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Apple's outlook will set the tone for today's market action; the January effect will be set by the end of the day. Rich & Matt discuss tariffs & volatility; Mexico and Canada are targets. Inflation data due today with the PCE report. The Fed's target is still 2%, and there's no reason to lower rates for now. This is forcing markets to shift focus; why a little inflation is a good thing. The US Tax Code can make you cry like Selena Gomez: Rich & Matt discuss inflation-adjusted tax brackets and standard deduction changes; Qualified Charitable Donations, Quarterly estimated tax payment requirements, and avoiding underpayment penalties. Are itemized deductions even worth the trouble? IRA contributions & avoiding pre-tax and after-tax fund mingling. Catchup contributions & HSA's: They're like a healthcare IRA. The retirement spending smile vs stairstep spending; planning and goal-scooping in retirement. Planning for more volatility in 2025, dealing with portfolio assets that go up and down. SEG-1: Apple Sets the Tone; Why Some Inflation is Good SEG-2: The US Tax Code Will Make You Cry SEG-3: Avoid Mixing Pre-tax and After-tax Dollars SEG-4: Tracking the Retirement Spending Smile Hosted by RIA Advisors Director of Financial Planning, Richard Rosso, CFP, w Senior Senior Relationship Manager, Matt Doyle, CFP Produced by Brent Clanton, Executive Producer ------- REGISTER FOR OUR NEXT CANDID COFFEE (2/8/25) HERE: https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/events/retirement-income/ ------- Watch today's show video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjGEGF0TuLI&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1&t=5s ------- Articles mentioned in this report: "Curb Your Enthusiasm” In 2025" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/curb-your-enthusiasm-in-2025/ "Meme Coins Do Not Create Wealth: They Destroy It" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/meme-coins-do-not-create-wealth-they-destroy-it/ "DeepSeek Deep Sinks Bullish Exuberance" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/deepseek-deepsinks-bullish-exuberance/ "Strategic Crypto Stockpile And Political Uncertainty" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/strategic-crypto-stockpile-and-political-uncertainty/ "Inauguration Sends Confidence Surging Higher" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/use-drone-mentality-to-financial-success/ ------- The latest installment of our new feature, Before the Bell, "Why Options Data is Off the Hook," is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc1OMnQvUgI&list=PLwNgo56zE4RAbkqxgdj-8GOvjZTp9_Zlz&index=1 ------- Our previous show is here: "Watching the Mega-Cap Earnings Parade" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH68Ot3zIsQ&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1&t=5s ------- Get more info & commentary: https://realinvestmentadvice.com/newsletter/ -------- SUBSCRIBE to The Real Investment Show here: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealInvestmentShow -------- Visit our Site: https://www.realinvestmentadvice.com Contact Us: 1-855-RIA-PLAN -------- Subscribe to SimpleVisor: https://www.simplevisor.com/register-new -------- Connect with us on social: https://twitter.com/RealInvAdvice https://twitter.com/LanceRoberts https://www.facebook.com/RealInvestmentAdvice/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/realinvestmentadvice/ #TaxSeason2025 #TaxTips #TaxDeductions #IRSUpdates #FinancialPlanning #FederalReserve #InterestRates #FedPolicy #Options #CallOptions #PutOptions #SpeculativeMoney#EarningsSeason #StockMarketNews #BigTechEarnings #InvestingTrends #FinancialMarkets #MoneyFlows #PriceSupport #USDollar #DollarStrength #DollarWeakness #DeepSeek #AI #TechnologyStocks #China #Nvidia #Apple #PortfolioRisk #PortfolioDiversification #Chips #Technology #FinanceTips #InvestmentStrategies #MarketAnalysis #EconomicOutlook#InvestingAdvice #Money #Investing

Apple's outlook will set the tone for today's market action; the January effect will be set by the end of the day. Rich & Matt discuss tariffs & volatility; Mexico and Canada are targets. Inflation data due today with the PCE report. The FEd's target is still 2%, and there's no reason to lower rates for now. This is forcing markets to shift focus; why a little inflation is a good thing. The US Tax Code can make you cry like Selena Gomez: Rich & Matt discuss inflation-adjusted tax brackets and standard deduction changes; Qualified Charitable Donations, Quarterly estimated tax payment requirements, and avoiding underpayment penalties. Are itemized deductions even worth the trouble? IRA contributions & avoiding pre-tax and after-tax fund mingling. Catchup contributions & HSa's: They're like a healthcare IRA. The retirement spending smile vs stairstep spending; planning and goal-scooping in retirement. Planning for more volatility in 2025, dealing with portfolio assets that go up and down. SEG-1: Apple Sets the Tone; Why Some Inflation is Good SEG-2: The US Tax Code Will Make You Cry SEG-3: Avoid Mixing Pre-tax and After-tax Dollars SEG-4: Tracking the Retirement Spending Smile Hosted by RIA Advisors Director of Financial Planning, Richard Rosso, CFP, w Senior Senior Relationship Manager, Matt Doyle, CFP Produced by Brent Clanton, Executive Producer ------- REGISTER FOR OUR NEXT CANDID COFFEE (2/8/25) HERE: https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/events/retirement-income/ ------- Watch today's show video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjGEGF0TuLI&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1&t=5s ------- Articles mentioned in this report: "Curb Your Enthusiasm” In 2025" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/curb-your-enthusiasm-in-2025/ "Meme Coins Do Not Create Wealth: They Destroy It" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/meme-coins-do-not-create-wealth-they-destroy-it/ "DeepSeek DeepSinks Bullish Exuberance" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/deepseek-deepsinks-bullish-exuberance/ "Strategic Crypto Stockpile And Political Uncertainty" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/strategic-crypto-stockpile-and-political-uncertainty/ "Inauguration Sends Confidence Surging Higher" https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/use-drone-mentality-to-financial-success/ ------- The latest installment of our new feature, Before the Bell, "Why Options Data is Off the Hook," is here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc1OMnQvUgI&list=PLwNgo56zE4RAbkqxgdj-8GOvjZTp9_Zlz&index=1 ------- Our previous show is here: "Watching the Mega-Cap Earnings Parade" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH68Ot3zIsQ&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1&t=5s ------- Get more info & commentary:  https://realinvestmentadvice.com/newsletter/ -------- SUBSCRIBE to The Real Investment Show here: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealInvestmentShow -------- Visit our Site: https://www.realinvestmentadvice.com Contact Us: 1-855-RIA-PLAN -------- Subscribe to SimpleVisor: https://www.simplevisor.com/register-new -------- Connect with us on social: https://twitter.com/RealInvAdvice https://twitter.com/LanceRoberts https://www.facebook.com/RealInvestmentAdvice/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/realinvestmentadvice/ #TaxSeason2025 #TaxTips #TaxDeductions #IRSUpdates #FinancialPlanning #FederalReserve #InterestRates #FedPolicy #Options #CallOptions #PutOptions #SpeculativeMoney#EarningsSeason #StockMarketNews #BigTechEarnings #InvestingTrends #FinancialMarkets #MoneyFlows #PriceSupport #USDollar #DollarStrength #DollarWeakness #DeepSeek #AI #TechnologyStocks #China #Nvidia #Apple #PortfolioRisk #PortfolioDiversification  #Chips #Technology #FinanceTips #InvestmentStrategies #MarketAnalysis #EconomicOutlook#InvestingAdvice #Money #Investing

Tax advantages, confusing tax brackets, marginal vs effective tax rates, and more! Spener and Jamie discuss how military service members benefit from unique tax advantages, including untaxed allowances and combat zone tax exclusions. They also break down real examples of effective tax rates for different ranks and locations, explain tax brackets, and discuss investment implications, particularly for Roth vs traditional retirement accounts. Main Topics & Questions Covered: How did Jamie pay an effective tax rate of only 10% in 2023? What military pay components are not taxed? BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) BAS (Basic Allowance for Sustenance) OHA (Overseas Housing Allowance) Overseas COLA Combat Zone Tax Exclusion Pay (CZTE) Hostile fire/imminent danger pay How do combat zone tax exclusions work? Areas designated by presidential executive order No limit for enlisted members Officers capped at highest enlisted monthly pay Real examples of effective tax rates for: E5 at Holloman AFB (single) E7 at Fort Sill (married with children) O3 at Wheeler Army Airfield (married with child) O5 in Hawaii (with children) How do tax brackets actually work? Progressive system explanation Standard deduction impacts Marriage tax advantages Common misconceptions about brackets Investment implications: Roth vs Traditional retirement accounts Why Roth often makes sense for military members Tax considerations when transitioning to civilian life Key takeaways: Military members often have very low effective tax rates Understanding true taxable income vs. total compensation Importance of tracking tax information on LES Resources for military tax assistance (Military Tax Experts Alliance) The hosts emphasized two main recommendations: Consider Roth retirement contributions while serving Be cautious about buying houses while on active duty Links: Military Tax Experts Alliance Military One Source's free tax prep software (miltax) Money Chimp's tax calculator IRS designated combat zones (CZTE zones) Money Chimp's Compound Annual Growth Rate calculator (CAGR) IRS Tax Brackets Podcast episode about state taxes #27 Episode #130 with Pual Allen from Military Tax Experts Alliance Episode #119 with Kate Horrell on taxes for military spouses For a limited time, Spencer is offering one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions! Get your personal military money and investing questions answered in a confidential coaching call. Our new TSP course is live! Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE! If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual or email podcast@militarymoneymanual.com. If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com. I also offer a 100% free course on military travel hacking and getting annual fee waived credit cards, like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. Learn how to get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards from American Express in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3. The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve on active orders over 30 days. The annual fees on all personal Amex cards are also waived for military spouses married to active duty troops.  

Women making bad decisions. Cáel to the rescue? What? In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected.. “There is nothing wrong being a Lucky Bastard. It is wrong to rely on it.” They were all psychopaths and murderers after all, so death was becoming a vocational hazard. Me refraining from having as many sexual liaisons as possible wasn't realistic. I wasn't going to be willingly castrated and that was the only way out. The one benefit I could see was me working in a target-rich environment. "Now that I have had my turn stymieing Cáel's chaotic yet well-meaning attempts to educate us in the dangers and rewards of free-ranging masculinity," Tessa regarded the assembly, "I am getting out with my victory intact. Good luck, Sisters. You'll need it." Tessa exited, order was restored and; oh yeah, Elsa had brought me here for a sadistic love-fest, sans the sex. "I don't know what to make of you," Elsa smiled warmly, "I don't understand you and I find you to be very interesting." Let me make this clear; all three of those statements can be very bad, or very good. 'I don't know what to make of you' means I want to make it with you. 'I don't understand you' is 30% bad and 70% good. When bad, it is a prelude to a break-up. What she means is 'you aren't trying to understand me', thus the end of the relationship. On the beneficial side it means 'I've totally bought into your seduction and I'm ready to screw'. Ah, 'interesting'. Two types of women find a man 'interesting'; women who have to have you, and stalkers. Somewhat redundant. The main difference is how they respond to the Restraining Order and how much fun the erotic side of the relationship will be. The first kind of woman has a public screaming fit if you take out a RO on her. Let them build up to an incinerating level, then fuck them; it's so worth it. Stalkers ignore ROs. That's okay. Now you can legally trap them. They'll do whatever you want. Not because they are afraid of you. It is an RO for God's sake; one night in jail, maybe. No, they'll do whatever sex act you request because that's why they are stalking you in the first place; the sensual/emotional connection. When she starts making bizarre requests of you, subtly direct her to another 'more interesting' guy. Try not to use a friend. That's kind of cold. For the next few weeks, make sure the latest victim doesn't end up as a Missing Person. After that, you've done your civic duty so you can move on guilt-free. "Elsa, I need ten minutes to stretch first," I requested. She nodded. Off came the shirt. I retreated to a gymnastics mat and began stretching out my kinks. Five minutes in, I did one of my favorite maneuvers; the backwards human bridge completed when your wrists touch the Achilles tendons. Not only does this extended your abdominal muscles, it exhibits your hard-on and suggest all kinds of pages from the Kama Sutra are, in fact, possible. My performance highlighted my musculature, flexibility and numerous scars. My left thigh still had a light bandage wrapped around it. Whatever the Amazon medics were using was working gangbusters on me. Elsa had retreated to her end of the mat so I glided to my axes then promptly got off the mat. I didn't trust any Amazon, not even Aya and I'd let my heart be cut out if it would save her life. I got the feel for these axes, spun them around a few times then made to get back on the mat. "Put the loops around your wrist," Elsa directed. "Why?" I retorted. We were back to 'why are we letting a male question our orders.' "You are not allowed to throw them," Elsa allowed. I nodded. I didn't loop them. No, I walked onto the mat, weapons held axe-head down. I walked in five steps, knelt and placed the axes on the mat by my side. "Cáel, defend yourself," Elsa stated firmly. "Which is it? Do I defend myself and I act in a manner allowed by axe-work, or do I accede to your demands and be automatically defeated?" I responded. "Do you believe my spear technique is that superior to your own, made-up style?" Elsa smirked. "I think you are cheating. Worse, I think you are being a bully. If you want this to be the 'Elsa is a Bad-Ass' show, congratulations, you've won. I'm not going to fight you. I kneel before you, weapons on the mat, acknowledging that your cheating ways have defeated me," I mocked. "Savor this magnificent victory." "Your opinion of my martial prowess is not what is at question here today," Elsa spoke. I stood up, turned away and walked off the map, interrupting the rest of her speech. She was coming for me this time. I opened my towel, took out my phone and began texting away. "What are you doing?" Ngozi rumbled. *Buffy; job complete. Need to shower before next mission in