, Raven. You'll see,” I informed her.“Is there going to be anyplace for us to study, ” Raven began to confound me, then we came to the point where you could see past the side of the stairs into the Solarium.“Oh, God,” she muttered at the scope of the room, “you, you have pool tables!” she ended up in a near squeal. “I love pool!” She took a few steps forward into the room before looking back at me. “What is all this? Where did this all come from?”“I was given the entire Solarium as my room, sort of, and I decided to convert most of it to a common area for the freshman class,” I said.“How long has this been going on?” she wondered.“We did it yesterday,” Iona said from the closest sofa. She put down her laptop and walked over to us. “Zane paid for the stuff and we students put it in. Let me show you around.”“You do that, Iona,” I told her, as I gave my diminutive friend a hug, “I'll be in my room.”Iona led Raven deeper into the complex of entertainment while I headed to my room, which seemed to be the quietest place to study today.ValerieI passed around the Chinese silk screens that shielded my private area from the rest of the Solarium and saw my new monster-sized bed. I also saw the tall, honey-blonde Amazon reclining on it, looking my way.“Come here, my Love-Monkey,” she said in a deep, husky voice. I'm sure my mouth gaped open.“Ah, I don't believe we've been introduced,” I managed to finally say. She smiled and patted the bed beside her.“You are seriously hot and I'm positive I'd remember you if we'd met, but I don't and I do need to study so I'm going to ask you to please leave,” I groaned. “Trust me, I really don't want to be asking you that either.”I heard laughter from the far side of the bed and Rio slowly raised her body into sight.“Bro, the look on your face is priceless,” she chuckled.“So this is really your room?” the other girl inquired.“I told you it was,” Rio grinned.“Yes, it is,” I responded as well. “In fact, this entire floor is mine, mainly because the Administration has nowhere else to stick me.”“Rio, what's going on here?” I turned to my other friend.“Honest, Boss,” she beamed, “I found her when I got home. She's my new dorm mate, your replacement.”“You were her first roommate?” the newcomer asked.“For all of one night,” I confessed. “Then everyone realized she had boobies, and I didn't, and I developed this current life of seclusion.”“This is your version of seclusion?” she questioned.“What can I say?” I sighed. “I'm a man of creature comforts. That still doesn't explain you on my bed. Rio?”“She is Valerie Palmer, a new addition to the school,” Rio started, “but that's not the cool part. She's a member of the Stormriders motorcycle gang.” Seeing my lack of name recognition, Rio added, “They are a big deal in the West, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, of course.”“Nice to meet you, Valerie.” I knelt on the bed and extended my hand. “I'm Glenn Zane Braxton, but everyone calls me Zane. Welcome to FFU, and what brought you to us?”“Dad is a born-again Christian and he wanted me to come here, so here I am,” she shrugged. Now, to me that made no sense, as she should have been eighteen, thus her own person, but who was I to press into her personal matters.“Damn it, Zane, I keep forgetting you were living in a cave for the past two years,” Rio shook her head. “Her grandfather is Daniel 'Damien' Palmer.” Again, I didn't know who that person was.“My grandfather is doing three life sentences,” Valerie said with a degree of weariness.“Fine. I should take it the Stormriders are not a motorcycle club, then,” I grinned at her.Valerie's eyes and mine locked for several seconds.“Are you arrogant, stupid, or really unconcerned?” Valerie asked me.“A little of all three,” Rio chimed in.“You should never ask a man if he's arrogant because if he is, he won't know it,” I responded.“I'm smart enough to get into this university, but them I'm dumb enough to be the only guy at this university,” I continued. “I can honestly tell you I really don't care who you were before you came here. It is none of my damn business. If you want to be friends, I'm game.” Valerie nodded. “Oh, and Rio is a nutjob, but if you hurt her, I'll make you suffer, I swear it.”“Is that supposed to scare me, rich boy?” Valerie said, becoming very serious and sitting up, “because I'm not impressed.”“I didn't say it to impress you, Valerie,” I met her gaze, “I believe in fair warning. I don't care if you are damaged goods or you are one stone-cold, bad-ass bitch; you mess with Rio and I'll take her pain out of your hide.”“Rio, I thought you told me this guy was cool,” Valerie said to Rio while still looking at me.“Best guy in the whole God-damn world,” Rio beamed.“Zane, have you ever stabbed somebody?” Valerie quizzed me.“On purpose or by accident?” I asked.“How do you stab someone by accident?” Valerie wondered.“You toss their ass into a stand of bamboo so hard the stalks break and they get impaled,” I answered. “I take it you've done it on purpose.” She shrugged.“Do you fight much?” she changed tact.“More than I should,” I replied, “but I butt in where I don't belong too much.”“Me too,” Valerie nodded, “on the 'I fight more than I should' thing.”“Well, I would rather talk shit upfront than spill blood later,” I pointed out.“Like warning me about Rio,” she nodded.“Please believe me, she's a nut and will get on your nerves, so please don't toss her out a window or down the stairs because I'm actually attached to her,” I grinned. Rio flopped on the bed.“I should be mouthing empty denials but Zane's pretty much right,” Rio snickered, “and if he hadn't fucked me silly on the preacher's desk this morning, I'd be in his face about this bullshit.”“You had sex on your preacher's desk?” Valerie smiled.“Zane, what are these girls, what the hell?” Raven went off. “What kind of bedroom is this?”“Raven, you know Rio and this is her new roommate Valerie. Valerie, this is Raven,” I groaned.“Hey, Raven,” Valerie greeted her. “So do you normally walk into Zane's bedroom too?”“No,” Raven blushed. “He invited me over to do some work on our English project.” Iona stepped in behind Raven and waved to Rio.“Iona, Valerie; Valerie, Iona,” I sighed.“Wait!” Valerie raised her hand and looked back to me. “Are you gay? Because I see a lot of girls strolling into your room and none of them have been identified as your girlfriend yet.”“Technically, that would be Heaven,” Iona volunteered. “She's a senior.”“Can we get back to everyone being in Zane's room?” Raven grumbled. “And what is he doing with a bed as big as my entire room back home?” Valerie appraised the room.“Got it,” she laughed. “You are sleeping with her (Iona) and her (Rio), but not you (Raven).”“Of course I'm not sleeping with him,” Raven shot back. “I took a Purity Pledge, as should all of you.”“I'm not a virgin,” Valerie responded.“Me, either,” Rio waved.“I am,” Iona raised her hand.“That's nice,” I directed. “Rio, Valerie, and Iona, please leave. I've invited Raven to my room so we can do actual classwork because I occasionally like to pretend I'm in college for an education.”“On it, Zane,” Rio snickered. “Come on, Valerie, let's go check out the hot tub. I wanted to show you to Zane so he could put you on his 'To Do' list.” Iona shook her head and left.“I've got a boyfriend,” Valerie clarified.“Thank God,” I muttered, which drew looks from all three women. After Rio and Val left, Raven kept staring at me.“I, does this happen to you often?” she finally asked.“Yes, but I've learned to adjust,” I pointed out.We sat down on the bed, Raven pulled out four library books on the period we were looking into, and we began going through them and taking notes.“Is Heaven really your girlfriend?” Raven asked after a while.“Yes, but it is more complicated than that. I love another girl but I don't know if she loves me, and I spend time with a dozen other girls here, plus I have friends at a Sorority House off campus,” I explained.“And you sleep with Rio, who isn't a virgin, and Iona, who is,” she stated, and I confirmed with a nod.“I was wrong. If you can keep all that straight in your head, you have a good grasp of details. We are going to do fine on this term paper.”“Thank you, Raven,” I smiled at her, and for a change, she smiled back.GUST FRONTI would have liked to spend the night with Iona and Barbie Lynn but Iona informed me that Coach Dana Gorman had tested her security code earlier in the day and I figured something was up; nothing good for me and my friends. Sure enough, at 12:10 in the morning, my little buzzer by the bed that informed me that a key code was being entered woke me up.I silenced the alarm (no sense in letting them know that I had it) and waited in bed. Shortly thereafter, the Coach and two female security guards came strolling in.“Alone?” Dana quipped.“You asking me out?” I grinned.“Get up; we need to check the bed, if that is what you call this thing,” she motioned to my sleeping platform. I dutifully got out of bed.“What are you doing?” she snapped when she realized I was naked.“Getting out of bed like you asked me to. I sleep in the nude, or didn't you already know that?” I yawned.“Put some clothes on,” she ordered. I picked up my robe and put it on while they stripped back my sheets and looked for bodily fluids under the dark light. I had been at my Aunt's the past two nights, so yes, my bed was still fresh. Unsatisfied, Dana and her two buddies began roughly going over my place.When they finally discovered nothing (my hiding places were specifically designed), the two officers turned and left.“I'll be keeping an eye on you, Zane. You can expect this to be a regular occurrence,” she promised. I simply stared. We remained looking at one another for a minute because she knew I was up to something.“That's right, step out of line and make my job easier,” she noted. Again I kept my silence. It would have been easy to take this personally but I'd told her this was War and I took that seriously. I doubted I was the sole beneficiary of their attention so I had to get ready to respond to their next move.“Nothing to say?” she asked. I kept staring. “Say something, damn it,” she growled.“Good night, Coach,” I obliged. She shook her head, turned, and walked away. When I saw the door close behind her I went back to my room and took out my phone. I made three calls to the concerned parties and a final call to Iona, to have her wipe my call log. I can't say I slept well that night.Showering in the morning was troublesome enough on normal days but this morning, Rio decided to invite Valerie to join us. I did my best to pretend to ignore her, which wasn't easy. Valerie was around six feet with milky skin where the sun didn't reach and tanned where it did. Her hair was golden-blonde and she was trimmed, not shaved. Her eyes were grey with a hint of blue around the edges; he breasts were a solid C without a hint of sag. There sure were a lot of blondes going to this school.I could see the mental calculations going through her head as she walked in and the other girls eyed her. In the hierarchy of this place, I didn't hold a place; proximity to me showed a girl's status among the crowd. Opal was top dog, but Rio and Iona were marked by their close relationship with me as well.Valerie clearly thought about walking away from it all to spare herself the drama and the grief. She countered that with the knowledge that she had to fit in somewhere in this school, and as non-traditional as she was, her best bet was with us. She answered that internal struggle by taking the shower one down from me, next to Opal.Opal expressed her dominance to Valerie by corralling me into a body massage and a show of mutual affection. I thought Valerie was unimpressed with those actions but as we got into it, I sensed she was intrigued by the notion of having sex without actually having sex, and the sexual arousal that came with it.As I settled in front of the sink to brush my hair, shave, and brush my teeth, Valerie took the sink beside me.“You don't seem to mind all these naked bodies around you,” she noted.“Why should I? I enjoy them and they enjoy me. I like making them happy, and my presence certainly makes their lives more difficult so I'm glad to help,” I explained.“So, do things ever go to the next level?” Valerie asked.“Not here, and not with most of these women; they are virgins and happy about that fact. They want to be virgins on their wedding nights and I respect that,” I answered.“Rio makes you out to be some sort of sex-crazed stud monster,” Val informed me.“Rio's not a virgin and her only plans for marriage involve her being a black widow to her old, rich husbands,” I grinned.“Is she, bi-sexual?” Valerie whispered.“Yes, I can verify that she is,” I replied quietly. “Has she hit on you yet? Wait, silly question, have you thrown her out of your bed yet?”“This morning I found her sucking on my nipple through my nightshirt,” she smirked.“Rio needs constant reminding of where the boundaries are,” I informed Val.“You two talking about me?” Rio came bouncing up. “Is there a three-way in our future? Who gets tied up?” Valerie groaned in response.“Rio, there is such a thing as personal space and acceptable roommate behavior,” I told Rio. “Things like spontaneously feeling her up while she sleeps are BAD!”“God, damn it!” Rio squalled, “But did you see the size of those bad boys? They are huge and puffy and I swear, they were calling out to me across the room.”“In my long and illustrious career with the female nipple, they have never talked to me. If you don't behave, I'm going to have to tie you up at the next orgy and make you watch,” I warned. I couldn't threaten to take away something she had, like her piercings; that would make her dig in her heels. Instead, I went after the things she was looking forward to.“Don't forget to secure her hands over her head so she can't diddle herself,” Valerie got into the sport of things.“Good point,” I agreed.“Major buzz-kill, you two. Valerie, you are trying to make your first day here no fun at all,” Rio teased.“Which reminds me; Valerie, has Rio warned you about Handmaiden's Duty?” I inquired. Rio looked offended that I would say such a thing while Val looked confused.“It is a tradition here that requires all freshmen to perform a task of a non-damaging nature for any and all upperclassmen. They cannot grab you in class or a dorm room, but anywhere else is fair game,” I informed her.“My first task was to be a bench for someone to sit on,” Rio grinned.“Mine was to kiss a girl,” I nodded.“Kiss her? Cordelia damn near passed out, you kissed her so long and deep,” Rio teased me.“The first one was very nice and chaste,” Iona stepped up and added. “It was the second one that curled her toes and started the stampeded on Zane.”“What do I do if a girl asks me to kiss her?” Valerie worried.“Tell her you are waiting for your herpes to clear up,” Rio volunteered.“It isn't likely to happen,” Iona came across with sounder advice. “Homosexuality is frowned on at this campus.”“I'd tell you to kiss them and enjoy the moment, but I'm a guy,” I shrugged.“I'm still not sure what is normal for this place,” Valerie related.“Rio and Zane are aberrations,” Iona offered. “Most of the girls here are fundamentalist Christian virgins who are looking to get married once they graduate this place.”“What is your story?” Val asked Iona.“I was pretty much the girl I just described until I met these two,” she smiled. “Now I feel that I have, options.”“Options like prison time,” Rio laughed, “or becoming a sex toy at an S&M club.”“I was thinking more like taking a summer and roaming the country,” Iona glared Rio.“Maybe I could teach you to ride a motorcycle and you can come with me,” Valerie offered.“That would be wonderful!” Iona brightened up. “When could we start?”“This afternoon, if you like,” Val responded. “My ride is in the parking lot.”“You have a motorcycle, here?” Rio exclaimed.“Rio, it is hard to be in a motorcycle gang without a chopper,” Valerie pointed out.“On that note, I have to go,” I sighed. New girls were starting to migrate in, meaning I had to retreat to my room. “Take care, everyone.”The crapstormThe crapstorm fell on us as we left the dorm. All kinds of upperclassmen snatched up freshmen as they appeared and shadowed Pro-Christina students they couldn't grab. Rio and I were able to shove off of Valerie before she was identified as being with one of us, so she made it to the Dining Hall unmolested.I didn't have to do anything too heinous, carry three backpacks while reciting the Gospel of Luke from memory (ugh). They made Rio sing 'Onward Christian Soldier' because it was the only religious song she'd admit to knowing. She did a horrific hack-job of it too. They had Iona going through the descendants of Noah; she knocked them back flawlessly, Brainiac.It got better at the Dining Hall door where Rhaine oversaw the removal of every electronic device from the incoming students, no phones, tablets or laptops, nothing capable of rapid communication. Then came the assigned seating designed to break us all up. Surprisingly, Valerie looped back around and joined us in the line.She leaned into me.“What the fuck is going on?” she whispered.“There is a war going on between the Pro-Christina faction Rio, Iona and I belong to, and the Pro-Rhaine faction, which is supported by the Administration. I didn't want to get you involved,” I explained as I saw Mrs. Marlowe closing in.“Mr. Braxton, be quiet,” she snapped.“Of course, Ms. Marlowe,” I nodded to her; she glared back. We had assigned seating for breakfast, isolating us. Conversations were kept to a minimum by roving teachers and the mood was getting grim, made worse by a slow drizzle that began to fall outside. Still, things weren't hopeless.As I was putting my food tray away, Paige of the Science Club slipped past me.“Copper Seven,” she whispered.Cordelia, head of the Science Club, was definitely the smartest person on campus. She'd created a list of contingency plans for us to use if things went bad. We should have been getting them on our phones but the Chancellor had stymied us there.Instead, things were circulating by word of mouth. In this case, Copper Seven, things were simple. Copper meant theft and Seven was the code for communications. We were stealing the facility's phones, crashing their computers, and doing whatever mischief we could to make communications difficult, if not impossible.I had the pleasure of passing the word on to Rio, who gave me a look that would have made any brigand with a handful of gold proud. I didn't know the specifics of Rio's criminal history but I knew she definitely had one, and I'd have been stunned if pickpocket and shoplifting weren't part of her repertoire. I'd warned Coach Gorman about making shit like this fascist suppression policy up.I barely recalled what I was forced to perform on the way to Assembly because what happened there was so memorable. We got the standard lecture, then the Chancellor laid into Christina for all the disruptions the student body was going through, Christina and a few other malcontents. What made it memorable was, at the end of Dr. Bass's speech, a freshman I barely knew, Millicent Pierce, stood up and raised her fist in defiance.“That's bullshit!” she cried out.“Sit down and be quiet, child!” the Chancellor commanded. “Coach Gorman,” she then directed our head of security toward the young girl. Millicent wasn't done yet.“You are lying to us!” she screamed out again.As Gorman and a second teacher made their way to our young rebel, Rio stood up with a raised fist.“Shame!” Rio called out. A dozen of us followed suit. Teachers flooded off the stage but Cappadocia figured out that if you joined up with other girls and linked arms, they couldn't drag you out.Girls were screaming at girls, shoving began, and soon blows were being exchanged and Assembly degenerated to a nasty furball. We were threatened with demerits, detention, and finally expulsion, but nothing seemed to curtail the conflict. I saw Ms. Goodswell leave the melee and go to the base of the podium and begin to plead with Bass about something.I could see that Goodswell was trying to get the Chancellor to let Christina come onto the stage and quiet her followers but our Glorious Leader wouldn't budge. Christina could see the gestures and I knew she was about to end things anyway. There was something I had to do before things fell apart.I leapt up and began using the backs and arm rests to jump across the crowd. I made it to Millicent right ahead of Gorman. Millicent seemed stunned to see me hovering over her but it was too noisy to communicate. I pulled her up and retreated back the way I'd come, keeping her out of Gorman's clutches for the moment.“Thanks,” she grinned at me.“Who is your Spiritual Advisor?” I responded. “We need to get you to her so you don't face the Chancellor alone.”“Ms. Trenton,” Millicent responded.Ms. Trenton wasn't one of the 'good guys' but she wasn't on our enemies list either. I located Trenton and angled us toward her.“This is crazy,” Millicent gasped. After all, if we tumbled, we might very well break our necks. Ms. Trenton didn't look happy to see either one of us but she immediately clued into why I was dropping her student off on her. She grabbed Millicent by the arm and led her away. This was a good thing because our rebellion was about spent for the moment.A minute later we had quieted down. Dr. Bass threatened us with a whole new series of punishments before exiling us off to our first classes. I had the joy of getting hate blasted my way by both the Chancellor and Coach Gorman. I didn't have long to dwell on it because the moment we stepped out, a new group of upperclassmen descended on us freshmen.“Walk the other way or I'll feed you your lungs,” growled Rio as she stepped in front of a group of us and stared down a slightly larger group of students. At times like this, I really wish Rio knew how to fight. On the other hand, she plays 'crazy' real well and it takes a certain desire to experience pain to conf