queue* I hadn't hit 'send' yet. "Please correct me if I'm wrong. This was supposed to be a weapon's exhibition. That implies a study of your opponents training and capabilities. Elsa's prowess, along with my own, are the question here to today," I insisted. "Otherwise it is a waste of time for every non-sadist here." "Is it absolutely crucial that you throw an axe at Elsa?" Traska questioned. "No. It is absolutely crucial that Elsa fight under the handicap that I might throw an axe," I instructed her. "It changes the range dynamic. If I can hit her from; oh, five meters out, she has to keep close. If she has to keep close, my axes can engage her hand-to-hand." "Since Elsa chose a long spear, throwing it is clumsy, thus reducing her options," I stated. "Any range over six meters and she can probably dodge, or deflect, my throw. So we are both range limited, as it should be for a good exhibition." "I bow you reasoning," Elsa gave me a respectful nod of the head. Fucker; she liked me more, not less, despite my verbal reticence. We went to our corners. I charged first. Oh God; Elsa was super-great at spear. Less anyone forget, the spear has not only a sharp point; it also has a 20 cm bladed surface on each side plus a sold, oak shaft for blocking, poking and smacking. Elsa swung the spear around her body in lightning quick arcs. She could fight long shaft, or short shaft, as the range dictated. Long shaft was like fighting a dagger on a stick; cut and thrust. Short shaft was mainly thrusting, but was good for holding me back if I got inside her 'long' guard. Elsa's advantages were life-long experience, tons of natural talent, and being quicker than me. Our staminas were evenly matched. The drain of Elsa's fluid style equaled my two-weapon use. I had her in bulk and brawn. Elsa and I were at the top of the spectrum for our respective genders; physically and mentally better off than the majority. This meant I had her on brute strength and reach. That was genetics talking. My only other advantage was the uniqueness of my style. Elsa hadn't faced it before, though I'm sure she'd watched Constanza and Crewe's fight with me on video. Elsa figured out quickly that a left-handed battle axe made a poor shield. It covered far less area and took more energy and concentration for the assaulted to defend themselves. As soon as she put that bit of knowledge into her arsenal of tricks, I showed her another one. An axe is an axe, and when she slapped that spear against my guard one too many times, my right-handed axe chopped into the shaft, severing the spear blade from the rest of the spear. This was the point where an Amazon would have pressed the attack. I was deciding to take as little of a beating as possible. I fell back, knelt and put my axes down. There was a hush. "Elsa, do you wish to retrieve another spear?" I inquired. This was an exhibition after all. Actually, this was Elsa proving she was better than me, but she a script to stick to. "To your starting place," Elsa commanded. "Get some water." I picked up my axes and withdrew; backwards. Oneida had crept around to my side. "I know what you did this morning," Oneida gave me some water to drink. "It was very clever of you to send me away for my safety. It makes me adore you even more." I reached out with one finger and poked her nose. "You're silly," I sighed. "No," she giggled like a school girl. I was going to Hell for this one. "You are an 'Ash Man' reborn. I read about it." I had no clue that was and Elsa was waiting. The rest was pre-ordained. I got a few light cuts while not leaving a mark on Elsa. I scored major points by disposing of Elsa's second spear though I lost both axes in the endeavor. She swept my feet out from under me, I rolled away from her follow up kick and quickly went to my knees, palms flat on the mat and head lowered. Only the mentally handicapped would have thought I'd won any part of the martial contest. I'd drawn the first time. My ability to defeat Elsa with the equivalent of a staff was undecided. I had been disarmed and disarmed Elsa the second time; technically a draw, but it wasn't. Why? Because Elsa had been trying NOT to kill me, or even injury me (too much). I had been doing the same. If by some calamity I'd killed Elsa, I would have been lucky to fall on my own axes before the crowd butchered me. No, mine had been an amateur effort. I had missed Elsa mostly because I never got close. Elsa had to hold back from slicing me up and running me through. Elsa walked right up to me; I mean Right up to me. She tapped my head, indicating I should look up. There was her cunt maybe 2 inches away with only her skintight shorts between us. "As this demonstrates, we need to continue to work and update our styles," Elsa addressed the throngs. "Cáel put forth his usual exceptional effort; for the gifted amateur that he is." "Thank you for your attention today, my sisters," Elsa concluded. End of lesson. Traska picked up her medical kit and came my way. Oneida and a half dozen other Amazons closed in as well. Elsa didn't move a millimeter. Her fragrance wafted in my face. When Traska tried to shift me around so she could better access my wounds, Elsa stopped me with her hand on my head. Traska found it odd for a second then they all clued in. Elsa was making a statement. This wasn't Amazonian mannerisms coming to the fore. This was throwing down a gauntlet; Elsa's intention to win this competition; me. Amazons were inherently competitive, being tested and testing themselves against previous achievements and each other. Before Buffy opened her big mouth an hour ago, any contest for me had been a joke; the whole 'hunt me down in X-number of days'. Buffy had beaten Elsa to me. You don't get to be a 3000 year old secret society by letting one setback force you to admit defeat. No; Elsa was stepping up her game. The amazing transformation that had confused the women around us was that, according to Elsa, my opinion suddenly mattered. Buffy had made a point of me finding a way to be with her. My choice. Better yet, I'd made my choice to be with her while my life was on the line. Once again, 'I laugh at death' is an incredible turn on. Elsa hadn't changed her stance about men being armed. She was letting me train so she could summon me whenever she wanted me; unless Katrina put her foot down. Katrina wasn't going to do that often. Elsa was a useful subordinate and Katrina finally had her test dummy; me; on the firing range, which she had wanted all along. Katrina is scary-smart. You don't think so? Who kept throwing me and Buffy together knowing of the Buffy/Elsa rivalry? Who approved my sex weekend with Buffy? Who approved my firearms training once she had Elsa's endorsement? As you might recall, that was something Elsa swore she'd never do, yet here we were; a male being trained with firearms at Havenstone. Katrina didn't know when I'd figure out a way to sleep with Buffy, but she had faith in me that once I got to know Buffy, I'd figure something out. I'm far easier to read than the US Tax Code, or the Affordable Care Act. I liked sex with women, I liked being seen as a good guy, I liked trying to be a good guy; roughly in that order. Katrina knew that. I didn't particularly mind being used by her either. That was her job; to protect the security and integrity of Havenstone. Now Buffy was happy, Elsa was letting me train and by dint of my outrageous behavior, I was assisting Katrina in her plot to restore stability to the traditional Amazon bloodlines. Traska slathered this synthetic goo over my lacerations. It stung, but it aided in the healing process and was flexible enough to barely restrict movement. I winced and 'stumbled' forward face-first into Elsa's crotch. My nose ridge pressed deep into her camel toe, certainly pushing down on her clit. "I apologize," I said softly. I didn't move. Elsa didn't see fit to move me, even with her hand still in the hair on the top of my head. "Finished," Traska sighed. "Let me help you up," Oneida jumped to my aid. She helped me stand, but Elsa didn't seem to mind. Getting out of the gym alive was easy. My heartfelt pledge to myself to never return was futile. Sweaty chicks hang out at gyms. As a kid, I played D and D. If I was a Ranger, gyms would be my favored terrain. Okay, maybe bars then gyms. Fine, rock concerts, bars then gyms. I almost made it to the locker room. Coming from the other direction; the non-blooded gym; was Felix. "Hey Felix," I greeted him. Here I was with several fresh wounds and ten steamy ladies who all appeared to have a definite interest in my physique, if not my well-being. Felix was alone. That would not do, not for a man like Felix. "What happened to you?" he asked. "Figure-skating accident," I lied. "It seems I'm clumsy on ice." He didn't buy if for a second. "Oh; maybe Brooke can help patch you up tonight," he grinned. Asshole. The only flaw in his game plan was that the chicks around me didn't give a rat's ass about outsider women. They certainly weren't going to be jealous of them. "Good idea," I nodded. "Where are my manners? This is Oneida, Elsa, Traska and; well, I can't say I've been able to catch everyone's names yet." The unknown women didn't bother introducing themselves. Why? Felix was only a male. They had no immediate need of him, so they didn't bother being civil. Felix was an Alpha's Alpha. He didn't give up that easily. We made it to the showers. Buffy, having not worked out, waited by my locker. Mystically, Elsa appeared in the showers at the exact same time as me. Felix was right behind her. "Felix Melena," he offered his hand to Elsa. She shook it then went back to showering. "I'm better than Cáel." Elsa gave him a quick sneer. "What gives you that idea?" she murmured. "Why don't you let me prove it," he turned to face her, giving Elsa the complete Felix Melena aesthetic. He was a centimeter, or two taller, I was maybe three kilograms heavier and we both lavished attention on our bodies. He was perhaps a bit longer, but narrower down there. As long as it wasn't aimed at my mouth, or ass, I didn't care. By the lack of reaction in Elsa's body tempo, she didn't care either. "If you were a team bodyguard and an assassin appeared to be trying to kill myself and Hayden, who would you protect with your life?" Elsa posed. "I'd kill the assassin," Felix came back immediately. Felix was a winner. "Cáel?" Elsa said. "Hayden," I responded. "I'm a bodyguard. From the top down; protect, secure, return fire." "Cáel, you are trained as a bodyguard?" Felix smirked. "Nah. That was the common sense answer to the question she asked," I shrugged. Shampoo time. Felix was going to make me pay for that comeback. "Felix, would you ever work at Havenstone; off the clock?" Elsa continued. "Yeah," he grinned. I know what he wanted to work on; off the clock. Good luck, you bastard. "Cáel?" "I'm never off the clock, damn it," I snorted. "This job is a 24/7 crimp in my sex life." "Bro," Felix coughed. "Be careful. That's close to sexual harassment." Btw, Felix was serious. He was actually cautioning me. See, me being deported meant he couldn't crush me. "Elsa, would you please shoot me in the head?" I replied. "No," she smiled warmly at me. "I love you too," I said, dripping with sarcasm. Felix's eyes bugged out for a second. "That, Felix Melena, is why Cáel is a better man than you," Elsa looked like an angel sitting in judgment of Felix, finding him flawed and substandard. "Cáel joking around makes him better than me?" Felix mocked. The mistake here had to be Elsa's. "Your lack of understanding is not my problem," Elsa dismissed him. "Cáel, wash my back." "Fine, I'll do it, but I'm massaging your ass too," I groused. "Get it over with," she sighed with exasperation. "Damn. Felix; day in, day out. Always washing naked women. This job is killing me," I muttered. Felix wasn't one to give up easily. By the time I had totally soaped up her back, ass and upper thighs; back and front, he had exited the field. He caught me exiting the locker room. "Cáel, why don't we go out for some drinks after work?" he offered. Ah, he was going to beat me up with Brooke. "Sure," I agreed. I'm a dog. Felix was going to sleep with Brooke to show me he was the superior male. He was going to rub it in my face. I hadn't told anyone about knocking boots with Brooke. It wasn't their business. Felix would crow it to the Heavens, because pissing me off was what mattered, not how Brooke felt. I couldn't even save Brooke because Felix was in her socio-economic group and she'd make the same mistake with him she'd made with Trent; thinking they cared about her.  (Monday later) Buffy had finally dismissed me when Katrina summoned me to her office. Ignoring me getting into an altercation; in the Full-Blood gym; yet again, I had a good day. No property damage, lost items, or physically damaged employees. Ragged by most people's standards, but a good day for me at Havenstone. I still had a chance to walk out under my own power. Katrina motioned me to come to her desk. Upon my arrival, she slid a tablet over to me with a single icon on the screen. I tapped it. Aya's face appeared as the vid-mail began. She was glowing. There was tent fabric in the background so I had no idea of her geographic location. I didn't care. "Hey!" she squeaked. "I'm doing great at camp. I met three girls who are as small as me and we've formed our own squad; the Fatal Squirts." I chuckled. I had encouraged her to steal strength from her perceived weaknesses. She had to believe in herself then take that as she built up her skills. I had faith in her when no one else did. "I showed some of my councilors a picture of you. I think you would get into trouble if you came here. I want you to come, but I thought it was only fair to warn my favorite bed-buddy," she giggled. "Send me a message when you can. I understand there will be a delay as the messages have to be physically delivered. I know you are doing okay. If not, hold off your vengeance until I can return and guard your back. I love you, Cáel. Be well," she smiled as her picture faded into darkness. "Ah damn," I whispered. Aya looked good; confident, upbeat and spirited. "Katrina, can I make a message for her right now?" I begged. "Of course," she gave me an approving tilt of the head. "I think the courier is still in the building." "Cool. What do I do?" I urged. "Use the webcam; make a message and forward it to my computer," Katrina told me. "I'll take it from there." I made the message, pretty much updating her on my latest exploits with limited editing. Aya was a surprisingly innocent yet worldly 9 year old. Much of that came from being Katrina's and Desiree's niece; mainly Katrina's. It gave her access to tidbits of sensitive data from time to time. Not so much she was a real security threat. Enough so that she got some things confused; like what sex was truly about. I felt in my soul she'd be a great Amazon one day. I didn't remind her of that much. She had enough pressure for a kid her age. "You are seeing Oneida now?" a frosty voice unnerved me. It was Buffy. "Fuck," I jumped up. "Damn Buffy, stop sneaking up on me like that, or I'm going to start thinking you are a stalker." "I am stalking you, Einstein," Buffy menaced. "I'm glad we got that out of the way," I rolled my eyes. "Oh look! It's Daphne coming to my rescue. I am so out of here," I exulted. I edged passed Buffy, slipped her attempt to grab my arm and raced for the 'new hires' at the elevator. "Get back here, you Cock-sucker!" Buffy howled as she chased me down. May miracles never cease. Daphne, Violet and Tigger formed an Amazon (I wasn't sure if I could consider them 'human' yet) shield between my frail form and the hulking brute that was Buffy. "Calm down, Buffy," Daphne pleaded. "He fought Elsa today; again." "Get out of my way," Buffy snarled. "Thank God you stopped her," I huffed to Dora. "I hope to she never finds out that I soaped up Elsa's entire body while we were sharing a shower together." Daphne turned and gave me an incredulous look. "Cáel, you are a Dumb-ass," Daphne sighed. Looking to Buffy as she stood aside. "Have at." "Are you mental?" Fabiola chimed in. The elevator doors finally opened, Buffy shoved me in and the rest of the posse followed. Helena joined us at the last second. "He's taunting me," Buffy responded to Fabiola while using her middle finger to poke my chest. "At this rate I am going to have to devastate a dozen male escorts so I can make it the remaining the 69 more days until he's mine again." "Is he really that good?" Paula wondered. Buffy twisted around to confront her. "He hammered me so hard, I thought he'd dislocate my hips. Later, we spent an entire hour, naked, wrapped up in each other's bodies with no actual penetration; touching, tasting and whispered affections," Buffy curled her lip. "He's better than you could possibly imagine." "You realize we have 27 seconds left, right?" I reminded Buffy. "Really?" Buffy's head snapped back to me. I nodded and she jumped my bones. She had her hand down my pants, pulling on my rod, and the other grabbing the back of my head to deepen our kiss. For my part, I had my left hand on her breast and the right down the back of her pants, fondling a panty-covered ass cheek. In a culture where you summoned a male, ordered him to perform and he did so the same exact way he'd done a dozen times before, what Buffy and I were doing didn't make sense. The two of us didn't give up an ounce of control yet meshed perfectly. Our pleasure was obvious, vocal and we didn't give a damn about the crowd around us. Buffy and I had created our own little lust-bubble. The chimer went off. We settled down and straightened up our clothes. "Fuck it all; that's some good dicking," Buffy mumbled. That was an inside joke between me, Timothy, my big, gay, buff tattoo-artist roommate, and the few women he chose to share that descriptive with; 'a good dicking'. We tumbled out of the elevator. "Is he always like that?" Fabiola mumbled. "He's a whole lot better with his clothes off," Buffy sneered at Fabiola. Sometimes I'm a super-selfish bastard; I want life to cut me some slack. Waiting for us was Oneida; in biker clothing. That would have merely been bad, dangerous and creepy except I was dressed in work clothes. I was planning to meet some of the guys (all two of them) for some after-work drinks. The encounter went from not-good to horribly awkward. Oneida had checked up on me, been told how I got to and from work as well as when I left. Unfortunately, she hadn't checked my social calendar; mainly because I didn't keep one; sophomore year mistake. If a girl is in your apartment, she will find the thing you don't want her to find; every single time. I burned my diary and unfriended everybody after that final, hospital-resulting episode. "Hi," I greeted Oneida. She'd figured out she'd screwed up something fierce. "What bike do you use? I have a Specialized STSE hybrid. Maybe we can use some paths one weekend." I was trying to diffuse her embarrassment. We were two bikers talking about bikes. Nothing wrong with that. "I have a Specialized Source;” she got out then realized how BAD that sounded. She had the exact same bike as me; how bizarre? Unless you had somebody come down and take a look at what I bicycle I used. Time to save the day. "Do you want to make a date for 6:30 am on Saturday?" I suggested. "Provided this wacky place hasn't offed, or misplaced me by then." "Ah; that would be nice," Oneida rebounded happily. "The date, that is." "Whoa Oneida, what are you doing with this guy?" Brian derided me as he walked up. I wanted to say, 'Brian, you've insulted a princess of the Amazon people. Please continue making an ass of yourself and give Trent and Khalid my regards'. I didn't. "This is Cáel Nyilas. He's a real player," Brian smirked. "You can do better than him." Oh yeah, Oneida and Brian were co-workers; 'new hires' in Acquisitions. "Brian, it took you three days to even use my name," Oneida gave Brian a neutral stare. "I love Cáel. He saved my life and he sees the real me." For the love of all that's holy, someone shoot me in the head right now. I could hear the nearly subsonic growls emanating from Buffy. Brian looked at me, laughed and went to put an arm around Oneida's shoulder. After all, if I could pick her up, it should be effortless for him to take her away, right? Dumb-shit. Laughing at me was okay. Laughing at; then I noticed the two chicks in black leather standing about doing their best (until a second ago) to go unnoticed. Cáel had gotten away with such familiarity because Cáel had risked his life to save their Princess. Brian Fung? He barely knew her name and they worked together. These weren't even SD chicks; they were something else. My guess was Arinniti House Guard. Did Katrina's House Epona have a house guard? Sure, I imagine they did. They were probably with the rest of House Epona where ever they lived. It wasn't like the whole kit and caboodle was here in NYC. That would have been foolish. If Caitlyn, Aya's mom, had a security issue, she called us at Havenstone HQ, less than four kilometers away. Without a doubt, Elsa would stop by and kick ass for her. I gave Brian this much; he had a working set of eyes. The second those two harbingers of death began closing in, Brian back-pedaled. "Hey Brian, let's go grab some drinks," I offered him a graceful exit. "Sounds good," Brian tried to sound cool. "Oneida, take care," I nodded to my new romantic stalker. "Ladies," to my 'new hire' crew. "Buffy," to my sometimes boss, "remember you are still hot for a; mature chick." "You are going die a long, torturous and extremely painful death," Buffy sizzled. "What? Are you going to make me eat your cooking?" I laughed. Buffy didn't articulate a counter before Brian and I slipped outside. "Cáel, who was that woman?" Brian whispered. "Which one? You need to be more specific. My erotic malfeasances are terribly confusing." "The one you insulted," Brian said. "The last one you insulted," he clarified. "Buffy. She's one of my bosses," I grinned. "She loves me. She's even promised to play the bagpipes at my funeral. Personally I think that's because she doesn't want to risk anyone hearing me pounding on the coffin lid, trying to get out." "You are not going to make it the full 84 days with that attitude," Brian lectured me. "Trent has already been promoted," Brian continued. "I am regularly referred to as indispensable in my work reviews. Felix works closely with Ms. Pharos at all times. You seem to be the only one of us having; issues with Havenstone. Hell, they even shot you and you sat back and took it. I doubt your complacent attitude impressed anyone much." No mention of poor Khalid. How quickly they forget. Trent had been 'promoted' to Southeast Asia alright. I looked it up; there are around 10,000 islands between Indonesia and the Philippines. Sure some were small spits of land with a few trees. I had little doubt one of the good-sized one was a jungle of a different sort. Certainly Executive Services sent Trent's belongings somewhere. I'd never tried to find out. What would I have done with the knowledge? Brooke didn't care and I didn't know his family. Brian and I went to the same yuppie bar as last time. I was with Brian this time, so I abandoned him as quick as I could. Why? At the far end of the bar, talking the bar-back was my Delivery Girl; aka the person who did the home liquor delivery to Libra's place. Half way down the bar, she sensed me looking at her. The bar-back followed her gaze. He wasn't happy with me. DG simply didn't recognize me so I held up my valise over my groin. Confusion; surprise; acknowledgment that despite our surroundings, I wasn't worried about being seen with her. She had her hand truck; she had to make a front door delivery this time. "Remember me?" I smiled. "Cáel Nyilas; the Pillow Guy," she snickered. "How did that work out for you?" The bar-back was broadcasting his displeasure at some upper class shmuck cutting in on his action. DG caught that. "Jason, this is Cáel," she introduced me. "We last met under unusual circumstances." "What kind of name is Cáel?" Jason remarked. "An unfortunate one," I snorted. "You try explaining to your kindergarten teacher that it is 'c-a-e-l'. Of course, I wasn't 'Bomophoto' either. She had it worse than I did." Jason searched me out to see if I was pulling one over on him. I wasn't. Bomo and I bonded over our linguistic misfortune. She moved to Santa Fe in the third grade. I wonder if she grew up to be hot looking. Oink. "I'll give you that," he chuckled. "Why did you get branded?" "Mom was Irish, my Dad was in love with her so I got the cultural emersion, minus the Guinness," I shrugged. "By the way;” I looked back to the lady. "Katy Lee Baker," she batted her eyelashes. We shook hands. "How did it go?" I picked up her question. "Sex, chopped fruit, your drinks, more sex and back to the clinic before eleven." "Have you talked to them since?" Katy inquired somewhat seductively. "Perhaps. I don't like to kiss and tell," I evaded. "I'm curious because two of the three arrived five minutes before you did and they appear somewhat unhappy with you right now," she smirked. "You can look over your shoulder if you don't believe me." Sure enough, there was Felix, Brian, Brooke, Libra and; I think her name was Gina. I waved then turned back to my current two conversationalists. "So Jason, what do you like to do?" I asked the guy. "Huh; what? I work," he replied. "I mean bike, try ethnic food, go to the gym; stuff like that," I teased him. "I work six days a week; but usually one or two are afternoon shifts. Me and some buddies play some pick-up basketball," Jason told me. "Great. You'd pick a sport I suck at," I set the bait. If Jason thought I sucked, he'd invite me to play. That's how it worked. I was pretty good at basketball considering I'd spent the last four years playing with girls; on the court. Girls play some mean ball. They also didn't shy away from putting an elbow into my nuts if they felt like it. "I'm not sure I live in a neighborhood you'd be comfortable visiting," Jason threw up a roadblock. I had him on this one. I showed him my ID. It had the right address; wrong apartment number. "Shit dude, that place is about as rough as my home turf." "I get paid a quarter million a year to taste test for hexafluoride in Chinese imports," I joked. "Really?" Katy chuckled. "It's a growth industry; if you consider tumors to be growth," I was faux-serious. "Mr.; Cáel," Jason looked over my shoulder. "I think one of those chicks is about to come over here and kill you. You best hop to it." "Which one? The brunette, or the russet-colored (Libra)?" I inquired. "The brunette wants attention and the russet wants to push a red hot poker up your ass," Jason gave me his experienced opinion. Heading over there was going to be 'fun'. "Give me a call some time, Jason. Nice to see you again, Katy Lee," I waved good-bye. "You know the staff here?" Libra spat. "That was the girl who delivered the liquor to your place, Libra," I sighed. "I said 'hi'." "It takes you an awful lot of words to say 'hello'," Brian gave a false smile. Libra was positioned next to Brian. Her anger with me plus his 'sexy' put her there. Brooke shifted as I joined their chair-less center table. She was putting enough distance between us to show everyone she was independent yet close enough to give warning signs to other woman that I was in her sights, if not her outright possession. I was better looking than Brooke had counted on. More 'fun' was coming down the pipeline. Gina was here on another date with Felix, or so she thought. Poor Gina. Felix was most likely an excellent fuck. What she didn't appreciate was that Felix was not only a competitor, he was the kind of athlete who had to win. Second place was what you called the first loser. Gina was about to be educated in this personal idiocentricity. Now that I was on stage, Felix made his move on Brooke. Gina? He'd let her in on a three-way if he was feeling personally Hernán Cortés-like. Felix had to have Brooke. I hadn't dumped Brooke, according to Gina, so he wasn't getting my castoffs; he was stealing my prize. The flaw in this plan was my whole viewpoint on monogamy. I didn't much care for it. Brooke was a grown woman and could make her own choices. Felix made his move. Damn, he was smooth. He had Brooke wrapped up and pulled tight without Gina even being aware she'd been dumped. Enter the train wreck named Nicole. She was the criminal defense attorney who I'd fucked in a stall in the women's bathroom of this place. She hadn't tried to contact me and I hadn't worried about her. Hook-ups were like that. She'd been close by, respecting Brooke's signs and not stopping by to say hello. Then Felix launched his master plan and I was suddenly freed up. Nicole had gotten a rough fucking and liked it, I could tell. "Cáel Nyilas," Nicole swooped in. "How have you been?" "The normal. Menace to society, disrespectful of authority and being annoying to random strangers," I teased. "You?" "I'm a lawyer fighting the irresistible lure of evil. The usual," she joked back. "What have you been doing wrong? As I recall, last time you were doing everything right?" Yes, a good dicking indeed. I was going to relate this encounter to Timothy just so he could shoot me with his Nerf gun. He'd shoot me anyway, but it was nice of me to give him an excuse from time to time. "I've been sending sexually suggestive letters to ADA Feinstein," I offered. "Does that count?" "Oh really?" she seemed surprised. "Why don't you come by my table real quick and let me introduce you to some of my colleagues." I wasn't going to be rude. "Gang, this is Nicole," I introduced her to my table. "She's an attorney at a prestigious law firm that probably has more dead partners than living ones and offices in Papua New Guinea and a few dozen other places you've never heard of. I'll be right back." "You are a nut," Nicole bumped me as we weaved our way to her buddies. "Ladies, this is Cáel Nyilas. I think I mentioned him once." By the looks on their faces, once had been enough. "This is Zelda, Marsha, Phyllis, and Rivka; Rivka Feinstein, ADA for New York County," (that's Manhattan for us hicks). "Ah crap," I exclaimed. That wasn't what they expected. "I confess," I looked at Nicole, "I saw the name in an article on the back of the Village Voice. Sadly, they had R. Feinstein and I stupidly assumed it was a guy." "Oh my God! You're gay?" Zelda and Phyllis despaired. "While my life would a whole lot easier if I was, I'm straight; not even bi-curious. My roommate, Timothy; never Tim; is and he was reading it while I was working out. It sort of stuck in my mind," I admitted. "How did my name come up in conversation?" Rivka inquired. "Cáel is a pathological liar," Nicole teased me. "Not true," I protested. "I'm allergic to excessive honesty. That's totally different." "I'd like to put you on the witness stand," Zelda gave me those bedroom eyes. "You and about a 150 other women," I groaned. "150?" Rivka choked. "Yep. The rest already know I'm guilty," I muttered. "Are you of weak moral fiber?" Phyllis joined the game. We were all having a blast. "Sorry, but no. I'm saving up for some. Currently I'm without morals; or scruples. Any suggestion which one I should purchase first?" "You are a great guy," Rivka snickered. "Why aren't you dating somebody?" "Shall we revisit my lack of morals and scruples?" I answered. "So you are a player?" Nicole nudged me. She wanted to play alright. "How to put this; I'm a wonderful lover and a lousy boyfriend," I told them. "I was an eighteen year old virgin. In the past four years, I