Heaven & Mercy callude (part 10)A Spring Break 13-part Novel.Can Zane go 24 hours without sex?By FinalStand. The player above contains the intro section. Listen to the complete episode by clicking here, at Steamy Stories. *Anyone can be who they want to be; the challenge is being who you need to be*My journey to the Dining Hall this Wednesday was enlivened by carrying, bridal style, a sophomore named Courtney while playing out a scene from Tristan and Isolde. I had Rhaine, Joy, and Mercy as escorts/minders, but Rhaine was now defining her responsibility as keeping me from misbehaving, not stopping me, and the other students from having fun.Tristan and Isolde was some kind of chick-flick taken from a Wagnerian play so technically it wasn't on the ‘banned' list. With me was the added bonus that it wasn't homo-erotic (being a guy in a romantic relationship with a girl, in the play) and that I could actually carry Isolde in my arms.A larger than normal crowd had gathered for my dutiful performance and while I generally received rave reviews, I did catch a few girls talking about redoing the skit with a Sampson and Delilah theme. I pledged to avoid girls with shears like the plague. We bunched up around one of the entrances to the Dining Hall as I finished our script and carefully placed her back on her feet.Among the scattering of applause and the press of bodies, I felt Mercy stumble into me. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open in surprise, and her breathing was coming in ragged gasps. My answer came when I looked over her shoulder and saw Rio, looking very casual but pumping her arm rapidly against Mercy's back.When we got into the food line, Rio smirked and began sucking her forefinger which was sticky and slick.“Seriously, in the middle of the crowd? You just couldn't resist?” I teased her.“Next I'm sticking in the butt plug,” she whispered in a conspiratorial manner. “I have it in my book bag and I'm jumping her after BA. Do you want to help?”“I'd rather face dismemberment than break Iona's schedule,” I sighed quietly.“Some He-Man you are,” she giggled. “You'll go five rounds with Gorman but Iona has you pussy-whipped.”“If I have to go, I could hardly pick a better woman,” I responded, and wrapped an arm around Iona's waist and rested my hand on her hip.“Yes, Zane?” Iona looked up at me with an exotic combination of innocence and genius.“Rio reminded me how lucky we are to have you with us,” was my answer.“Oh, that's nice,” Iona beamed up at me. “I thought it had something to do with Rio putting her hand under Mercy Chaplain's skirt.” I chuckled and Rio grumbled.“I have glasses,” Iona stated, “I'm not blind.”“Did anyone else notice?” I inquired.“No. I think Rio was pretty smooth, but if experience has taught me anything, it is Rio who is going to be the troublemaker, not you, Zane,” Iona stated calmly. “I was paying attention to her.”“Oh, Cordelia wanted to know if you could come by the Science Club today around two-thirty and help us with a little problem we are having,” Iona inquired.“What's the problem?” I asked.“Why didn't Cordy ask him herself?” Rio questioned.“I don't know the answer to either of those questions,” Iona admitted.“It is illegal, illicit, and off the record,” Rio pronounced.“No, it is not,” Iona battled back.“Trust me, I've done my share of things I didn't want the authorities to know about and this stinks of that kind of stunt,” Rio explained.“I'll be with Zane; nothing will happen. Besides, we are the Science Club, not an international criminal syndicate,” Iona told Rio.“I'll be okay,” I promised Rio. On the other hand, the Science Club wasn't all flowers, bells, and puppy dog tails.They hacked the school's computer systems, had illegal internet hook-ups, and were re-wiring a dorm floor for my personal pleasure, and Rio's criminal instincts were more often right than wrong. We were able to get our seats and enjoy most of breakfast before Iona nudged me.“Don't you ever answer your messages?” Iona inquired.“I have them all automatically forwarded to you,” I countered. “It seemed like the sanest thing to do.”“But you don't even know what's going on in your life,” she worried.“Darling, I have you to keep me from falling off the face of the Earth. I trust you to keep me on an even keel. Besides, someone hacked my phone yesterday so I'm not sure how safe I would be without you,” I enlightened her.“Someone hacked your phone?” Iona gasped. “Any idea who?”“Cordelia; she put herself at the top of my Handmaiden's list. I didn't mind, but the fact that she did it means it could be done,” I told her. Iona shot an angry glare in Cordelia's direction.“Don't worry about it, Iona,” Rio joked. “Have you known anyone to mess with Zane and not pay for it eventually?”“That doesn't mean I like it,” Iona kept glaring. I tapped her shoulder, then led her gaze to me by tugging on her jaw.“Let it go. In the social hierarchy, we are freshmen, despite any accomplishments. Trust me, I know: There are some fights you don't get into until you are ready. Cordelia likes you because you are useful but don't try her patience too far or she'll break you.”“I don't like it. This is high school all over again,” Iona grumbled.“The major difference,” Rio pointed out, “you have a sick psycho like me and a stud like Zane who have your back. We've left you alone once and that was only in hopes you would get out from under the hammer that was falling on us.”“Oh, we were told about your conversation with the Chancellor. I liked what you said,” I told her thoughtfully, “but I believe Rio and I could have done it better.”“Who would you have quoted?” wondered Iona. I exchanged a fanatical look with Rio.“THIS is SPARTA!” we shouted in unison, “and then we would have kicked her desk out the window,” I added.Iona sighed, looked down at her tray, and grinned while half the dining hall gazed our way.“You two are nuts,” she chuckled.“Ninja Urban Terrorists,” Rio and I declared together, “that's us.” The rest of breakfast passed without incident or too much Humor.It is not the Distance; It is the Weight on your BackGetting out looked to be a bit less friendly as Rhaine, Joy and Mercy added two other girls to their entourage.“Zane, Rio, Iona, we have a duty for you,” Rhaine announced. “You will carry our books, on your knees, and on the sidewalk.”“Well, Kemosabe, do we ignore them or kick their asses?” Rio looked to me. “Man, here I am without my hate-mallet too.”“I'm going for benign indifference,” I informed Rio. “Rhaine, we already have an assigned Handmaiden duty and we are not required to partake of any task that would result in our physical harm.”“We let Christina get away with it because we were isolated and new, but that's not the case anymore,” I explained. “You break the rules and we'll defend ourselves.”“Then we are taking you to the Chancellor's office,” Rhaine declared loudly. At this time my two buddies were despairing over the lack of appearance by our allies but I tend to have more faith in the fairness of Human nature.“Civil disobedience,” I advised Iona. To Rio, I explained, “Make yourself dead weight.” Rhaine's Traditionalists came forward and we three fell to the ground.“Get up,” Joy demanded of Rio.“Nope, not going to happen,” she gleefully shot back. Joy gave Rio a strong nudge with the foot.“What are you doing?” a cold calm voice pierced the setting. It was Coach Dana Gorman.“I, what, we are doing what Rhaine told us to do,” Joy stammered.“Kicking a student is grounds for dismissal,” Dana informed Joy. “Physical violence is only acceptable in self-defense, and only when withdrawal is not an option.”“Coach Gorman, we were told, ” Rhaine began.“Ms. Ritchie, the Board of Directors can alter the Handbook whenever they wish, and if they ever say that bludgeoning another student merely because they disagree with you is permissible, I'll be sure to let you know.”“Yes, Mam,” Rhaine gulped.“You three, stop loafing about and get to class” Gorman addressed us. “We can all hope you flunk out your first semester, but until you do, I am required to make sure you are in your classes at the appointed time. Now go!” she grumbled to Rio, Iona and I.“Yes, Mam,” Iona and I said as we stood up once more. Rio merely growled. We quickly parted Rhaine and company, then headed to class. Soon enough, Christina and her crowd appeared around us.“What tree were you bitches hiding behind?” Rio griped. That did not get her a pleasant response.“Rio, they were always with us,” I said, putting a hand on Rio's shoulder. “They also sent people to get Coach Gorman and others to get Ms. Goodswell in case things went bad. Cappadocia and Wilhelmina were rounding up the troops in case Rhaine tried to force us. By keeping the field clear of obvious forces, we resolved this fight in a way that didn't make us look bad.”“You got all that while talking to Rhaine and watching every sane FFU girl running away from us?” Rio gawked.“If an ally betrays you, they will stand by and watch. If you don't see them, assume they are fighting elsewhere on your behalf, or so the saying goes,” I related.“That sounds like dark matter, you know it is there because you can't see it,” Iona nodded, “but you see its effects.”“Essentially,” Christina remarked.“I'd like to know one thing,” Faith inquired: “Have you slept with Coach Gorman too? She seems to have joined our side very suddenly.”“She's not on our side and she's not our friend, but I did outline how this fight would work. If they break the rules, we break the rules, and chaos ensues. If the Coach keeps things fair, Rio and I will go down by our own faults or succeed on our merits, Christina will still beat Rhaine, and this year might not suck so much for the average student, freshmen included,” I said.“How do you jibe following the rules with having a different girl in your bed every night?” Hope taunted me with a hint of seduction. Heaven looked equal parts embarrassed and sensually hungry.“I don't believe he has a woman in his bed every night,” Christina corrected.“Expecting Zane to sleep alone is like putting a lion among your sheep and expecting to eat lamb next season; theoretically possible, but it goes against his nature,” Hope laughed.“I have not had a woman in my bed every night,” I sniffed indignantly.“Yeah,” Rio rallied to my defense, “there was that night you barred Barbie Lynn and, actually, I think that was the only night, though he didn't sex me up that first night on campus.”“I think it is safe to say that the female student body has made good use of Zane's time here amongst us,” Chastity noted, as she lightly slapped my shoulder.“Well, in case anyone cares, I'm going to a church function tonight and stopping by the Kappa Sigma house on the way back. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish up some Biology reading and go to bed early,” I declared.“And if you find a girl in your bed when you get in?” Hope teased.“He'll assume it is a day ending in ‘y',” Iona snickered.“Et tu, Iona?” Christina stated loftily.“In that case, please spread the word,” I muttered darkly. “I'm coming home and stealing Iona away to my lair for some much needed discipline and loyalty reinforcement.” Iona remained still while the other girls looked around.“Seriously?” Faith wondered.“I play around a lot but never with Iona,” I explained. “If she doesn't lock her door, she's mine.”“Iona, I'll help you barricade the door,” Heaven offered. Iona didn't say anything but the look she shot Heaven clearly stated 'don't you dare!'The Research Partnership“Zane?” Virginia Goodswell requested my attention as I approached my English class.“Hey, Teach, I'm ready to have my head stuffed with learning,” I grinned.“That's good, because we are choosing Authors and Works today, along with project partners,” Virginia instructed.“So, Ms. Goodswell, who is my boy Zane partnered up with? Or is there going to be a Thunder Dome match to figure that out?” Rio beamed with failed innocence.“Ms. Talon,” my teacher sighed, “it is a volunteer process, and I'm not sure any girl in my class wants to work with Mr. Braxton.”“Zane, when the feeding frenzy begins, jump for the ceiling lights,” Chastity joked with me. At least I hoped she was joking. The ladies wished me luck and we parted ways. After taking our assigned seats, Virginia went over our latest lessons and then introduced us to our semester project. The first thing to decide was the partnerships.“Before we partner up,” Virginia asked the class, “would any of you consider teaming up with Zane Braxton to get this done? Hands please.” Multiple hands flew up. Virginia looked over the class, nodded, and said, “Thank you.” She looked it over, “Raven, Barbara, and Céline, each of you give me the reason why you don't want to work with Zane.”Ms. Goodswell had chosen the three girls who hadn't raised their hands. Barbara and Celine didn't want to work with me because they were afraid I would rape them the moment we were alone, “sigh”. Raven's answer was that she was afraid that my lack of a structured education would make the paper more difficult.Raven Thorpe was awarded the 'honor' of working with me, a designation she groaned over, and other girls glared at her with jealousy. After class she attempted to shoulder past me but I tapped her arm.“Can we talk for a second?” I inquired.“Don't you have to scurry off and take care of your schedule?” she replied blandly.“Can you stop being a bitch for fifteen seconds so we can figure out which author we can work on?” I snapped angrily. She pulled up short as if she expects to be pimp-slapped next.“Okay, who do you have in mind?” she requested. “And if you say William Shakespeare, I am going to smack you with my book bag.”