have betrayed every woman I've ever dated, save one; my first love," I explained. "Why didn't you betray her?" Phyllis prodded. "Don't tell me she's dead." "No, she's fine," I replied. "She was the one who told me to date other women." "That's harsh," Zelda commiserated. She thought Kimberly had dumped me. "Oh no," I corrected her. "We stayed together until I graduated last month. Four of the best years of my life. When she told me to date other women it was because I was killing her. I have a voracious sexual appetite and she was desperate for a full night's sleep." "Do you ever go home alone?" Marsha joined in. "Does leaving a woman's house at 1 a.m. count?" I requested. "Did she throw you out?" Rivka interrogated. "No. She and her sister were exhausted so I picked up my roommate and left," I exaggerated. "Wait!" Nicole held up her hand. "Sisters; and you told us your roommate was gay?" "Morals and scruples," I repeated. "See, I was dating one sister and the other sister wanted a date so I talked my gay roommate into being my wingman so I wouldn't end up sleeping with them both. It didn't work out so well. The second, older sister was horny, so my guy pretended to pass out." "Have you ever considered you are a horrible person?" Marsha studied me. "Yes. Not only have I thought about, I've been told that a few dozen times. It usually is accompanied by 'I'm going to kill you', or 'you had better make it up to me'." "Have you ever been hurt?" Phyllis appeared concerned. "My body is a roadmap of poor decision making," I responded. "What was the worst thing to ever happen to you?" Rivka grinned. Her ability to be deceptively pretty had to have made her a frightening lawyer. "When they were happening, I was a bit more concerned with what might happen to me as opposed to rating them," I informed her. "Except for being shot with an arrow, being chased around naked with a hot poker and having my bed dowsed with lighter fluid while I was still in it were probably the worst," I nodded. "I've been stabbed a few times, tasered, occasionally thrown out of a window not on the first floor and had bookcase dropped on me once, so I consider myself a connoisseur of ex-girlfriend vengeance." "Have you ever been involved with a police proceeding?" Rivka became a tad bit more intense. "Nah," shook my head. "I had it coming. As you said, I'm kind of a horrible guy." "Domestic violence is no joking matter," Nicole also became serious. "That's unfair," I countered. "I'm not so slavishly devoted to the law that I'd ruin some girl's life because I was a total bastard." "Domestic Violence laws are supposed to protect the innocent from the abusive," I added. "I haven't lied to you about my misadventures, but you should understand I chose to handle most of my problems myself. By the looks on your faces, you are about as disappointed in me as the policewoman I am currently seeing. This is who I am and I'm not going to apologize for it." "Mind you, I'm not some gun-toting, roughneck Libertarian," I clarified. "I believe in law, order and the justice system. If someone pulls out an AK-47 on me at a corner bodega, I'm making 9-1-1 my bitch on speed-dial. I don't want to be a hero, or fulfill my organ donor card. I just don't equate that to a girl kneeing me in the nuts because I slept with her best friend in her lingerie." There was a pause as the ladies looked around. They were making an assessment of how much trouble I'd cause versus how much fun I would be. They all smiled at me. They always do. "Who was wearing the lingerie?" Zelda smirked. "I've worn women's lingerie before, but it really wasn't my thing," I mused. "I'll go through a lot for good sex," I winked. "It was my girlfriend's lingerie on her best friend." "Wait," Rivka noted. "Didn't the best friend know you were dating the first girl?" "Yeah. I'm not sure why that never stops them," I shrugged. "Around the fifth time I stopped worrying about it." "Wow, do you have any idea how many women you've been with?" Rivka asked. "Do you always use protection?" Phyllis piled on. "Yes; 223 as of Friday. I'm hoping to break 300 before work replaces me with those guys from 'Hamster Dance'," I told them. "And yes, I always use protection." "I may not know where my partner has been, but I know where I've been and it scares me," I snickered. "That's why I always carry ten." "Ten?" Nicole snorted. "Do you regularly check the expiration date, or are you that ambitious?" "Ambitious? I'd carry more except it's hard to hide more than ten in a wallet; I've tried," I sighed. "Have you ever run out?" Marsha snickered. Our snickering, chuckling and laughter were drawing stares. "Run out? Hell, I've gone door to door in a women's dormitory at 2 a.m. trying to find some," I related. "Ran into an old girlfriend doing that." I slipped into a dreamy smile. "Why do I think that despite it being 2 a.m. in her dorm with you seeking a condom for use with a different woman, she wasn't pissed?" Rivka giggled. "Oh God no," I waved off. "She was freaking furious. That was some of the most intense 'I'm lonely and it's all your fault' sex I have ever been through." "You have names for different kinds of sex?" Nicole was almost crying from laughing so hard. "Oh yeah. The first time I run across a different sexual experience, I slap a name on it so when it happens again, I know what to do," I explained. "Isn't every woman unique?" Zelda sniffled. "That sounds nice in a love song, but 'no'," I smiled. "Women, and men, have a finite number things; needs and responses. Women can have different erogenous zones, but there all on the human body. Admittedly, it can be a bit like predicting the weather at times. It is not a perfect system by any means." "What's my 'thing' then?" Nicole taunted. She didn't think I could do it. "Sex has to be an accomplishment with you, Nicole," I informed her. "You need to be engaged mentally as much as anything else. You need a poet who runs marathons. Otherwise you end up staring at the ceiling after sex wondering what better use you could have made of your time." Silence. That was the norm for that kind of revelation. Women hated to be laid bare. They hated being misunderstood even more. "Nicole?" Rivka prodded her friend. Nicole remained silent. I knew that look. "Nicole, I'm bad news. Wouldn't you prefer to keeps thing simple?" I hoped. I was wrong to hope. I kept praying they would go 'hey, great, mindless sex; let's not blow it', but they never did. I hated giving lame erotic encounters, despite the guarantee of anguish that always followed. "We could go out on a date and see how that works?" Nicole offered. Doom. "Cáel Nyilas; I'm in the book and I work for Havenstone Commercial Investments," I stupidly replied. "You probably have a killer workload were as I spot-check children's toys for WMDs. Give me a call when you have a night free." How was it going to turn out? Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex; let's make a commitment; you cheating fuck-nut! I hate you. Girls weren't predictable; I was. "Cáel, we are going out to dinner, if you remember who you are supposed to be with," Libra seethed as she and the others passed Nicole's table. "Yup, gotta go where I'm not wanted. Nice seeing you again, Nicole," I grinned. "Ladies, I hope it was a pleasure. It was for me. Good night." Dinner; was; bad. Felix, hemorrhoid that he was, squashed Gina's feeble attempts to draw him back to her as he made crystal clear that he was taking Brooke home; to fuck her into Paradise; instead of letting her go home with me. Problem being; Brooke wasn't mine to take; never had been. For the first time in his life, I thought Brian was about to be screwed. Libra was past uber-bitchy by the fifth glass of wine. Brian held a pair of Jokers and thought he was the boss, like always. Libra had four Queens and would be screaming my name when she orgasmed; Brian was sexually proficient. He was also a misogynist, I was now sure, and Libra was going to make him squeal. Then she was going to grab up her clothes, storm out of Brian's place and never want to talk with him again. It wasn't that I was that unforgettable. I was that I knew what she wanted and had given it to her and not getting it Saturday afternoon while Brooke did was frosting her ass. What did that mean for me? For the first time in a long, long time, I was pissed with another guy. Trent really wasn't worth my time, but Felix was about to cross my here-until-now unforeseen line of what guys did to girls. It was dawning on me that this was the result of me. Someone was doing something wrong to a girl because of me. It wasn't my fault. Felix was being a jerk. That would be of cold comfort for Brooke. We split up after dinner. I didn't have the heart to pick up Gina, who was easy prey right then. It was too much like what Felix thought he was doing to me. I took a cab to Havenstone, changed clothing and biked home. I barely had dinner ready for Timothy when he came through the door. "That's not a look I'm used to seeing," he remarked. "I should have beaten someone up," I frowned, "but I didn't and now some girl; Brooke; is going to have her heart kicked because of it." "Was it something you did?" Timothy asked. "No. There is this guy at work who is using her to alpha-dog me," I muttered. "Brooke?" Timothy was confused. "You hardly like her. What a sleaze (Felix). If it was Odette, first I'd slap you around for still being here. Then we'd go get him." "I'm not even sure why I feel bad about this," I grunted. "As you said, I hardly like her." "It is called a conscience, Dimwit," Timothy snorted. That didn't help much. Conscience? Man, I'd stop my bike to run across a highway to move a tortoise off the road. I used to feed some of the Bolingbrook wild hares during the winter. I did humiliating crap for charity. I was never mean to a girl; only dishonest and unfaithful. Introspection got me nowhere. I was a cad. I'd been happy to be a cad for four years. I was going to be damned if my post-college life was going to be any different; all 68 remaining days of it. In my bedroom I discovered Odette had moved in during my absence. I doubted Timothy had been ignorant of all the stuff she deposited. What was going on with my life? I woke up when I heard keys in the door. It was a bit past eleven. I got up to check and sure enough, it was Odette. Timothy had given her a key. Odette had lived through a harrowing night, her boss was a dick and some of the customers were pure hell. I cuddled with her on the sofa while she unwound then we went to bed together. We didn't have sex; (Tuesday) Around 1 a.m. I miraculously found myself awake and alert in bed. Odette was happily dreaming away. Something was gnawing at the back of my mind. I put a name to the emotion and a face to the fear. I called Brooke. "Hey Brooke," I greeted her eight tries later. She was tired of sending me to voice mail. "What do you want?" she answered in a voice devoid of soul. "Fuck if I know," I replied. "I suddenly woke up from a sound sleep thinking of you." "I'm not interested," she sighed. "I'm going to go out on a limb here. You don't want to talk to anyone yet you want someone to help you understand what you are going through," I gambled. That created a tiny tear in her shroud of depression. After five minutes, I got her to give me her address. She told me she wouldn't answer the door. I told her I at least had to try. That got me to her place, 90 seconds of knocking got me inside and four minutes later, we were lying in bed with her sobbing on my chest. Half an hour later, she offered me sex. I told her to stop tempting me and if she only wanted me for sex, I wanted to be paid in chocolate. She giggled, took a few deep breaths and fell to sleep. Wow, I was in two different women's beds in one night and not having sex in either. My watch alarm went off at 4:50 a.m. That meant no 'Marilyn' call tonight. "Mmm;” Brooke moved toward wakefulness. "Work?" "Afraid so," I yawned. "We haven't had sex," he reminded me. I couldn't stop being me. "That's not why I came over here, Brooke," I rolled onto my side so that our bodies were very close. "Never think I don't want to have sex with you, but that's not why I showed up last night," I continued. "Why did you show up then?" she worried. "I have no clue. I'm like Felix; a player. Listen Brooke, I don't consider you my woman," I stated. "We had sex; we are lovers, but we've been thrown together by dire misfortune, not out of any common thread," I reminded her. "I don't expect you to have any sense of loyalty to me." That phrase freed her up philosophically. That meant she could fuck me and not feel obliged to consider and discard any future for us because there was no realistic future that socially glued us into any acceptable form. "So I needed a shoulder to cry on and you showed up," she mused. "Brooke, you are independent and strong-willed. The next guy you chose will be your choice," I led her along. "Felix though; Felix is a serious player and he felt the need to add you to his list of conquests. I saw it happening and did nothing. Now I feel like crap for sitting back and ignoring the consequences." "You knew Felix would turn me into a hash mark?" Brooke seemed depressed, not angry. "I knew he was trying to get at me," I confessed. "He didn't accept that you and I aren't an item. A blonde co-worker; a high ranking supervisor actually; treated him like a bug in the communal showers yesterday while keeping close contact with me. Felix had to win. He had to show me he is the top dog." "And I was the prize?" Brooke moped. "Not to me," I whispered. Brooke looked hurt. "You are a woman. While you would look delectable in a big red ribbon, that's not who you are. I don't keep hash marks. I have a thing called a heart cord and it is solely for my use. Each binding represents a liaison; like a Quipus; an Incan memory knot." Brooke really didn't care. It sounded neat, it was romantic and the act was not demeaning to her. I could savor the memory of our encounter as long as I didn't share it with my buddies. She wasn't one of 'those' girls. "You are very intelligent," she murmured seductively. She didn't care if I was the reincarnation of Benjamin Franklin, or some schmo in Afghanistan who made his living digging up (hopefully) spent ordinance of battlefields. Smoking hot, sexy, well-educated debutantes like Brooke could fuck finely-sculpted, 'smart' guys like me. She could delude herself that I was rapidly upwardly mobile. My turn. "Brooke, I don't want to get mixed up about us," I evaded. 'Us'? There was no 'us' and we both knew it. "If I caved in right now, I'm not sure I could forgive myself." Yes I could. "I just want to feel like someone gives a damn about me," Brooke whimpered. Good acting. We wrestled around; me trying to leave, but clearly not wanting to, while she physically enticed me. We ended up, me on top, pinning her wrists to either side of her head. Her legs were trapped between mine. "Make it up to me; please," she pouted. She humped her pelvic bone playfully against my cock. "I know you want to help me out." Good word usage on her part. "Brooke, this isn't going to happen," I gritted my teeth in frustration. Yes, it was going to happen. Her right leg began exerting steady pressure against my 'weak' left leg. It slowly 'surrendered' to her advance. Now she had on leg on the outside. My right leg held out a little longer yet Brooke was persistent. Now she could ground her finely groomed landing strip against my pulsating rod. I really, really wanted to fuck her now. I took my hands off her wrists, turned them into fists and placed the beneath each of her underarms. "Damn you," I cursed her. Brooke was gyrating her crotch all over mine. With her hands released, Brooke could leverage her body up and trap my cockhead between her labia. They were thoroughly soaked with her honey so after my 'capture' she drew more and more of my length in until I was completely incased. Brooke had won! She knew she'd won. Fuck Felix and his hash marks. I didn't care so why should she? I made on last energetic yet futile effort to get away. Oddly, Brooke somehow end on top at the end of my exertion. I must be an awful wrestler; "No you don't," Brooke purred only millimeters from my lips. "You are not getting away." That was Brooke tossing good ole Felix under the emotional bus. Felix the Player? She'd chalk it up to too much to drink and the hype being more than the man. How was this possible? Look at her. She'd thrown a known sexual dynamo down on her bed and was working his shaft over every G-spot in her vagina. Brooke still preferred a long, rough fucking to get her off. At the moment, she need reassurance more. Felix most assuredly made Brooke ride him. He kept her perpendicular to his hips and came up to suckle her teats when he wanted to, or watch them bounce as he lay back. He was great at sex, no doubt. The girl had to scream and howl; forgetting every other male she was ever with and making every other guy she'd be with later an automatic failure. To him, that was how he rated success. This resulted in me keeping Brooke close so I could make quick kisses to her very close lips. She'd playfully pull away; to put me in my place and remind me she was in charge; then she'd initiate the kiss. Our love-making was more rhythmic; less frantic. She was getting close. "Next; next time you fuck Felix," I gasped. "Tell him; " "What makes; makes you think I'd; every sleep with him; again?" Brooke got feisty. "I bet he was good in bed and now that you have his measure," I assured her. "You can take what pleasure you want and leave." Brooke liked that. It was the whole independent woman thing. "Won't you be jealous?" she panted. "I cannot constantly keep up with your sexual desires, Brooke," I grunted. "I've been neglecting Libra." Oh yeah, Libra. The girl she, Brooke, initially set me up with. Her Vassar classmate. "What about Felix," she huffed and huffed. She was real close. "Off-handedly comment that he's developing male pattern baldness," I grinned. "Just to fuck with his head." Felix was gorgeous. Better yet, Felix knew he was gorgeous. Hit him where it hurts. Brooke tried to giggle, but the surge of triumph overcame her and off she went. The problem was I was getting close and I didn't have a condom on. "Brooke," I inhaled deeply. She'd come to rest on my chest. "I'm about to; " "Oh," she sighed happily. She reversed to the side as she slithered down my body. My cock went down her throat and I started petting her flank. Brooke wasn't the very best, but, man o man, she was going to town on my dick. There was no doubt in my mind that her vaginal secretions didn't bother her. I had to rush the experience because if I was late to work, Constanza make me stand beside the targets while she shot at them. If she was really pissed, she'd have me hold up targets in front me instead. I shot off, Brooke caught it all in her mouth then spit it into two tissues before tossing them in the trash. I caught her look. Trent and now Felix made her swallow. I didn't care; which was yet another choice Brooke was free to make when making love to me. I jumped her. We had a little, tickle-nibble fight that ended in some kisses. I had to leave and Brooke made sure she was poised extra-sexy the last time I turned around to say goodnight and cut off the lights. "Ah damn," I moaned before I left. I didn't really like Brooke yet, by choosing to engage her in sex, I had accepted the task of making her happy. That was the reason Felix and I were going to fight. He'd use another human being to strike at me instead striking at me directly. To me, this was more than low character, it was an insult to my lifestyle. Felix should have checked his baggage at the door. Competing for the same lady was fine; even fun. Picking one to punish another; not cool. I had to think about my response as I barely made it in for my Constanza time. Wisely, I left my baggage at the door. These were firearms we were dealing with; a danger to me and the people around me. I was in my biking outfit today. More looks. The decision was that I'd go for my Glock-22, a 38 Ruger LCR back-up, a South Korean-made shotgun that looked like an M-16 and a very unhealthy looking device called a Heckler  and  Koch UMP 40 (which I had never even heard of). Wait; it got worse. I was scheduled for knife fighting training at 3 p.m.; every day for the foreseeable future. Constanza didn't w

Cáel's tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand.Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected..

Mashi Epting can help you to understand tax best practices, so you can reduce your liability and maximize savings. She's also a business expert, and combines these two areas in her latest Zoom masterclass! Find out more at: https://whoismashi.com/ Mashi Epting LLC City: Monroe Address: 1011 N 9th Street Website: https://www.whoismashi.com/ Phone: +1 318 538 4761 Email: mashi@whoismashi.com

David McKeegan founded Cleer back in 2016 when he saw the needs foreign founders of US startups were facing. David is a seasoned entrepreneur and passionate about supporting fellow entrepreneurs. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. You can start and run your business without being tied to one place. 2. Compliance with state regulations adds another layer of complexity to ensure full compliance. 3. Get a tax extension before the April 15 deadline. This will give you extra time to understand your obligations. Do not let your tax and financial filings get in the way of building the business of your dreams - Cleer Tax Website Sponsor HubSpot Scale support and drive retention and revenue all in one place with HubSpot's all-new Service Hub. Visit HubSpot.com/service to learn how this all-new solution can help you deliver for your customers

David McKeegan founded Cleer back in 2016 when he saw the needs foreign founders of US startups were facing. David is a seasoned entrepreneur and passionate about supporting fellow entrepreneurs. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. You can start and run your business without being tied to one place. 2. Compliance with state regulations adds another layer of complexity to ensure full compliance. 3. Get a tax extension before the April 15 deadline. This will give you extra time to understand your obligations. Do not let your tax & financial filings get in the way of building the business of your dreams - Cleer Tax Website Sponsor HubSpot: Scale support and drive retention and revenue all in one place with HubSpot's all-new Service Hub. Visit HubSpot.com/service to learn how this all-new solution can help you deliver for your customers!

Brian Boyd is based in Nashville Tennessee where he is practicing tax law. On today's show we are talking about some of the proposed changes to the US Tax Code and how real estate investors could adapt to those changes if they come to fruition. To connect with Brian visit briantboyd.com. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

It's episode 202 of The Cavalry! Johnny needs backup that the government should just tell us what we owe for taxes. Andrew needs backup that spies in the movies need to finish their expensive sandwiches rather than throwing them in the trash after one bite. Enjoy! 

The Dawn of the New Order, like it or not.By Final Stand. Listen to the full episode at Explicit Novels.This is a recounting of the new dean's attempt to destroy Zane by Zane's own abusive nature.“Earned leadership is a blessing; assigned leadership is a burden”THIS IS HOW IT IS GOING TO BEIt started at 6:45 as we began filing out of the dorm toward the dining hall and breakfast. We received texts, or our dorm mothers received them if we didn’t have that function, assigning us a tribe we belonged to. What was a tribe? No one seemed to have a clue what this entailed for us.“So,” Iona was the first to ask me, “What tribe are you part of?”“My tribe’s called the Mediator tribe,” I responded. “What lame-ass name does your tribe have?” Iona blinked at me, took my phone from my hands, and looked at it while we walked.“Mercy and I are in 17,” Rio sneered. “Why did your group merit a name and ours didn’t?”“Because Zane doesn’t have a tribe,” Iona figured. “He is not of the mediator tribe; he’s a mediator. The real question is, how many mediators are there and what is their responsibility?”“I’m in tribe three,” Vivian volunteered. “I do have a notation but no indication who to see about it.” The conversations around us were going in the same general direction, the girls trying to figure what sort of disruptions this would cause. The teachers put a kibosh on students walking around and finding out where their friends were placed so the text and phone messages being tossed around were obscene.The surprise going to breakfast had saved virtually all of the freshmen from Handmaiden’s Duty but they snapped us up heading for Assembly. I had Frederica Nicholas who decided to make a game of her giving me a word and me having to create a poetic verse. I rapidly learned the more risqué my verse, the more touchy-feely she became. (And she is a Rhaine supporter, huh?) I am a glutton for sexual foreplay no matter where it comes from.Entry into the Assembly Hall brought its own special form of confusion. All the seats had numbers for the tribes that could sit there. I didn’t find my group anywhere but I did catch the fact that Christina’s group had been broken up. I stopped by Heaven to put a comforting hand on her shoulder because she looked terribly unsettled before I approached Ms. Goodswell on the stage.My spiritual advisor stood up, walked to the edge of the stage, and knelt down so we could talk privately.“Hi, Teach. I can’t seem to find my groups/tribe’s area,” I said pleasantly. “Can you help me out? Hell, can you tell me what’s going on?”“Zane, your seat is right over there,” she said, pointing to a chair on the front row – aisle seat. She smiled sadly. “All I can tell you about this program right now is that I trust you.” Oh crap, that didn’t sound good. Sitting on the front row – the region normally reserved for seniors – was just as disturbing. I sensed an epic boning in my future and I was sure I knew who the chick with the strap-on was.Chancellor Bass came to the podium and led us through the first ten minutes of the session. I could tell she was simmering with anger and resentment over whatever the upcoming fiasco was, and she showed it. She introduced Vice Chancellor Scarlett, then sat down abruptly. Her enthusiasm wasn’t muted; it was buried in the core of the earth.“Greetings, students of Freedom Fellowship University; I believe we stand at the first step to a great, glorious, and blessed experiment,” Vice Chancellor Dr. Victoria Scarlett began. Her plan did sound grandiose, was certainly going to be famous (or infamous), and whichever supernatural powers put their mark on this train wreck, I was sure we’d discover the Arch-angel Morningstar also had his sulfuric fingerprints on it when the CSI’s were finally brought in.The basics of the scheme: There would be eighteen tribes of fifty or more members. Each tribe had all four grades in it but was focused on declared majors so that the girls could support one another. Each tribe would internally determine how they would regulate themselves as well. Externally, relations would be overseen by the Mediator – yes, that was in the singular – as in one: me.At this point, I was wondering if jumping up, shooting Scarlett in the heart, and crying ‘Sic semper tyrannis’ was appropriate. I didn’t have a gun and realistically, Victoria didn’t deserve death for what she was putting all of us through. A few days in a pillory would suffice. No, she was making me be the 'Man’ of our academic community, our judge and arbitrator.As for my job qualifications, or lack thereof; I am considered morally loose, if not downright deviant. I’m an eighteen-year-old boy telling twenty-one-year-old women what to do, I have no legal experience – oh, yes, and half the campus hates my guts. I almost missed it when Dr. Scarlett added that Vivian would remain my guardian.Maybe Vivian would throw herself in the path of a sharpened pencil, pen, or stylus aimed at my heart by any number of the young ladies that wanted me dead, just like a Secret Service Agent.“You will be informed of the location of your first meetings. Each tribe will meet at eight o'clock tonight and tomorrow night to create the foundations of your group,” Dr. Scarlett informed us.“Tribes five and seventeen will be meeting in the Solarium of Alan Smithee dorm, if that is okay with Mr. Braxton.” Victoria looked my way. I stood up in case anyone missed my discomfort for being called out and actually asked by a lead educator for anything resembling permission on this campus.“Eight o'clock tonight?” I questioned. “I don’t know if that works for me. I have a Brazilian body wax at eight and have scheduled my eyebrows to be plucked at 8:45, plus there is a new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles at nine.”“How about they promise to keep the noise level down?” Victoria volleyed right back at me without missing a beat.“Very well, Dr. Scarlett, if you personally guarantee their behavior, I’m okay with them using my room,” I allowed. I couldn’t provoke Scarlett and I couldn’t embarrass her, so I was back to facing her rear-bound artificial cock catching up with my behind. I sat back down. Victoria quickly exited center stage and a bitter Chancellor ushered us through the last of the service.I waited outside the Assembly Hall for my friends and my Handmaiden for the moment, Theresa Yates. Christina and Chastity caught up with me first, both giving me a curious look.“Bro,” Rio sneered as she and Mercy joined us, “we need to discuss your future abuse of power, bribes and kick-backs you are going to get. Nice banter with ol’ Scarlett too.”“Yes,” Christina said sarcastically, “being flippant with the Vice Chancellor backfired so spectacularly the first time, it definitely needed repeating.” Her criticism really sucked because I always secretly wanted her to think well of me.“What’s your plan?” Chastity prodded me. She was always helping me out when she got the chance. As she finished, Iona, Hope, Faith, and Heaven showed up.“They split us up,” growled Heaven. “Do something, Zane.”“He just found out about this,” Iona responded before I could. “Give it time and combined, we will come up with a solution together.” I sighed with some relief at her assistance and then I blinked. The powerful kiss I planted on Iona’s lips caught everyone off-guard.“Freaking brilliant!” I complimented her gaily, giddy with glee. I didn’t have an actual plan yet but I had a direction to propel my thought toward. With my mind awhirl, I caught sight of Theresa moving past me on her way to class.“Hey, Theresa,” I called out. “What are you having me do today?” She looked a bit shocked.“Zane, we are no longer allowed to call on you for Handmaiden’s Duty,” she informed me.“Oh, He…ck no,” I choked out. “Who says?”“The Vice-Chancellor declared you to be outside the tradition,” she stated sadly. I wasn’t going to stand for this. Victoria was building a wedge between me and the rest of the student body.“Iona, do that tech-thing that you do and inform the ladies that by the authority vested in me as mediator, I am reinstating myself as part of the Handmaiden’s duty until…over half of the tribal leaders petition that I do otherwise,” I announced.“By tech-thing, do you mean send a text message with an accompanying e-mail to all the students on the school registry?” Iona regarded me quizzically.“Zane,” Chastity worried, “are you sure you have the authority?”