“I was thinking the political works of Edmund Burke,” I suggested. Raven blinked.“Seriously, I didn't think you even knew who Edmund Burke was, much less that he was the father of modern conservatism,” Raven congratulated me. It was almost like she wanted to pat me on the head and give me a doggy bone.“I was thinking of concentrating more on his works during the American Revolution, but if that's what you are more comfortable with, we could cover his later period works instead,” I offered.“Good point, Zane. Let's talk it over during lunch,” Raven suggested.“Zane,” summoned a female voice from outside the classroom.“Go on,” Raven smirked, “enjoy your disproportionate level of abuse.”“You act like I have any choice in the matter,” I shrugged.It was of little consolation that Raven made it ten more feet from the door when she got snatched up too. This time out, my mistress got to point to a feature on her body and I had to give it a flattering description, I know, my life is utter hell.I had no idea where the Science Club met; I even began to get the sinking feeling they carefully controlled any information about themselves, sort of like a secret society, or the CIA.Paige & the Science Club“Hello, I'm Paige,” spoke this girl, who apparently materialized out of the ether. I'm not paranoid; I've spent the past two years in a region where you have to be alert because Tigers are common and I say this girl freaking ghosted me, Man.“I'm with the Science Club. You will come with me right now,” she smiled like said predator cat trying to disguise herself as a white rabbit.“You are albino,” I noted. She had long white hair, alabaster skin, and a red shadow to her eyes. She was also the only girl to date I'd seen with the dark blue jacket that was part of our winter uniform. She also had a jaunty blue hat and white stockings instead of socks.“You have eyes,” she rolled hers, “now come along.” I started to follow her.“So what is this meeting about?” I asked.“It isn't a meeting; we require you for something,” she replied.“What is it?” I became more cautious.“It is a surprise,” she mocked me. “Stop wasting my time and come along.”“Cool, I'm out of here.” I grinned, turned, and left. Paige staggered and seemed unable to grasp my departure.“Where are you going?” she snapped tartly.“To Archery Club,” I replied, while still walking away.“But, but you said you would come,” she stuttered.“Am I a person? Are you?”“Yes and yes,” she replied with irritation.“Are you an idiot or a child? Because those are the only reasons to forgive your spoiled behavior,” I turned and said. Paige glared. “So you assume you are smarter than me and can be rude to someone who is doing you a favor.”“We are the ones doing you a favor,” Paige snapped back. “Now we want you to repay us.”“Did you discuss payment when you did me the favor of rewiring my room? No? Good, because if you had, I would clearly be suffering a form of amnesia,” I gave back. “If you want something, you can ask as a friend or you can offer me something that makes it worth my while. Now go back to Cordelia and tell her you have returned alone because you were so much smarter than me. If you could only 'speak friend', ” I continued walking away.“Wait,” Paige called out nervously. “I, I, ” and I could almost hear the wheels turning. “Speak friend and enter.” I stopped in midstride.“So you read through my school records and know my top ten influences,” I turned and responded. We stared at each other for almost a minute until she finally gave up and put on her sunglasses. I retraced my steps back to her.“Favorite member of the Fellowship?” I tested her.“Legolas,” she responded. I scoffed and she had the Human decency to look embarrassed.“Ha,” I scoffed again. “Horny girls go for the elf; the marrying kind goes for Aragorn.”“Who is yours, then, wise guy?” she volleyed.“Boromir,” I declared my allegiance.“Ah, of course; the veteran warrior in a doomed struggle; he forsakes his honor only to redeem it in a hopeless fight, perishing in the arms of his brothers,” Paige retorted. “I thought you would have gone for Aragorn, the Uncrowned King.”“Hum,” I winced, “my second choice was actually Frodo but that would have sounded gay.”“You can't be gay; you are not clever enough to conceal that,” she stated.“See, now you are sounding like Saruman the White,” I teased.“Let me guess: because I'm an albino,” she grumbled.“You are an albino? I was talking about your facial hair and that arrogant, know-it-all vibe you've got going on,” I joked. Paige stared at me, suddenly speechless, finally taping her chin.“At least you didn't call me Gollum,” she admitted.“Nah; too much hair and not enough skin slime,” I explained as I ran the back of one finger over her cheek. She flinched slightly.“Are you going to, please, come with me now?” she asked much more politely.“Are you going to have sex with me?” I grinned.“WHAT!?!?” she squawked.“Just joshing you,” I smiled. “You are far too pretty to be interested in me. Let's go.”I'd clearly unsettled her because she didn't say another word to me until we were going downstairs in the Clegger Science Building.“Do you really think I'm pretty?” she asked as we finished the last set of stairs.“I must confess I find most women attractive, but you are far prettier than most,” I replied.“Do you still want to have sex with me?” she said in a casual voice. I took her hand and placed it on my heart. “Hah,” she snorted, “I get it; your heart is beating so yes, you want to have sex with me.”“I was going to say that a steady heartbeat indicated I was telling the truth, but someone keeps insisting they are smarter than me,” I teased her. Am I really asking for another sex partner? What's wrong with me?Her reaction wasn't what I expected it to be and then I realized that she still had something over on me, the reason for me being here. Bitch. She opened a door into a dark room and ushered me in. There appeared to be about ten ladies in the room, playing with a variety of electronics.“Delivered as promised,” Paige called out.“What did he hit you with?” a short caramel-skinned girl inquired.“Fellowship of the Ring,” Paige grinned. Mother-fuckers!“Did he offer to have sex with you?” Cordelia asked playfully.“Yes. And not only gave me a 'pretty' but also a 'far prettier'.” Paige gave me a smug look.“Ha, ha, ha,” I muttered. Idiot me forgot that psychology is also a science, and the reason we don't have a chess club at FFU was also evident; the Science Club devoured them.“Come on, Zane,” Cordelia batted her full lashes at me. “We need a little favor and it won't take fifteen minutes.”“Couldn't you simply coerce me into doing this?” I stated. “I'm sure this whole rigmarole of making me think I'm doing you a favor has to be making things more difficult.”“We are all friends here,” Cordelia smiled.“No, if we were all friends here, Iona would be at my side,” I scolded her. “I admit you did a great scam getting me in this room, but you aren't nearly as good at lying to my face as you think you are.”“Iona, ” Paige started to say.“Don't!” Cordelia snapped, then took a deep breath. “If you threaten Iona he will hit you, no,” she corrected, “He'll hit me,” Cordelia reasoned out.“There are eleven of us,” another girl, Pandora Jaspers, stated, somewhat angry and confident.“I've seen him fight, Pandora. I saw him drop Mercy Chaplain. I've seen him fight Cappadocia Davis and Coach Gorman too,” Cordelia said coolly as we stared at one another. “Unless we curl up in a ball on the ground, he'll beat us down. We'll hurt him, but Zane can take more pain than we can because he cares about her.”“On that note, I'm gone again. Good going Paige; I'm sure you can think of something to make your sisters understand,” I shrugged and moved for the door.“Zane, I need you to strip down and let us attach a series of video and biometric sensors so we can create a 'Virtual Zane' for a little project we are working on,” Cordelia blurted out.I had to think hard about this; not because I didn't want to do it but because I had to figure if this was an honest play or another convoluted turn of the screws. I turned and looked at Cordelia.“There was no way in hell you ever thought I was a professor and you miraculously materialized outside my first class with the knowledge I was actually a freshman, damn, Cordelia, can't you just ask for stuff?” I berated her.“If you ask, you depend on another to get what you want; if you deceive, you win or lose on your own abilities,” she shrugged. “Besides, I did ask you to kiss me; remember?”“Good enough; where do you want me to stand?” I responded.“Wait,” Paige gawked. “Now he is doing it.”“Alright ladies,” one girl grinned. “Everyone pay up. I told you we should simply ask him.”With that, I stepped over to a table and began stripping. Slowly the girls around me stopped what they were doing and openly ogled me. I guess the real me was better than the video.“Aren't you curious about what we are going to do?” Pandora inquired.“You are probably going to tell me that I'm posing naked because it is easier to dress an 'uncluttered' form, or something to that effect, but really, I like Cordelia and Iona is one of my two best friends,” I mulled it over. “Besides, in case you missed it, I've seen all your faces.”Once they took that bit of news in, things went along smoothly, though they had some debate amongst themselves on whether my cock needed its own 'reference point', a sensor attached.The amusing thing was, when the girl running the computer imaging asked me to keep my penis still, I had to reply that certain reactions weren't under my control, which caused a rather awkward moment. When I was finally finished there was another quiet interlude as I got dressed.“So,” Cordelia wondered, rocking back and forth on her feet, “if we need more, data, could we get you to come back?”“Sure,” I smiled back, “you know where I live, and you certainly know what my digits are. Cordelia, I want you to consider that if something happens in my room that ends up on the web that betrays the trust people have put in me, I'm not going to come after all of you looking for excuses. Are we clear?”“Is that a threat, Zane?” Cordelia beamed playfully.“Cordelia, I'm always one step away from being tossed out of here on my ass, so those who chose to trust me and take up my cause are doing it because they are decent folk. I'm not like most people; I can't afford to toss friends away like most of the rest of the people in this room seem to be comfortable with.”“Or what,” Paige smirked, “you'll beat us up?”“No, Paige. I value trust, so if you take that away from me, I'll find out what you value and take that away from you,” I stared at her intently.“I know what you are going to say, Paige,” Cordelia jumped in, “and Zane being expelled will only mean that he has no other distractions from dealing with us and he'll still have people inside the school all too willing to help him.”“Zane, how about if something is done, we give you an off switch for various sections?” Cordelia offered.“Sounds great; let me know how the project works out, but now I have to go to Archery,” I replied, before slipping out the door.“How did he know we were going to wire his room?” I overheard Paige whisper to Cordelia.“You don't seriously think he came here solely because we tricked him, do you?” Cordelia answered. “He knew we would try something and he wanted us to know that he knew.” Yes, I had bumbled into the message I'd wanted to get across despite myself.Does Anyone Want Me Here?I had escaped school with a double date for Thursday Night (Chastity and Hope), then stopped by the house to plead with Aunt Jill to let Rio stay for the weekend. I gave a rational case, a compassionate reason, and then fell down on my knees and told her I really, really, really wanted her to stay. Something in that last argument made Jill relent and I phoned the good news to Rio.All that groveling resulted in me making the Festivities Committee Meeting by only two minutes. I swept into the room abruptly and as the story of my life goes, everyone stopped talking and looked at me. A quick scan of the room told me that two of the eight women knew to expect me, or at least some guy, while the others clearly assumed I'd lost my way.“Can we help you, young man?” an older woman with hair mostly turned to gray.“Welcome, Glenn,” Mrs. Wellington said. “Ladies, Pastor William has asked us to introduce Mr. Braxton to the good works of our Church.” There was a pause.“Thank you, Mrs. Wellington, but no one alive calls me Glenn anymore, and I'm not old or accomplished enough to be Mr. Braxton, like my Father or Uncle Tim. My teachers call me Zane.”“Oh, you are at the University?” a third woman asked politely. She was asking if I went to the University of Virginia.“No, I don't go to U V; I go to FFU, it is a long story,” I replied with trepidation.“I have a daughter at Freedom Fellowship,” one of the women responded with concern.“What is her name?” I tried to be polite, what were the odds?“Pandora Jaspers,” Mrs. Jaspers answered.“Seriously? I've done Handmaiden duty for her, and today I saw her at the Science Club,” I sighed with relief.“What did she have you do?” yet another woman inquired intently.“I helped her create an umbrella walkway when it was raining so that all the students could get to class without getting soaked,” I informed them.“Have you been to 'camp'?” a sixth woman hinted at something.“Camp, no, I can't say I've ever been to a camp,” I evaded, because I had no idea what they meant.