“Of course he has the authority,” Rio declared. “He’s the freaking mediator.” Sometimes I would really like to get a word in before the conversation runs away from me.I swatted Iona on the butt – she squawked.“Chastity, this is clearly a game of chicken, so why not see how far Scarlett is willing to go,” I replied. The look Christina gave me restored my faith in me; her eyes beamed at me, alight with an intellectual fire. I had one last thing to do while the chaos boiled one last time before the ebb: I hugged Rio.“I want you to break into Gabrielle’s place,” I whispered in her ear, “wait for her to come get you, and tell her this: There is no Cordelia Dresden.”“Back off, Joker,” Rio punched me. Rio trusted me not to put her in harm’s way if I had another choice and Gabrielle knew that Rio would be the last person any sane individual would trust to do this.She gave no hint of a reply to my request. The assumption was, if Cordelia didn’t know what we were up to, she couldn’t figure out a way to stop us, and right now I wanted a way for us out of her little game here at FFU. My current theory was that the girl I knew as Cordelia didn’t exist before she came here, she was an invented personality, and I wanted to know who the inventor was.Oh yeah, back to my actual life where my academic and social lives were in upheaval because my current nemesis (or one of them anyway) was a crusading idealist. I swear to God, if I survive this place, I will never forgive Aunt Jill for not sending me to the University of Hawaii, which was my first choice for college. All I had to worry about there was hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and the wrath of the island spirits for despoiling virgins – simple shit.“Zane, you will discuss the merits and sins of the concubines of King Solomon with me,” Theresa said, as she passed me her backpack to carry. Life rolled back to semi-normal and we separated to make our way to our first classes of the day. That illusion took another ill turn when I entered English class with Ms. Goodswell. She gestured for me to come to her desk before the lesson began.“Zane,” she informed me softly, “none of the female teachers or administrators at this school can give you orders, only suggestions. Only Dr. Jennings may truly compel you to do anything.”This bombshell was the reason she said she trusted me back in Assembly. The only one making me do the right thing was me. I had never considered me Mr. Responsibility before so I was in for a crash course in having authority over 900 students and 100 teachers. I told Virginia Goodswell about my decision concerning my Handmaiden’s Duty to get her input, then compelled her to treat me as any other student – because apparently, I’m in charge of students now.“There are old soldiers and there are bold soldiers, but there are very few old, bold soldiers,” she reminded me. “Never forget, no matter how dark it may seem, Zane, you are never alone.”“I could always use a picture of you in a white, low-cut bikini to inspire me,” I hinted.“Mr. Braxton, by the authority vested in me by the mediator, I order you to take your seat so we can begin classes,” she smirked. Oh, the irony: stymied by my own hubris.Celia Wanamaker snapped me up coming out of English class. Vivian was waiting for me and Raven was in tow – right up until Paige snapped her up. Celia had me name a biblical character for each letter of the alphabet. Paige had Raven quote bible verses – backwards. As if there was any doubt my day could get worse, it did so immediately.“Oh, the great Priest-King approaches!” screeched Rio on seeing me. “We all must genuflect – that’s kneel down until your head touches the ground for you stupid bitches – until the Mediator passes.” The horrible, horrible thing was that dozens of confused girls started doing just that.“Hold on,” I held up my hands for attention, “Hold on. Rio is mistaken. Genuflecting is only done during the Holy Days of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter.”Okay, I made that up off the fly and I figured that I wouldn’t be at school for Christmas, and Good Friday and Easter were next year and I’d worry about that then. For now:“Emily, Rebecca, Henrietta, and Magdalena, please carry Rio to her next class – by the legs and arms,” I instructed some of the closest students. “If a door or other object gets in the way, don’t hesitate to use her head as a battering ram.”“Damn, Bro, that’s harsh,” Rio giggled from the floor. I knelt beside her.“Yeah,” I whispered, “like being man-handled by four girls isn’t going to turn you on.”“Don’t tell them that,” she whispered back. I rose and continued on to class. A wiggling, squirming, cursing, and fighting Rio followed us.I went through the same rigmarole in Biblical Archeology. I told the teacher that using my authority over students, I was instructing her to instruct me as if I was any other student…because I was a student and this was the area of my authority; right? She bought into my reasoning with some relief.“How was it?” I mouthed to Rio once class was well on the way.“Two hands all the way up the thigh – one knows I forgot my undies and was thoroughly soaked – two titties grabbed,” Rio described what she’d been subjected to, “and I got to bite Magdalena’s butt. I love those soccer player asses. You are most likely the best friend I will ever know; thank you.”“Always willing to help a fellow pervert out,” I grinned back. Rio winked, then returned to work. I needed all the humor I could get because it was going to be a long damn day. By the time I made Marksmanship at three o'clock, I was damn happy to shoot something. I got some relief by having my best day ever, scoring a 53 (out of a possible 100) at the range. When I finished, I noticed a large number of my club mates standing close by.WOMEN AND THE WORLD AT LARGE“Yes?” I questioned the ladies clustered behind me at the firing line.“Oh, we are huddling behind your manliness,” Daphne, one of the better shooters, joked.“Manliness? Daphne, you just shot an 87. Hell, if you ladies want to be safe, stand in front of me, because apparently that’s the one place my bullets don’t go,” I chided her.That was a slight exaggeration. I was a pretty good shot out to 50 meters, but when I have to use binoculars to even see the target some of these girls are nailing, I know I have a long way to go.“Zane, police your station,” Hope instructed me. “Everyone, it is time for field training.” This was the other part of marksmanship…sneaking around and spotting targets in the woods. We didn’t use live rounds but it was still fun stuff.“Gung-ho!” I responded to Hope. I’d heard that this was the battle cry of an Asian-American unit in World War II; Japanese I think.“I’m Korean, Zane,” Hope tried not to chuckle. “We are not exactly friends with the Japanese.”“If I stop saying it will you ask your Daddy not to come?” I inquired hopefully.“If you keep saying it, I’ll stop telling my Father I can’t live without you,” she countered.“You can’t live without me?” I questioned.“Of course I can live without you, but I had to think of something to stop him from parachuting here in the dead of night and slitting your throat,” she confided.“You are joking; right?” I worried. Hope was nonresponsive as we got our gear together for the hike. “Hope, tell me that was a joke.” Once we passed into the forest, Hope was quiet, business-like and nothing but. We were a mile into our trek when Hope settled down to study the environs. Per procedure, Hope watched to her front and left; I crouched at her back, facing away, and watched to our rear and Hope’s right.We would stay this way until Hope set up on the target, which was when I became her spotter. Since we weren’t there yet, I scanned my area one more time, then cupped my right hand and reached behind me until I touched Hope’s ass. I waited for a reaction of any kind but none came. Three seconds later I began to gently coast along her posterior, lightly squeezing her buttocks and rubbing along her cleft.With a careful ear, I caught Hope’s breath gaining in intensity. A few seconds later, she reached back and tapped my arm lightly so I stopped. Hope then rose carefully and we continued on our way. During the entire encounter, neither one of us had deviated from our watchfulness, which gave the whole situation a greater erotic appeal for me.“Zane,” Hope caught my attention as the last rifle and bullet was secured away, “I really wasn’t sure how you would deal with me…being better than you. How do you do it?”“All the training and skill in the world isn’t worth a damn if you won’t fight,” I tried to explain. “A willingness to fight without talent is a waste. Hope, you didn’t defeat me; you beat me.”She seemed to be searching for my definition of those two terms.“Let’s walk over to Orienteering before Heaven pops,” I suggested. “We can both pin Heaven down but short of killing her, I’m not sure how to stop her.” Hope chuckled at that assessment and nodded. “Hope, you put me on the mat and made me tap out – you beat me. You haven’t discouraged me from coming at you when I feel I’m more capable – you haven’t defeated me.”“Beating implies physical dominance but defeat is a state of mind,” Hope replied as she stripped my definitions bare. I swung back my hand to spank her ass. Hope flinched slightly as instinct recognized the incoming blow and dictated a menu of responses, most of which involved causing me pain. I spanked her left ass cheek; Hope yelped and glared over her shoulder at me in feigned annoyance.“You are a very verbose wench,” I shook my finger at her.“Do you want them to perform an extensive autopsy to figure out where I stuck that finger or are you going to remove it from my face right now?” she challenged me mirthfully. I stepped to her side, draped an arm around her waist; a second later she hesitantly echoed the gesture.When we got to Orienteering, Hope and I parted company and I joined my fellow students as Heaven stood before us. The silence dragged on…and on until I finally felt compelled to raise my hand.“Yes, Zane?” Heaven asked sweetly. You know; that 'sweetly’ that says, I have an iron skillet to the head in my immediate future.“Class? Are we going to have class today? Please?” I mumbled.“I don’t know, Zane,” Heaven glared at me with a vicious smile stitched to her face. “Do we have your permission to have class today? Apparently we need to.” Oh, fuck-buckets; Hope had probably had the same instructions and blown them off; Heaven was going a different way.“I understand,” I announced with dignity as I stood and walked up beside Heaven before facing the rest of the class. “As your appointed mediator, I think we should come forth and pray on the matter. All of you come to the front and kneel in a semi-circle; you too Heaven.” I put a hand on her shoulder and put pressure on her to kneel beside me – right beside me.The girls gathered around, Heaven was on her knees only inches from my crotch with her eyes flickering from my hard cock (I’m giving strong consideration to slamming that bastard in the middle of the US Tax Code to make it calm down) to my eyes. Soon I was in the center of a waist-level sea of slightly swaying female heads.“Let us pray,” I intoned. “Lord, guide us and give us strength to be true to ourselves, have faith in the gifts of insight, determination, and self-worth you have given us. Also, give us the vision to see what is wrong, the knowledge to understand when we hear things that are nonsense, and the will to forge past those words so that we find our own voice. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray; Amen.”“Amen,” the girls said, at varying volumes and with varying conviction. They were all there, on their knees, staring at me. I swear to God, if one of them had 'Baaa'ed, I’d have died on the spot.“Okay, who believes I’m more qualified to teach this class than Heaven?” I began. Two girls started to raise their hands then self-consciously reversed direction.“You are all correct; I am totally unqualified to teach this class. I am totally unqualified to tell any of you to do virtually anything. I don’t know more about life than any of the rest of you do. At eighteen, I’m younger than most of you. I’m a guy, nothing more. You ladies don’t need me. Really, do any of you have any need of me whatsoever?”“Sex,” blurted out of the mouth of Ruth, one of the senior club members. No one said anything for a few seconds. Okay, I could deal with this.“Fine, sex. With the Purity Pledge here, do any of you think you would need me for sex?” Twelve of the fourteen girls raised their hands; counting Heaven made it thirteen. I wanted to be anywhere else but in the deathtrap of my own creation. Screw that; I wanted to crawl into a deep, dark hole and pull the dirt in behind me.“We hear you are really good at it,” Benios tried to explain things to me.“Brandi told us all about blowjobs. Those seem safe enough with the Pledge,” Michelle added. Heaven started snickering at my expense.“All right, everyone,” Heaven raised her voice as she stood up, accidentally squeezing my dick through my pants as she did so, “let’s get started, and if no one screws up today, we can have Thursday’s class in Zane’s bedroom.”We finished the last class for the day and started leaving our outdoor classroom when Ruth put her hand on my lower arm.“Zane, does a blowjob violate the Purity Pledge?” she asked. That wasn’t really what she was asking. Why would I know the specifics of a pledge that everyone knew I hadn’t taken? No, what she was asking was if she could experiment with oral sex with me.The other girls were not so surreptitiously hanging around for the answer.“Honestly, I don’t believe that fellatio is an acceptable alternative to vaginal sex unless it includes cunnilingus,” I bullshitted. I believed that, but I was hoping the lingo would buy me an exit.“What?” Ruth stammered.“Oh, I know that,” Michelle giggled. “Fellatio is when you take a man’s phallus and put it in your mouth, and cunnilingus is when a man puts his mouth…down there,” she pointed at her crotch.“Zane, do you do that too? Put your mouth – ” Ruth hounded me.“Sure,” I confessed. “Every man should, but in reality, it is more than tongue work” – I wiggled my tongue – “but finger work too. All you have to do is think how your fingers feel down there, except this time they are under someone else’s control and you have a strong, flexible muscle added to the mix.” I instantly knew I was missing something with this audience.“You touch yourself; right?” I questioned. By many of the guilty looks, I could tell that most of the class had, but a surprising number hadn’t, Ruth included.“I never have,” Ruth replied. “I was afraid I’d stop being a virgin.” I nodded, walked over to the closest tree, and banged my head against it.“That’s enough for today,” Heaven intervened. “We can pick up this wonderful, non-orienteering discussion next time.” She ushered me away. I was rather thankful to get away and into the company of someone I trusted. “Are you ready for tonight?”“You mean am I waiting to pack your tight ass and drag my fingernails over your back until I draw blood? Yes,” I grinned down at her.“Evil!” she giggled. “You are sinister, vile, and an aberration to all that is pure in the world.”“Well, you are purely wonderful,” I countered. “So is this a case of opposites attract?”“Do you like to see me that way?” my transvestite lover teased.“Your legs on my shoulders as I drive into you; on your hands and knees; you looking down at me as you slide down that first time, your ass cheeks bouncing, with my hands kneading them as you face away, but most of all…with your head on my chest, asleep, your hair spilling over your eyes as you lay there – that’s the best,” I related.“How can you be lusty and sweet at the same time?” she murmured.“It’s how you make me feel, Heaven,” I explained. “It is no mystery – you are that good to me.”