“That's enough, ladies,” Mrs. Wellington said. “We have business to take care of. We can worry about Mr. Braxton's confusion at a later time.” Oh, they think I'm gay. Camp = Gay camp where fundamentalists are sure I could be cured of being homosexual. I try not to laugh.“Mr. Braxton, I want you to sit at the chair there,” Mrs. Wellington pointed to a chair away from the table, against the wall. “I want you to take personal notes for the members, things that don't go into the official record. Doreen Saxon,” she indicated the gray haired woman “is our secretary. She takes the official notes of the meeting, so pay attention.”The Meeting for the first of September was called to order, the record of attendance including the difficulty of my name, they kept trying to call me Glenn Braxton while I politely asked for Zane. They went with Glenn. The rest of the group worked out like this:Rochelle Wellington was Chairwoman, Kendra Bainbridge was our Treasurer, and Doreen Saxon was the grey-haired Secretary. The rest of the group consisted of Claire Baker, Theresa Geiger, Columbia Jaspers, Heidi Moulin, and Sahara Penny, the Pastor's wife.As the meeting progressed there was little I could do but watch the group dynamics at work. For starters, Bainbridge was at Wellington's throat; they clearly didn't like one another. The other was an oddity; no one interacted with Sahara Penny. I wasn't sure if it was her non-white heritage (Middle Eastern of some sort), her meek nature, or some past sin, but I decided to take advantage of it.I got up quietly and began walking around the table.“Glenn,” Mrs. Saxon asked, but I ignored her because, damn it, how many times do I have to tell them my name is Zane? I walked over and knelt by Sahara.“Zane,” Mrs. Wellington addressed me, “are you looking for the bathroom?” Bingo!“No, Mrs. Wellington. I was hoping to get some background information on the current discussions as well as contact information for the group. Since the rest of you are treating Mrs. Penny like she has the plague, I figured she would be the perfect candidate to tell me what is really going on here,” I grinned at her. “It is always the quiet ones who know the most.”And everyone stopped talking. Sahara not only looked shocked and frightened to see me, she looked like she wanted to sink under the table when I told the rest of them my reason for being here.“I assure you, Mr. Braxton, we are fully including Sahara in the process,” Mrs. Bainbridge snorted indignantly.“I will gladly accept your reprimand if you can please tell me the last five words you said to her since I arrived,” I requested, with as much innocence as I could beg, borrow, or steal.“I asked her about the children's clothing for the Nativity this year,” Kendra said after a long pause.“That was Claire, not Sahara,” I corrected her. “It is in my notes, but I'm sure Doreen can corroborate my recall of events.”“Well,” she said testily, “I'm sure I said something to her.” Silence.“I apologize for disrupting the meeting. I'll crouch here quietly and conference with Sahara while the rest of you complete the business of the day,” I told them, then turned back to Sahara. “Now, what the heck is up with the live turkey at the Thanksgiving celebration?”In the end, I gathered my information, the meeting concluded its business, and the room emptied until it was me, Sahara, Kendra, and Rochelle.“A Christian gentleman would apologize,” Kendra informed me.“Well, I guess that makes us both poor Christians, because a good Christian woman wouldn't have lied to me,” I calmly replied. Kendra gaped like a fish out of water.“Rochelle!” Kendra snapped to the Committee head.“Zane, you apologize to Kendra right now,” she commanded me, without much passion.“Kendra Bainbridge, I apologize for my rude and uncalled for behavior,” I said with a bow. Neither woman had expected me to fold up like that, so all Kendra could do was huff and storm out of the room.“Thank you,” Sahara whispered, as she touched my hand.“I don't always know the right side to fight on but it is usually by the side of the person being bullied,” I grinned. “It is the Christian thing to do,” I added with a wink.That left me with Rochelle Wellington: MILF, Lance the asshole's Mom, and wife of the Mayor.She looked like she wanted to stand up but couldn't. Me, I had a Sorority meeting to get to, I missed dinner so I had to grab something first, and why in the hell was I even thinking what I was thinking? I sat down beside her.“What's wrong?” I began. She looked at me, tired and somehow forlorn.“You wouldn't understand, Mr. Braxton, Zane,” she sighed.“Try me; the worst that could happen is, I give the expression that every teenager gives an adult when something important is being said but we are too caught up in our own lives to understand.”“Oh, good point, young man,” she sighed, “but I'm afraid I don't have anything even remotely interesting to talk about.” I waited patiently. “I'm feeling sorry for myself. My baby is leaving the nest and it has been so long since I've been alone in the house, I don't know what to do with myself.”“Lance is an only child?” I wondered.“Oh, no, he is the youngest of five,” she responded with sadness. My jaw dropped and she stared at me.“What, did you start having kids when you were ten?” I gawked.“What?” she sounded confused.“I have a hard time believing you are forty, much less the mother of five grown children,” I stammered. At first Rochelle was embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable, but slowly the compliment seeped its way into her psyche.“I, I have a home gym,” she suggested as an answer.“Well, whatever you've been doing has worked. Your husband is one lucky guy, and I hope he appreciates you and all you do to look, act, and feel so young,” I wowed her.“I'm not feeling all that young right now,” she slipped back into her depression.“Where does it hurt?” I changed my focus.“I don't know what you mean?” she asked.“People keep their stress in different places; the back of the neck, the mid-back, shoulders, or temples,” I informed her.“I'm not comfortable talking with you about that,” Mrs. Wellington replied warily.“Sure,” I said popping out of my seat. “I apologize if I crossed any lines,” and I made for the door.“Wait, Zane, I apologize. I'm tired and a bit cranky. I know you didn't mean anything and besides, I'm sure you already have a girlfriend,” Rochelle admitted.“Please don't spread this around, but I have several girlfriends at the moment. They know about each other, I'm not going to lie about my sex life, but they are usually interested in different things,” I told her.“You have, multiple girlfriends, different things? Like what kind of different things?” Rochelle spilled out her confused thoughts.“Some women like sexual contact,” I related, “while others like romantic time together, and still others want companionship.” There was another long pause.“But you are at Freedom Fellowship University, ” she trembled.“I've never taken a student's virginity, if that's what you are asking,” I answered.“Oh, I understand. I've taught all my children that they should be virgins on their wedding day,” Rochelle said with some pride.“I have to disagree with that,” I shocked her, “but that is one of the reasons that women are better than girls.”“And how would you know this?” She now turned in her chair to face me, trying to sound affronted but coming across as deeply curious.“Um, I've had sex with girls in their teens and women in their forties, and women know more, pace themselves better, and generally have better bodies,” I explained. “Teen girls need a few more years to fill out.”Rochelle was utterly speechless, and part of that had to do with the fact that I was being frank and honest, yet not openly coming on to her.“You must not think much of me, then,” she mused, “teaching my children my views on virginity.”“Where did you get that from? If anything, you are proving yourself to be an intelligent, warm, caring, and compassionate woman and mother, who happens to look like she's less than forty years old,” I added. “You did what you thought was right. I can't argue with that.”“Well, good,” she replied.“Now for my part, I was taught that a real man gives his lover multiple orgasms and he should never reach fulfillment before his partner does. Any man who does so is being selfish,” I stated.“How did you come by this, thinking?” she inquired with a small voice.“Um, I've had sex around five hundred times with thirty different partners,” I told her, “so I've not only learned from very good teachers, I've field tested their ideas.”“How can you possibly consider yourself a good Christian, Zane?” she accused me.“Compassion, respect for all living things, and forgiveness, that's what I believe in and what Christianity stands for in my eyes,” I explained.“The Bible is clear on sex and the sanctity of the marriage bed,” Rochelle insisted.“Mrs. Wellington, everything after the death of Jesus is conjecture. We both accept that Jesus was the Son of God, but after he dies, who is to say who was being touched by the Divine, who was building on JC's teachings, and who was simply making stuff up,” I held up my hand to stop Rochelle's protest.“The Catholics have a thousand Saints, most of whom we don't hold to be divinely inspired. You chose to believe that virginity is a girl's sacred duty, but I don't recall Christ saying anything on the subject. You can certainly quote later Gospels or the Old Testament, but that makes it your choice, not the Word of God,” I finished up. Another long pause followed.“I keep my stress in the top of my shoulders,” she suddenly said. I stood up and moved behind her, deciding to not question her changing opinion of me.“It helps if you take off your jacket,” I suggested, then helped her shimmy out of it. She tensed up as my hands weighed down lightly on her shoulders so I kept my touch gentle.Two minutes into the massage, I began squeezing harder and harder, moving my palms back and forth over her bra straps from upper arm to neck.“Rochelle,” I whispered into her ear, “I am going to rotate your shoulders.” I rolled over each shoulder one at a time but when I finished, I pushed her slowly forward until she was resting her elbows on the table and held her head on her upturned hands.When I went back to the massage, I worked her over harder and extended my reach from her mid-back to neck. This was clearly a case of begging forgiveness instead of asking permission. I took my time, relaxing her to a completely detached state. When I brought her back to reality, I was kneeling beside her and tapping her on the arm.“Rochelle? Are you okay,” I asked in a gentle, caring voice. Dreamily, she turned her head from its resting place on her arms to look at my eyes straight-on and mere inches away.“What, huh?” she muttered.“How do the shoulders feel? Has your stress gone away?” I inquired.“Yes, yes,” she popped up, alert once more. “It feels really good, in fact. I haven't felt this way in years,” she added with a smile.“I think it is time for us to go,” I suggested. “Can I help you with your jacket?”“Of course,” she nodded. “Thank you for helping an old lady out.” I held it while she put in one arm after the other but when I settled it on her shoulders, I stepped in and held her there for a moment while I pressed myself against her so she could feel how I felt about 'old ladies'.Rochelle froze when she felt my cock, rigid in my slacks, pressed against her ass. I was unsure if I'd gone too far when she pushed ever so slightly against me.“I've got to be going. I will see you on Sunday but I'm home all weekend with one of my girlfriends in case you need me,” I informed her.I slipped out before she could respond because not only did I have a Sorority function to attend, I also needed to figure out where I could score some Viagra because I clearly had no common sense where sex was concerned. Besides, Sahara was obviously in need of attention because Pastor Bill wasn't giving it to her, and Bainbridge was lashing out due to years of sexual frustration, I repeat: I have no common sense.Every One Like a Fingerprint to MeWhen I was racing to get to the Kappa Sigma House, I hardly expected to be met by one of their pledges and absolutely no one else. After I sat down in the den and the pledge, Tina, got me a soda from the kitchen, we found ourselves staring at one another.“So, I'm here on the correct night; right?” I asked.“Yes, you are, Zane,” she bubbled with anticipation.“Where is everybody?” I prodded her.“They are taking care of Sorority business but they will come get us when they are ready,” she grinned. I knew I was missing something but I didn't know what it was.“Is it hot in here?” I wondered.“Yes,” Tina said after a bit of concentration.“Tina, can I have some Advil? I'm getting a headache,” I yawned.“Okay,” Tina responded, still happy, and still sitting down.“Ah, fuck, you drugged me, didn't you?” I groaned. I doubted I could still stand and then proved my doubts as I slid off the chair. “Damn,” I slurred. Tina walked over to me, took my drink away, and gently maneuvered my body to the floor.“If it is any consolation, I was selected as the pledge most likely to seduce you,” she stated with real sympathy. I might have smiled at her, I wasn't sure, but I definitely passed out.Cough! Someone plunged cleaning detergent underneath my nose and fired me back to consciousness. Holy Mother of God, I'm cold, my wrists and ankles hurt, I'm outdoors in the woods illuminated by torches and surrounded in a semi-circle of bare-footed figures in ankle long brown robes and black hoods.I was cold because I was naked and my limbs hurt because I was suspended on a cross, not a 'T' cross but an 'X' cross. I certainly know some kinky, fucked-up people.“Zane,” a modulated voice addressed me, “you are on trial before Kappa Sigma for your treatment of one of our sisters. You have abused the trust of one sister by seeking romantic relations with another. What do you have to say for yourself?”“If the question is that I had relations with Leigh, then had a similar encounter with Paris, then I confess. In my defense, I never sought to deceive either one and will make amends if permitted,” I promised.“Sisters, we have heard his defense. Will any of you vote in his behalf?” she intoned. No one stepped forward.“Zane, we will give you one chance to save yourself. If you fail, you will be shaved bald and painted in a permanent purple dye.” I assume that means seven days on Human skin. “If you can pick out the woman you have wronged, beg her forgiveness, and are forgiven, you will go free.” I was getting pretty nervous since they were all totally covered except for their toes when the 'leader' nodded and the girls all opened their robes to reveal string bikinis in a variety of colors.Their faces were still covered, though that wasn't really a problem for me anymore.“Choose Leigh and Paris, beg their forgiveness, and you may be pardoned,” the 'leader' commanded.“That's not fair,” I answered right back, “because they are not before me now.”“Think carefully,” the girl with the modulated voice cautioned me.“No, seriously; I'm looking at Josephine, Maria, Cynthia, Sarah, Ferrara, Petra, Yvette, Tawny, Jersey, and Monique,” I named them left to right.“What?” Sarah gasped to her assembled sisters. “Do we have name tags on?”Behind me, I heard snickers turn into giggles, Leigh and Paris. Tawny stepped forward.“How did you know?” she inquired, clearly not the girl with the modulated voice.“Ah, Josephine has a birthmark on her ankle, Maria has the darkest skin tone, and Cynthia's breasts don't angle down the middle or to the side but somewhere in the middle.”“Sarah has slender thighs and her calves curve just so below the knee; Ferrara always paints her nails in these crazy patterns; Petra scrapped her knee backpacking two weekends ago; Yvette, has that tattoo over her right nipple; Tawny, you have a slender neck, a, 38C chest, and a strong swell from your waist to your hips; Jersey is the tallest and has that scar she got in a boating accident in high school; and finally, Monique has the perkiest nipples and the most slender calves,” I recited.Man, even the crickets went quiet after that.“Zane, did anyone help you with this test?” Tawny finally asked.“Nope.”“How could they?” Leigh came to my defense. “You didn't make the line-up until thirty minutes ago.”“Jersey, go check his phone log,” Tawny directed her sister.“I'm getting really cold,” I whispered to Leigh. She looked from my eyes to my waist with sympathy. Jersey walked out of the light but quickly returned with my phone.“His last call was at 2:10 p.m. but he did have a data download at 6:45, it seems to be a bunch of women's names and phone numbers,” Jersey relayed the information to them.“It is my church group, I swear. Honestly, they are all married women in the Festivities Committee that bastard of a pastor assigned me to,” I pleaded.“No phone calls?” Tawny persisted.“No phone calls,” Jersey confirmed.“Okay, Zane, how did you know who we were with our faces concealed?” Tawny wondered.“Is that a serious question?” The deafening pause was its own answer. “You are women; I pay attention to women and to me, each female form is as exacting as a fingerprint. Until now I thought all of this was a joke,” I related. “I mean, if you wanted to scare me, you would have given me something difficult to figure out.”“And you picked all this up at one party?” Tawny sounded bewildered.“Have I mentioned how much I like women?” I reminded her.“But you brought twenty women with you; you always had a woman by your side. How?” Tawny still struggled to understand.“I repeat: have I mentioned how much I like women? I see nothing wrong with being with one woman and looking at others, but I believe it is wrong to be with one woman and thinking about someone else,” I explained. “You should always appreciate the one you are with.”“Um, does any sister believe Zane has earned a reprieve?”For two seconds no one reacted, then Jersey stepped forward.“He knew about my scar,” was her excuse. Five more stepped forward right after that and all had done so by the tenth second.“Very well Zane, you are forgiven,” Tawny announced. Yay, me! “But I have one other issue to address. Zane, I can't have you cutting a swath through my girls so I'm going to demand that you stick to one and only one Kappa Sigma per semester.” I stared at her until she finally had to question me. “What?”“I wish you would stop treating me like a child,” I chuckled.“What makes you think I'm not being serious?” Tawny growled.“We've kissed. You can tell a lot about a person in the way they kiss, and you are very caring and thoughtful,” I told her. “Why would I be out here in the woods naked if I didn't trust you?”“You kissed him!” yelped Leigh. Tawny smirked as she looked at her.“You left me alone with a naked Zane in your room; he looked cold and lonely,” she told Leigh. I was cold and lonely because Tawny tossed Leigh out of her own room and then wouldn't let me get dressed, but only Tawny, Christina, and I knew that.“Besides, Zane, you are naked in these woods because we tricked you into our house and spiked your drink,” Tawny pointed out.“Ah, but would I have been dumb enough to take that drink if I hadn't first trusted you enough to show up, wait, that didn't come out right,” I mumbled.“Are you agreeing to my terms?” Tawny teased.“Nope. I prefer to hold to the illusion I'm living in the Free World,” I declared. “You can certainly tell your sisters what to do because they volunteered for this but I only hang out here because all of you have been so nice to me. If I've been a poor guest, I'll just leave, because I'm not going to pretend I like one sister less than another.”“Zane, you are deep in the woods, tied to a cross, and the only people who know you are here are all bound by Sacred Oaths of Sisterhood, Blood, and Secrecy,” Tawny stated sweetly, as she came up and stroked my cheek. “You aren't in the best place to be dumping us.”“Good point,” I agreed defiantly. “Maybe I should wait to get on my high horse when I can actually get on a high horse, but I'm still not going to take it back.”“We could always keep him in our secret basement,” Monique suggested. When everyone looked at her she added, “Hey, he liked my nipples. Finding a guy who is good with nipples isn't as easy as you would think.” Huh, what? I had a definite feeling I was losing control of events.“You have a secret basement?” I gulped. “I didn't know you had a secret basement.”“Well, duh,” Paris snickered. “It wouldn't be much of a secret if you knew about it.”“We are not keeping Zane chained up for our amusement,” Tawny warned the girls. “We specifically changed the Charter back in '02 so that we can no longer keep men on the premises for more than forty-eight hours.” Yay?“We also can't leave him here,” Tawny continued. “I'm sure Christina will have search parties out looking for you before sunrise.”“I'll stay out here and stand guard over him,” Leigh volunteered.“No,” Tawny scolded Leigh. “We can't let him get fucked to death either.” Leigh looked truly heartbroken.“I think we have to let Zane get off this time,” Tawny sighed.“I was trying to get him off,” Leigh grumbled.“Give it a rest, Leigh,” Tawny demanded. “Paris, give our guest something to drink so we can wrap this up.” Paris disappeared behind me, then reappeared with a glass of water.“Drink up,” she smiled beatifically.“Just promise me I'm not going to wake up in some landfill or tied to a lamppost somewhere public,” I groaned.“Drink it down right now and you might wake up next to me,” Tawny challenged. Needless to say, I drank and quickly, because I'm an idiot who keeps too much blood in the wrong head.When I woke up, I was back in the Sorority house with a different sweet pledge smiling at me and that smell of ammonia in my nostrils. She handed me a folded piece of paper.I said 'you MIGHT wake up next to me' the paper read. 'P.S. See you and the Ladies at our Halloween Bash.'“What's your name?” I asked the pledge. This time the home was filled with the noises of occupancy.“Larissa,” she giggled. “So, are you Leigh's boyfriend?”“Ah, no; I'm community property; the other sisters hand me around like a box of chocolates,” I joked.“Really! That is so great,” she bubbled with excitement. “I can't wait until I get initiated. I want you to make me scream the way you had Leigh singing.” Does no one get my jokes?“Larissa, I am sure you will pass your initiation, no sweat,” I told her as I stood up, feeling a bit drunk. Larissa walked with me to the door and gave me a quick peck on the cheek as I turned to head for my car. I made it to campus with seconds to spare. The crawl up to the Solarium was done in relative quiet, though Barbie Lynn decided to sample my tonsils before letting me up.Not two steps inside the door my phone rang.“Hello, is this Zane Braxton?” this familiar voice greeted me.“That would be me. What can I do for you this night?” I responded.“This is Felicity Tolliver. I wanted you to know that I had dinner with Rochelle Wellington tonight and I think having you on her committee has really improved her mood,” she informed me.I reached the top of the landing and nearly dropped the phone. Iona sat nervously on my bed, which she had made up because I never do it that well. She was wearing lingerie that definitely made her whole form much more feminine.“Felicity, Rochelle and I talked mostly, plus I showed her some techniques to help alleviate stress,” I related, “but you can tell her it was a pleasure to work with such a vibrant and beautiful woman. You two are a lot alike.”There was a pause, then,“I'll tell her that,” Felicity said.“I will be at my home in case she needs something this weekend. I would like to see both of you, as would my Aunt,” I offered.“That would be nice,” she sounded upbeat.“We could also discuss getting some FFU girls coming over to your place and the workshops you could teach on campus in October and November,” I suggested.“That sounds great too,” Felicity agreed. “I would like to spend some time at FFU and having some girls know where Lance's house is would be nice. When do you want to meet?”“How about after dinner, say 8 o'clock?” I suggested. “You can bring Lance.”“After dinner is fine but Lance has a church workshop on Saturday nights,” Felicity sighed. Oh hell, does this woman even get taken to first base? “He's always so busy with his fraternity at school, the Young Christian Men's Republican caucus, and the Christian Men's League at church.” Does this guy spend any time with women at all?“Consider it a date,” I replied. “Now I have a very good reason to go to bed, so good night.”“Good night,” she parted in a friendly manner, which allowed me to hang up and start undressing as I approached the bed. I looked down at my bed buddy once I'd stripped down to nothing.“You look lovely, Iona,” I greeted her. “What do you want to do?”“I'll do whatever you want,” Iona said with a tremor in her voice, looking down at her lap. She looked stunning in her burgundy bra and panties, which were far more lace than substance. I felt the hand of, Christina (?) in all this.“Thank you, Iona. What I really want is to lie down, you beside me so that I can look into your eyes and gently trace lines along your body, and then I want to go to sleep with you in my arms. That's what I really want.”“Really?” she perked up in surprise and relief. I crawled under the covers, holding them open so she could join me.“I like this a lot,” she murmured, as she settled in at my side, snug in the covers. I shifted to my side and cupped her chin before exchanging several soft kisses with her. Afterwards, I did as I told her I would; my hand caressed her body, avoiding nipples and pussy but doing my best to get everywhere else. I elicited sensual moans and ticklish giggles.When I had forced her to push me off so she could catch her breath, I felt I had given Iona what she wanted, and more importantly, what she could live with. I sat back and stared at the Moon through my glass roof. Iona's smiling face slowly invaded my view.“I give up, Iona,” I pleaded. “Right now I want some sleep.”“That's okay. I will sit here and watch over you,” she sighed.“That's, that's a little creepy, actually,” I confessed.“I've watched all of the Twilight movies so I know what secretive romances are all about,” Iona explained.Unfortunately, I knew little of the Twilight series of movies. I knew it involved vampires and werewolves and some chick named Bella but I'd never actually seen any of that. Had I known it involved a 100-year-old vampire breaking into some teenager's room and staring down at her while she slept, I would have been much more concerned, but for now I went to sleep.A lesson in why I shouldn't get out of bed in the morning.*Wakefulness is a race we cannot not win; Sleep is remorseless as all salvation should be*I woke up to every heterosexual teenage boy's second favorite dream (the first being a morning blowjob) of a perfume-scented head resting on each shoulder as you wake. There were the tiny complications of only having gone to bed with one woman and that, by their breathing, I could tell they were both awake.“Good morning,” I said cautiously; technically morning since it was 5 a.m.“Good m