“Best boyfriend ever,” she whispered, as she hugged my arm tight. On the final approach to Heaven’s dorm, she gave me a nudge.“So, how did you beat the ten-second rule?” Heaven prodded me.“We have a ten-second rule?” I questioned.“We don’t, silly; it’s Hope’s rule,” Heaven grinned. “No one holds her for more than ten seconds. She has – had proximity issues.”“We were intimate,” I pointed out. “That probably helps.”“I hope so,” Heaven laughed. “The first time Christina and I barged into her room, we found ourselves staring down the barrel of a gun. Chastity was her roommate and she nearly freaked because she didn’t know Hope had an automatic, much less slept with one under her pillow.”“Note to self: never climb in Hope’s window looking for a midnight hook-up,” I sighed.“Hey,” Heaven playfully grumbled, “if you are crawling in anyone’s window for some late-night booty, it had better be my window and my booty you are after, Mister.”“Or what?” I teased. “Are we back to me being in a deep, dark hole, you with the only key, dressed up for me in black strips of leather?”That description dated back to our first day on campus together when she hated my very existence.“Bitch,” Heaven growled with frustrated desire.“I’ll see you at the car in ten minutes, then.” I gave a double pump of the eyebrows and left. We had been invited by Officer Danica Campbell of the Lancaster PD for a barbeque so we could get reacquainted. It was something Heaven was really looking forward to (not that I minded).Danica’s house needed a little yard work but was otherwise an unremarkable ranch style house with an attached carport. Heaven’s hands kept fluttering at her sides and straightening out her skirt. Me; I was in a long-sleeved pull-over and jeans and was having a much easier time of it emotionally. My only problem was our timetable; I had to be back before nine.We could smell the burning charcoal from the front yard but I indicated to Heaven that we weren’t friends enough to simply walk around back unannounced. We rang the doorbell, then rang it again. Heaven was going for a third, nervous try when Danica opened the door.“Hey, you two, come on in,” she greeted us, and stepped aside so we could enter.The first aura I detected in Danica’s home was of benign neglect; the house was inhabited but no one actually lived here. Everything looked old but not worn, except for one chair and the cabinet around the TV which had VHS tapes (?) and scores of DVDs from the past ten years. Danica was in a lumberjack shirt, jeans, and deck shoes with a noticeable lack of bra, panties, and socks.“I’m glad you two showed up,” Danica said, talking to us as we followed her through the living room to the kitchen. We could see the grill cooking away on a concrete patio through a sliding glass door.“I almost showed up last night,” Heaven blurted out, then looked mortified.“You would have had to wait a while,” Danica joked. “I worked last night.”“I would have put her to sleep on the doorstep, covered her in a blanket, and given her a garden gnome to use as a pillow,” I joked. Heaven blushed furiously and punched me in the arm.“Be careful, Mister Braxton,” Danica threatened me with a wink, “I have handcuffs, pepper spray, and a taser – behave.”I was hoping that comical exchange would have reduced the tension. It almost worked. As Danica opened the sliding glass door, she turned to say something. I have no idea what it was that got into her but at that point, Heaven threw herself at our hostess, wrapped her arms around Danica’s neck, and kissed the lady cop. Danica staggered out the door onto the patio, grabbed the doorsill before they toppled over, and after her obvious moment of panic, put her other arm around Heaven’s waist.Third Wheel Syndrome was kicking in for a while as the two kept tickling each other’s tonsils and rubbing their bodies together.“I, ah…wanted to kiss you since I talked to you on the phone,” Heaven finally said. Danica stroked a finger along Heaven’s left earlobe, wiggling it back and forth.“Mission accomplished,” Danica smiled. “You don’t date much, do you? That’s not a condemnation; it’s just, you have a raw intensity I haven’t seen in a while. I like it.” Heaven looked ready to dive into another lip frenzy when our hostess held her up. “Let’s check on the grill, unless you like your pork chops and chicken burnt as hard as the coals that made 'em.”Heaven gave Danica enough lead to make it to the grill and open it up. My friend coughed and choked as the smoke billowed out; it was Heaven’s first outdoor barbeque, or at least the first that didn’t involve a professional pit master and a whole steer.“Give her some room,” I cautioned Heaven. “I hear those things are hot.” It was my first time too, but they had similar things in Thailand so I wasn’t totally lost.Eventually, I was forced to wrap my arms around Heaven from behind to keep her from bouncing all over the place. Her enthusiasm didn’t bother me; she was fun and felt she had a lot of catching up to do. We chatted about her work and our school machinations. Danica made a crack about me and women putting me on my back – funny like a crutch.We gathered in her living room; it was the only room that had the seats to meet our needs with the meat, coleslaw, hush puppies, and lima beans to eat. There was the promise of sherbet if dinner didn’t fill us up. Things were going so smoothly that I almost missed Danica’s little ploy.“Heaven, since you are getting a beer, would you get me one too,” Danica off-handedly mentioned. We were finishing up the meal and washing it down with the appropriate beverage – lemonade in my case and beer in theirs.“Sure,” Heaven smiled warmly, and off she went. She didn’t hear Danica get up and follow her into the kitchen, though Danica did give me a wink.The moment Heaven pulled the two lagers out of the refrigerator, Danica slipped up behind her and pressed her body into Heaven’s. For a second, Heaven thought it was me and was looking over her shoulder to chastise me. I was following but was hanging back.“Zane – ” then she noticed it was Danica, “Huh?”“Hey, Precious,” Danica purred to her, “it seems your hands are occupied;” gesturing to the beer in each. Danica stretched her arms around and cupped Heaven’s breasts and began massaging them. Heaven tried to twist around but Danica didn’t let her. She bit into Heaven’s neck instead, sucking up and down from ear to shoulder.“The last time you snuck up on me; now it is my turn. How does it feel?” Danica continued. She pressed Heaven up against the refrigerator door, grinding her there for a while before letting Heaven turn and faced her.“It feels good,” Heaven gulped, “but I know some other things I want to do to you that are better.”Danica answered that by sensually sliding down Heaven’s body until she was kneeling. From there she lifted Heaven’s skirt, pulled down her double panties and started making kissing/slurping noises that made Heaven shudder in anticipation. Danica was bobbing in a slow, languid style that was pushing the tranny toward her own internal blaze. I saw the opportunity to come up and relieve Heaven of her beers before she dropped them.Heaven’s hands dropped immediately to Danica’s head and trembled with the desire to push Danica farther and farther down her cock. Danica held her off, having more blowjob experience than Heaven and I combined. I took the time offered to remove all our shirts and Heaven’s bra before alternating kissing Danica’s neck and back while playing with her tits, and going to Heaven and kissing her and teasing her nipples with my teeth.She was over-eager and was tapping Danica’s crown inside a minute, indicating the shortness of her fuse. Heaven gave a muted squeak followed by,“Oh, God, that’s so fucking good – take it – oh, God – take it!” Danica did a masterful job of soaking up everything Heaven had to give and draining her dry afterwards.Danica had to hold Heaven’s hips to stop my lover from sliding to the ground on her ass.“I think we will all be passing on the sherbet,” Danica grinned while licking her lips. Heaven nodded, first shakily but soon with much more assurance. I kicked off my shoes in my own endorsement of this plan and we were soon all migrating to Danica’s bedroom.Heaven, new to the romantic aspects of sexuality, dove straight onto the bed and shimmied out of her skirt. Danica and I stopped at the foot of said bed and shed our pants (and underwear for me). As Heaven looked at us, I pulled Danica’s hair aside and began kissing her from right beneath her ear down to the nape of her neck. Danica responded by pressing her backside into me and gyrating her ass on my crotch.Danica ran her left hand behind her back and began moving it sensually along my stomach to the base of my cock and up again. Her right hand stroked my thigh and hip on the other side. I countered by moving my left to her left breast, mauling it but leaving the nipple unmolested for now. My right hand went in a serpentine fashion to her crotch and hovered right above her clitoris.We played tag with our intimate parts long enough for Danica to start sweating and moaning against me.“Why aren’t you married, again?” she snickered. “Oh, yeah, you being eighteen and all.”“Are you too much woman for one man?” I countered.“Actually, I’ve been looking for someone special,” she confessed, but she wasn’t looking at me when she said it. That wasn’t lost on Heaven either; her jaw dropped. “Don’t freak,” Danica reassured her. “I know we don’t have much in common – I’m a townie and you’re a rich girl from somewhere else – but we have until spring if you want to hang out.”It took Heaven a few moments to digest that.“I’d like that, Danica; I’d like that a lot,” she smiled.“Well, I’d like it if you came over here and kissed me before your boyfriend drives me totally nuts,” Danica teased her. Heaven got on her knees and waddled to the end of the bed to join us.“Wait,” Heaven said at the last second, eyes wide with surprise. “I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend – I rock!” and then she dove into Danica’s lips. Danica was propelled into me by Heaven’s passionate embrace. She reciprocated by moving her hand off my hip and onto Heaven’s semi-rigid cock.Heaven’s phallus hardened quickly enough and she upped the tempo by buoying up her breasts and initiating a nipple fight between her tits and Danica’s – wow, a freaking advantage I hadn’t thought of.“Lets – ” Danica gulped for air “– get on…the bed. I want some…of this…in me,” she pulled on Heaven’s cock.Oh, yeah, this was the Heaven-Danica show and I was second fiddle…and I felt it was glorious. 'You are known not by what you do but by what you leave behind,’ or so yet another saying goes. Danica and Heaven were happy with one another, even if only for a little while. That 'while’ included Heaven retreating up the bed as Danica followed and I pursued her.“Have you been a good girl?” Danica quizzed Heaven. “Do we need a condom?” clarified the issue.“No, no, I’ve only been with Zane,” Heaven answered.“That’s hardly a ringing endorsement for safe sex,” Danica chuckled.“Damn, that’s just cold,” I groaned. “For your information, if my partner wasn’t a virgin, she was someone I know intimately.”“So you are not doing it with that Warlord chick living in your house now?” Danica persisted.“How do you even know about that? It happened Sunday,” I wondered.“Zane,” Danica sighed patiently, “I’m a cop and your house is like two miles away.”“Can we get back to concentrating on the sex?” Heaven grumbled. “I’ll wear a condom if you want. I’ll wear a harem girl outfit if you want, as long as it leads to sex with you.”“That won’t be…necessary,” Danica murmured as she positioned Heaven’s cock between her labia then began to push down.I was working out what my place in this could be when I spotted the bottle of lubricant (generic) boldly sitting on Danica’s nightstand – not very subtle at all. I shifted over, got the bottle, then got around behind them once more.“Can I join in?” I asked.“I trust you,” Danica purred. Silly her; I’m behind her with a source of lube and a passion to use it. I poured some out on Danica’s cleft and let it ooze down toward her pussy. I let it cascade over three fingers before sealing it up again. With my left hand, I began working a finger into Danica’s anus, and with my right, I worked another into Heaven’s.“Oh,” Danica grunted, as I slipped past her sphincter. Heaven’s response was to moan sensually. It took me a little while to not only work a finger in but a second one in as well; then the fun began. With Heaven, I began both pumping and making a series of circular motions; with Danica, though, I pressed down until I was counter-massaging Heaven’s cock through the walls of her rectum and vagina.“Oh, my fucking God!” shouted Danica. “That feels great; she’s really grinding against me.”“Keep that up,” gasped Heaven. “I – I can feel your fingers.” Okay, I got this one right. I could also feel the sympathetic impulses growing between Danica’s vaginal walls and Heaven’s penis; they weren’t going to last long. Drilling Heaven’s butthole in rapid-fire fashion sent her crashing ahead of the wave.“Dan – Dan – Danica – Hell, yeah!” Heaven screamed as she slammed upward into the lady cop. Danica’s back bowed and a low growling noise reverberated through her body. Both tried to use their anal muscles to grind my finger bones together; for the orgasms they were riding through, it was worth it.Danica shivered through one last orgasmic burst then settled gently down on Heaven. Heaven reached around with her arms and ran them up and down Danica’s back. Our hostess pushed off her lover’s body with her elbows on the mattress and kissed her nose.“That felt wonderful,” she smiled down at Heaven. Heaven didn’t immediately respond. “Is something wrong?” Danica worried.“I – um – it was really nice, Danica, but –” Heaven worked through the words.“But?” Danica asked.“But I think I’m into guys,” Heaven gave her worried confession. “I’m sorry; what we did felt good but what sent me over the top was –”“Oh,” Danica seemed to deflate.“Hold on,” I intervened, even as my fingers were still slowly working them both. “Heaven, you liked Danica’s blowjob; right?”“Yes. It was wonderful,” Heaven brightened up. “She’s – you are –” she looked into Danica’s eyes “– the best I’ve ever had.”“Still, you like it up your ass, don’t you?” I prodded. Heaven bit her lip and rolled her head to the side. Danica pushed herself onto all fours and sighed.“Well, damn,” she sighed, “I was sort of hoping –”“Danica, would you consider screwing Heaven’s butt? Giving it a chance?” I hazarded.“I’d give it a shot,” Danica replied after a moment’s hesitation. Being with a girl was new; being with a transgender was new; and now being the driving force in anal sex was going to be new too.“I’ll get dressed and go out to the car,” I winked. “Surprise, surprise; I worried something like this would happen so I brought a few things along.”I was afraid that when I got back from the car with my backpack holding the strap-on, that a chill would have set in. I shouldn’t have worried; Danica was surprisingly passionate and Heaven was sheer surprise itself. They were cuddled face to face exchanging small kisses and stroking each other’s hair.“I just want you both to know,” Danica held up a warding hand, “if that thing is longer than my arm, I’m calling this off.” I presented the device for her approval and while it could be intimidating, it wasn’t scarier than Heaven’s normal equipment. “I’m glad that’s going into you and not me,” Danica ended up teasing Heaven. Not to be outdone, Heaven rolled onto her stomach and wiggled her upraised butt in the air.“Oh, she’s begging for it,” Danica laughed.“Yes, she does, and if you think that’s sweet, imagine how nice it is to wake up with her ramming that pole in while riding you,” I painted the picture.