Among the 160 pages of the SF-86 form, are questions about your mental health. The form, which anyone with national security clearance has had to deal with, doesn't decide whether you get clearance. People do. And how they evaluate answers to mental health questions is about to undergo some revision. Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke about all of this with the assistant director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Mark Frownfelter.

durée : 00:29:59 - Les Nuits de France Culture - par : Philippe Garbit - En 1997, "Le cabinet de curiosités" proposait une série intitulée " Les aventures de l'espionnage", le deuxième volet s'intéressait aux "Espionnes de charme et femmes de choc". Avec Claude Moniquet et Génovefa Étienne au micro de Jacques Munier. - invités : Claude Moniquet Président du l'ESISC (European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center)

Employee monitoring is a growing trend as workers go remote and companies look to stay connected with any changes in employee activity that could trigger an insider threat. It's a phenomenon the government has been tracking for decades and recently established through its continuous evaluation and continuous vetting programs. ClearanceJos sat down with Brian Dunbar, Director of Security for CACI's National Security and Innovative Solutions Sector. Prior to his role with CACI Dunbar spent more than 30 years with the CIA including serving as the Assistant Director at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Dunbar has previously chatted with ClearanceJobs about the implementation of CE and its role in replacing episodic periodic reinvestigations. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Happy Supply Chain Awareness Month! Since February of last year, the Biden Administration has spotlighted an urgent need to strengthen, secure and diversify our supply chains, both as a matter of economic prosperity and national security. While these concerns are not new, recent world events have exacerbated supply chain disruptions, exposing a range of vulnerabilities across sectors. This week, host Elisa is joined by Jeanette McMillian, to debrief six recent supply chain reports issued in response to E.O. 14017. What do these reports reveal about the fragility of our supply chains? Which sectors are most at risk? And what can we do to better protect our existing supply networks? Jeanette McMillian is the Assistant Director of Supply Chain and Cyber, National Counterintelligence and Security Center, ODNI: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yWM6LO0LXeGIUMiL9NcIFFFRBEGQMS7o/view?usp=sharing References: E.O. 14017, America's Supply Chains. Feb. 24, 2021: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/executive-order-on-americas-supply-chains/ H.R. 7178, CHIPS for America Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7178/text H.R. 4521, America COMPETES Act of 2022: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4521 S. 1260, United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1260 H.R. 3684, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr3684/BILLS-117hr3684enr.pdf The Build Back Better Framework: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build-back-better/ 2022 Supply Chain Reports by Agency: Department of Defense: https://media.defense.gov/2022/Feb/24/2002944158/-1/-1/1/DOD-EO-14017-REPORT-SECURING-DEFENSE-CRITICAL-SUPPLY-CHAINS.PDF Department of Commerce & Homeland Security (ICT Report): https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/ICT%20Supply%20Chain%20Report_2.pdf Department of Energy: https://www.energy.gov/policy/securing-americas-clean-energy-supply-chain Department of Agriculture: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/USDAAgriFoodSupplyChainReport.pdf Department of Transportation: https://www.transportation.gov/supplychains/EO14017/fullreport Department of Health and Human Services: https://aspr.hhs.gov/MCM/IBx/2022Report/Pages/default.aspx

In the second episode of this season of Tech Tonic, James Kynge, the FT's Global China Editor, asks how significant Chinese intellectual property theft has been to the country's rise as a global tech superpower.We hear from an FBI agent based in Silicon Valley whose job is to prevent the theft of trade secrets, and ask whether China's ‘talent programmes', under which Beijing funds scientists and engineers around the world, are actually spy recruitment networks or whether they are genuine attempts to lure home professionals and plug China's talent gap. Experts are warning the growing distrust between the US and China could put the future of scientific and technological exchange at risk.Featuring interviews with Nick Shenkin, FBI special agent and director of the Strategic Technology Task Force for the FBI's San Francisco field office; an interview between the FT's Demetri Sevastopulo and Michael Orlando, acting director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center; Rui Ma, China tech analyst and creator of the Tech Buzz China podcast; Wang Huiyao, founder and president of Center for China and Globalization in Beijing; Winston Ma, author and adjunct professor at the NYU law school; and Gisela Kusakawa, assistant director at the Anti-Racial Profiling Project at Asian Americans Advancing Justice.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT's technology team at ft.com/technologyFor a special, discounted FT subscription, go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd check out FT Edit, the new iPhone app that shares the best of FT journalism, hand-picked by senior editors to inform, explain and surprise. It's free for the first month and 99p a month for the next six months.Presented by James Kynge. Interview with Michael Orlando conducted by Demetri Sevastopulo. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.News clips credits: NBC, Global News, Micron, The Oregonian See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the second episode of this season of Tech Tonic, James Kynge, the FT's Global China Editor, asks how significant Chinese intellectual property theft has been to the country's rise as a global tech superpower.We hear from an FBI agent based in Silicon Valley whose job is to prevent the theft of trade secrets, and ask whether China's ‘talent programmes', under which Beijing funds scientists and engineers around the world, are actually spy recruitment networks or whether they are genuine attempts to lure home professionals and plug China's talent gap. Experts are warning the growing distrust between the US and China could put the future of scientific and technological exchange at risk.Featuring interviews with Nick Shenkin, FBI special agent and director of the Strategic Technology Task Force for the FBI's San Francisco field office; Michael Orlando, acting director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center; Rui Ma, China tech analyst and creator of the Tech Buzz China podcast; Wang Huiyao, founder and president of Center for China and Globalization in Beijing; Winston Ma, author and adjunct professor at the NYU law school; and Gisela Kusakawa, assistant director at the Anti-Racial Profiling Project at Asian Americans Advancing Justice.Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT's technology team at ft.com/technologyFor a special, discounted FT subscription, go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsaleAnd check out FT Edit, the new iPhone app that shares the best of FT journalism, hand-picked by senior editors to inform, explain and surprise. It's free for the first month and 99p a month for the next six months.Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT's head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.News clips credits: NBC, Global News, Micron, The OregonianRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In an effort to combat the threat from the Chinese regime, the U.S. National Intelligence and Security Center has prioritized the following five key sectors: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, semiconductors, and autonomous systems.

As the Director of Security Initiatives for Intel's Security Center of Excellence, Camille Morhardt gets to learn from some of the brightest minds in all of tech. As the co-host of one of the biggest public podcasts in the game today Cyber security Inside, she brings those bright minds to the audience. She joins TDD to teach us how to communicate complex ideas simply.You'll learn:why good questions are the key to communicating simplywhy to not let go of a line of questioning until you fully understand (and then keep asking more)how an unusually long pause can lead to the insights you're looking forhow to get to the heart of the matterthe 3 phase process for success in security: 1) get started 2) don't stop learning and 3) gain insights from outside of your sphere________________________________GuestCamille MorhardtDirector, Security Initiatives and Communications, Intel and Co-Host of Cyber Security Inside PodcastOn Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-morhardt-448a182/On Twitter | https://twitter.com/morhardt________________________________HostTed HarringtonOn ITSPmagazine  

As the Director of Security Initiatives for Intel's Security Center of Excellence, Camille Morhardt gets to learn from some of the brightest minds in all of tech. As the co-host of one of the biggest public podcasts in the game today Cyber security Inside, she brings those bright minds to the audience. She joins TDD to teach us how to communicate complex ideas simply.You'll learn:why good questions are the key to communicating simplywhy to not let go of a line of questioning until you fully understand (and then keep asking more)how an unusually long pause can lead to the insights you're looking forhow to get to the heart of the matterthe 3 phase process for success in security: 1) get started 2) don't stop learning and 3) gain insights from outside of your sphere________________________________GuestCamille MorhardtDirector, Security Initiatives and Communications, Intel and Co-Host of Cyber Security Inside PodcastOn Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-morhardt-448a182/On Twitter | https://twitter.com/morhardt________________________________HostTed HarringtonOn ITSPmagazine  

Mike Gremillion is the director of the Global Water Security Center and deputy director of the Alabama Water Institute at The University of Alabama. In this episode, he discusses the foundation of the GWSC and how it will make a lasting impact on water security, quality, and research for a global society. Join the conversation on AWI's social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaWaterInstitute Twitter: https://twitter.com/alabamawater Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabama_water LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/alabama-water-institute YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvUaCXCzBwL6JS9M8dsdJQ Website: http://awi.ua.edu

Beyond End-to-End Encryption (BE2EE) technology can protect your data in-transit and at-rest in a consistent way: NUTS may help define this new category. Last year, we presented the technology of NUTS (https://ceri.as/nuts2020). This year, we demonstrate NUTS in action with our Beta version. See secure objects move around in cyberspace without a central reference monitor in a transport agnostic way. The demo will show practical use cases that NUTS enables. The global pandemic drastically altered our way of life and Work-From-Home presents technical challenges that reveal the structural weaknesses of our largest systems. Adversarial threats are now more common place and large outages are frequent. We believe NUTS shows a new path towards a more resilient operating environment for our data. We strongly recommend viewing last year's presentation (https://ceri.as/nuts2020)to better understand the background and approach of the tech.Joining us for this session will be COL (Ret) Robert Banks, USA, PhD. who served as Deputy Director, Current Operations of U.S. Cyber Command with his insights and comments on this technology. Dr. Banks retired from the U.S. Army after a distinguished 37-yearcareer. His previous services include Chief of Operations of the Army Global Network Operation & Security Center, Command of the largest Army Helicopter Battalion of 64 Chinooks covering 8 states, and providing significant contributions at the Joint Staff Cyberspace Division, National Counterintelligence Security Center, Army Defense Industrial Base, Asymmetric Warfare Office - Electronic Warfare, National Guard Bureau, and Co-Chaired the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, while supporting the Tri-County Electric Cooperative. He holds numerous advanced degrees including a PhD in Information Technology from George Mason University specializing in Hybrid Security Risk Assessment Models. Additionally, he holds the following certifications: CISSP, PSDGP, ITILv3, AWS-CCP, AZURE-AI. About the speaker: Yoon Auh, CISSP, is the founder and CEO of NUTS Technologies Inc., a midwestern deep infrastructure technology startup. He holds multiple US patents around structured security, structured cryptography and secure data management. His firm is breaking new grounds in applying security at the data layer in a portable form to achieve full BE2EE. He graduated from Columbia College in NYC with a BA in Physics and a BS in Engineering Mechanics from Columbia School of Engineering. Yoon's prior career was in finance and technology culminating to a successful career as Head Trader for several world class financial firms. NUTS was created to fill the gaps in technology that don't get addressed in the way it ought to be.

On this special edition of SpyTalk, co-host Jeanne Meserve speaks with William Evanina, former Director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center about the recent spate of ransomware attacks. Evanina says President Biden should threaten to pull out of the upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that the US should demonstrate it is willing and able to shut down Russian infrastructure. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Maurer joins Scott Hanselman to show how developers can be more collaborative in developing, deploying, and managing applications across multiple environments and clouds. Build and deploy a truly consistent app experience everywhere in your hybrid cloud using your existing DevOps pipelines, Kubernetes manifests, and Helm Charts – as well as your choice of tools. Azure Arc is integrated with GitHub, Azure Monitor, Security Center, Update and more.[0:00:00]– Introduction[0:02:20]– Presentation + Azure Architecture Center[0:05:13]– Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes cluster demo[0:11:37]– Azure Arc enabled data services demo[0:13:53]– Azure Stack portfolio[0:16:06]– Wrap-upAzure Architecture - Hybrid categoryAzure Arc overviewHybrid and multicloud solutionsManage hybrid infrastructure with Azure Arc learning pathCreate a free account (Azure)

Thomas Maurer joins Scott Hanselman to show how developers can be more collaborative in developing, deploying, and managing applications across multiple environments and clouds. Build and deploy a truly consistent app experience everywhere in your hybrid cloud using your existing DevOps pipelines, Kubernetes manifests, and Helm Charts – as well as your choice of tools. Azure Arc is integrated with GitHub, Azure Monitor, Security Center, Update and more.[0:00:00]– Introduction[0:02:20]– Presentation + Azure Architecture Center[0:05:13]– Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes cluster demo[0:11:37]– Azure Arc enabled data services demo[0:13:53]– Azure Stack portfolio[0:16:06]– Wrap-upAzure Architecture - Hybrid categoryAzure Arc overviewHybrid and multicloud solutionsManage hybrid infrastructure with Azure Arc learning pathCreate a free account (Azure)

Azure Security Center enables you to strengthen your security posture. Yuri Diogenes joins Scott Hanselman to show how Security Center helps you identify and perform the hardening tasks recommended as security best practices and implement them across your machines, data services, and apps.[0:00:00]- Intro[0:00:24]- Episode start[0:04:41]- Demo: Security Center dashboard[0:05:20]- Demo: Security recommendations[0:06:20]- Demo: Quick fix remediation[0:07:20]- Demo: View remediation logic[0:08:00]- Demo: Regulatory compliance[0:09:06]- Demo: Standard tier overview (threat protection)[0:11:48]- Demo: Security alerts[0:13:19]- Demo: Security alert suppression rules[0:15:54]- Episode wrap-upHow to Effectively Perform an Azure Security Center PoCAzure Security Center documentationMicrosoft Azure Security Center, 2nd EditionMicrosoft Azure Security Center (Video)Create a free account (Azure)

Azure Security Center enables you to strengthen your security posture. Yuri Diogenes joins Scott Hanselman to show how Security Center helps you identify and perform the hardening tasks recommended as security best practices and implement them across your machines, data services, and apps.[0:00:00]- Intro[0:00:24]- Episode start[0:04:41]- Demo: Security Center dashboard[0:05:20]- Demo: Security recommendations[0:06:20]- Demo: Quick fix remediation[0:07:20]- Demo: View remediation logic[0:08:00]- Demo: Regulatory compliance[0:09:06]- Demo: Standard tier overview (threat protection)[0:11:48]- Demo: Security alerts[0:13:19]- Demo: Security alert suppression rules[0:15:54]- Episode wrap-upHow to Effectively Perform an Azure Security Center PoCAzure Security Center documentationMicrosoft Azure Security Center, 2nd EditionMicrosoft Azure Security Center (Video)Create a free account (Azure)

The Navy's recent report about its cyber readiness has a jaw-dropping confession on page 6: “The systems the U.S. relies upon to mobilize, deploy and sustain forces have been extensively targeted by potential adversaries, and compromised to such extent that their reliability is questionable.” Bill Evanina, the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, wants that single sentence in the 80-page report to sink in for a second. He told Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller why it ought to be a call-to-arms for every agency. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said his agency has a plan to cut the government's growing security clearance backlog. But the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee is less than impressed by that plan.This comes as the Trump administration considers moving the troubled security clearance process back to the Defense Department. Federal News Radio's Jory Heckman had more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Kelly Anderson joins Scott Hanselman to discuss Azure Security Center, which offers built-in security management and threat protection for your cloud workloads. Azure Security Center helps you find & fix vulnerabilities, aids in blocking malicious access and alerts you when your resources are under attack. For more information:Azure Security Center documentation Azure Security blog Azure Security Center overview Azure Security Center pricing  Create a Free Account (Azure)Follow @SHanselman Follow @AzureFriday Follow @kellyanderson93

Kelly Anderson joins Scott Hanselman to discuss Azure Security Center, which offers built-in security management and threat protection for your cloud workloads. Azure Security Center helps you find & fix vulnerabilities, aids in blocking malicious access and alerts you when your resources are under attack. For more information:Azure Security Center documentation Azure Security blog Azure Security Center overview Azure Security Center pricing  Create a Free Account (Azure)Follow @SHanselman Follow @AzureFriday Follow @kellyanderson93

As the government tries to climb out of the mess that is the security background check process, it's clear continuous evaluation of people will hold a greater importance. The Defense Department does continuously review its employees and clearance holders instead of reinvestigating them every five years. Those reinvestigations are time-consuming, and they contribute to the current backlog of pending investigations, which now stands at 695,000. Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, tells Federal News Radio's Nicole Ogrysko more about the status of continuous evaluation on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.