“Is there any position she doesn’t like?” Danica inquired.“I’m right here, my butt up in the air. Please, somebody do something,” Heaven whined.“Not that I know of,” I ignored Heaven’s plea. “You could try it in the shower, bent over the sofa, heels up in the La-Z-boy, or hanging from the pull-up bar – she’s quite strong.”“Oh – mmm, thanks, Zane; I’ll explore those opportunities,” Danica grinned.“Hello – butt here…needs stuffing,” Heaven became more insistent.“She’s shameless,” Danica teased happily.“Absolutely,” I laughed, “but if one of us doesn’t fulfill her needs real soon, violence will ensue.”“Zane, you warm her up and I’ll figure out how to put this thing on,” Danica instructed me as she took hold of her sexual toy.“About damn time,” Heaven panted as I worked my first finger in again. I’d oiled up several fingers before handing the lube to Danica to prepare her artificial cock with. Heaven’s anus was already pliable from our activity so it took only two minutes to work the second and third finger in. By that time, both Danica and Heaven were ready.“This is weird,” Danica mumbled, as she placed her phallic head against Heaven’s sphincter. “Let me know if this – ” she got out before Heaven pushed back and gasped. “Doesn’t that hurt?”“Makes me feel full,” Heaven gasped. “Push.” Danica did indeed push, and spanked Heaven for good measure.Now that I was freed up again, I elected to recline beside Heaven and watch her get fucked by Danica. Heaven and I made eye contact; that totally free, blissful look was exceptionally special for me. I’d seen Heaven afraid far too often. I’d seen her furious far too often as well.“Zane,” Heaven perked up, “get over here. I want your cock. I want it coming and going.”“Revenge,” taunted Danica. Heaven and I had given Officer Campbell simultaneous oral and anal sex, and now Heaven was getting the same treatment. I sat my ass on the pillow in front of Heaven’s face, legs spread wide. She grabbed my cock in both hands (my penis is so massive, its ability to block out the Sun often cows primitive tribes – or maybe Heaven has small hands) and yanked it forward somewhat painfully until she could lick the tip.“Come on, Zane,” Danica egged me on, “take hold of her head and fuck her like a cheap slut.” A shudder passed head to foot through Heaven’s body and she gave out a small sob.“Heaven,” I asked cautiously, “do you want to stop?”“I’m being fucked like a slut, Zane,” she replied tearfully. “I’m being fucked like a slut.”You never know with some people. Danica gave me a worried look so I gave her a quick smile and a nod. Heaven wanted to be a woman, but almost as important was that she wanted to be seen and treated like a woman. It may have played out in Heaven’s imagination that she had gone to some seedy bar looking all hot and sexy, then a couple had picked her up so they could treat her like a bad little girl.I raised my hips, feeding more of my cock into Heaven’s mouth.“Spank your bitch’s ass,” I teased Danica. She responded by alternating noisy but not very painful slaps to our tranny’s buttocks. Heaven wanted the tease, not the real pain, and Danica was right there for her.Once we had a good rhythm going, I could feel Danica’s cock slamming at its deepest impact, Heaven squirming and squealing with the pleasure and her tongue and throat swirling around my oral intrusion. She slurped and sucked desperately while a small amount of drool marked her cheek and jaw. Heaven began making whimpering noises along with the grunts when Danica drove in deeper.All the sizzling sex I’d been forced (yeah, right) to watch sent me over the edge first.“Heaven…babe, here it comes,” I chanted several times before I finally did shoot gobs and gobs – so much it shot out her nose and mouth. Okay, not really that much, but I certainly felt some relief.Heaven swallowed with some degree of urgency because she was at her tipping point as well.“Oh, God; oh, God; oh, God, Danica…FUCK!” she cried out, then bucked up hard against Danica. On the second buck, Danica took hold of Heaven by her elbows. Heaven rocked a few more feeble times onto the strap-on but her energy was temporarily spent.Danica wrapped her right and then her left arm around Heaven, pulling her into an upright, kneeling embrace, her breasts squished against Heaven’s back.“Are you okay, Precious?” Danica panted next to her lover’s ear.“I – oh, yeah – I feel great,” Heaven wheezed. “I also…seem to have…made a mess…on the bed.”“I planned for that,” Danica answered with a kiss to Heaven’s neck. “I was hoping we’d end up here. By the way, do you want me to pull this out now?”“Yeah, my ass is getting a bit sore – muscles stretched,” Heaven shivered. I wiggled forward so that Danica could push Heaven against me as she withdrew the artificial phallus from its resting place up Heaven’s back door.When the last of it slipped free, Heaven gave a brief little hiccup, then melted into my arms.“Damn, I’m so glad I met you,” she murmured.“Thanks,” Danica and I said together, then laughed at the confusion. Heaven gingerly curled into my lap while Danica sat back and worked off the sexual aid that had brought so much pleasure.“Well, that was different,” Danica mused. “I’m not sure how much I enjoyed it but I can’t say it turned me off.”“Mmmm…that was good sex,” Heaven smiled at us both. “I like good sex.” I gave her a little nudge and communicated as best I could by eye contact alone. “Thank you, Danica,” she added. “I really liked that – what you did for me.”“In that case, we really should do it again,” Danica said nonchalantly. Heaven perked up right away.“Right now?” she hoped.“No,” I cut that conversation right off. “I need to get back to campus, and that means you have to get back as well.”“But – ” Heaven sounded hurt “– Danica…that means we can’t…”“I know,” Danica interrupted. “Zane has church work tomorrow and then I’m at work for the next five nights, so…maybe next Tuesday?”“I’d like that,” Heaven became excited once more. She crawled over to Danica and began kissing the cop and running her hands all over her body.“Bathroom, clothes, kisses goodbye, and then we have to go,” I prodded Heaven. She looked over her shoulder at me with deep disappointment. Finally, she sighed and nodded. The rest of our visit passed quickly enough. Heaven behaved, I cleaned up the strap-on and myself, and we left Danica with some thank-you’s and a bemused look on her face. I knew that expression; people had described me as having it after my second date with Heaven too.THE BIRTH OF THE JANISSARIESWhen we returned to campus, I felt my stress level rise once more. This time I was reasonably sure I had a plan but I needed some help. I sent out some messages for people to gather, and for a special few, I sent people to get the girls I wasn’t sure would come otherwise. I barely got back to my dorm room before the fire tribal meetings that had taken place there broke up.I wasn’t there to say much but I did impress upon the students that this was my turf and I wasn’t ceding one inch to Ms. Scarlett’s scheme or to any one tribe.The group that I’d assembled was very eclectic – some by force and a few of them I barely knew at all. Of the staff, I brought in Dana Gorman – because she was the prior Head of Security and our current Physical Education Coach – and Gabrielle Black, because she was the current Head of Security and I didn’t want to build an internal police force without her advice and consent.On the justice side of things, I brought in Dr. Bryce Kennedy [FYI: she is a woman], the head of the Pre-Law program, Ms. Hudson Lane, our school lawyer, and Ms. Virginia Goodswell, because I trusted her judgment where teachers and teaching were involved. Despite the oddity of the situation, they all answered my summons and didn’t look frighteningly pissed at my request.Student-wise, there was a sea of familiar faces, if not friendly ones. Only Mhain Reynard had been brought here under threat of force by Hope and Chastity. When most of the two visiting tribes had cleared out, I began my meeting.“What I have to say may ramble a bit but please be patient; we are creating something new here,” I began. “Has anyone heard of the janissaries?”Iona raised her hand, as did Hope, Christina, and Simone Brady (former Junior Class President).“For the rest of you, there was a Muslim empire of Turks who ruled much of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. They would levy a tax against their Christian subjects of young sons, and they would take these boys, force their conversion to Islam, and then use them as elite soldiers and palace guards for the Sultans.”“No, I’m not asking anyone to convert,” I warded off some of the more hateful looks, “but the principle elements of what I say will make sense, I promise. These Janissaries soon rose up to become the chief officials of the Turkish government, the most loyal and trusted of all the Sultan’s men. They were both the military and the civil authority of the Empire.” I let that sink into the crowd of bright young women I’d assembled.“So you want us as your personal guard?” Kylie Frik, a sophomore candidate for Class President, sneered. Clearly, she was thinking harem, not what I had planned. Hannah Cartwright, her opposite in the sophomore camp, figured it out.“You want us to be a police force and, I’m guessing by the presence of a few Law types, to be judges as well. You want a shield between you and direct involvement of things you might do.”“Close, but no cigar,” I grinned to Hannah. She liked me well enough but she didn’t really know me or the twisted way my mind worked. “You wouldn’t be my shield; I would be yours. The Janissaries get together and decide policy and how to best enact it; I give

Join Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP®, for a discussion about the US Tax Code and how to leverage it to your advantage. Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP®, is a financial planner with passion for the intersection of taxes and investing.  Alyssa works with motivated savers, beneficiaries of estates, business owners, divorcees, and pre-retirees. To schedule a visit with the team at McNamara Financial, be sure to visit: https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact McNamara Financial is an Independent, family-owned, fee-only investment management and financial planning firm, serving individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond for over 30 years. COME SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WORK WITH A FIDUCIARY. http://mcnamarafinancial.com/

In this groundbreaking episode of the Pilla Tax Podcast, Dan Pilla, a luminary in the field of tax litigation and compliance, takes on one of the most pressing issues in modern finance: the tax implications of cryptocurrency. With the digital currency landscape evolving rapidly, Dan provides crucial insights into how these changes impact taxpayers and the IRS alike.In this episode, we delve deep into the world of cryptocurrency and its intersection with tax law:Privacy vs. IRS Oversight: Dan addresses the common belief that cryptocurrency trades are private and beyond the reach of the IRS. He explores whether the IRS can access your crypto trade history and what that means for traders.IRS Focus on Crypto Compliance: Is cryptocurrency compliance really a significant concern for the IRS? Dan examines how the IRS views crypto transactions and why understanding this perspective is crucial for anyone involved in digital currency trading.Understanding the Taxability of Crypto: What are the most common misunderstandings about the taxability of cryptocurrencies? Dan breaks down the complexities and misconceptions surrounding crypto taxation, providing clarity in a field often shrouded in confusion.Staying Compliant with Crypto Taxes: Lastly, Dan offers invaluable advice on what you need to know to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to cryptocurrency and taxes. From record-keeping to reporting, learn how to navigate these murky waters effectively.This episode is a must-listen for anyone engaged in or interested in the world of cryptocurrency. Whether you're a seasoned investor, a curious newcomer, or a tax professional looking to stay ahead of the curve, Dan's insights offer a clear path through the intricate and often misunderstood world of crypto taxation.Tune in to "Decrypting Crypto Taxes" on the Pilla Tax Podcast and arm yourself with the knowledge you need to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape confidently and compliantly.#DanPilla #TaxExpert #PillaTaxPodcast #Cryptocurrency #CryptoTaxes #IRSScompliance #DigitalCurrency #TaxLaw #Finance #CryptoTrading #TaxPlanning #IRS #TaxCompliance #Blockchain #CryptoInvestment

In this must-listen episode of the Pilla Tax Podcast, Dan Pilla, celebrated as a titan in tax consultation and strategy, delivers an exceptional deep dive into critical year-end tax planning, investment strategies, and business tax considerations. With his unique blend of expertise and clarity, Dan elucidates complex tax scenarios, offering actionable advice for our listeners.This episode covers three significant topics:Reviewing Financial Portfolios: Dan begins by discussing the crucial task of reviewing financial portfolios, focusing particularly on the tax implications of capital gains and losses. This segment is invaluable for anyone looking to optimize their investment strategy for tax efficiency, understand market trends, and navigate the often confusing landscape of investment taxation.Making Smart Equipment Purchases: Next, Dan takes us through the advantages of making business equipment purchases under Code §179. This is a goldmine of information for small business owners seeking to understand how strategic investments in their business can lead to substantial tax savings. Dan's expertise breaks down this complex code into practical, easy-to-implement strategies.Crypto Currency Tax Considerations: Lastly, addressing the burgeoning field of digital currencies, Dan provides essential insights into the key tax considerations for crypto transactions. As crypto continues to gain traction, understanding its tax implications is crucial. Dan's guidance is especially timely and relevant, demystifying the nuances of crypto taxation.Dan Pilla's ability to articulate these intricate topics in a clear and concise manner makes this episode a standout. Whether you're a seasoned investor, a small business owner, or simply keen on staying ahead in the world of finance and taxes, you'll find this episode packed with invaluable insights and tips.Tune in to this episode of the Pilla Tax Podcast for an enlightening journey through the landscape of year-end tax planning and strategic financial decision-making. And remember, for more expert insights from Dan Pilla, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!Remember to like, share, and subscribe to the Pilla Tax Podcast for more expert insights from Dan Pilla.Be sure to check out the Pilla Tax Academy website for all your tax resources at:www.PillaTaxAcademy.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pillataxacademyFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pillataxacademyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillataxacademy#DanPilla #TaxExpert #PillaTaxPodcast #YearEndTaxPlanning #InvestmentStrategies #BusinessTaxes #FinancialPortfolios #CapitalGains #TaxSavings #Section179 #CryptoCurrency #TaxAdvice #TaxPlanning #FinancialEducation #CryptoTax #BusinessGrowth

Welcome to a crucial episode of the Pilla Tax Podcast, especially designed for those looking to make smart tax moves as the year draws to a close. In Episode 38, we have the privilege of having Dan Pilla, a tax expert with over four decades of experience, who will provide invaluable insights into strategic tax planning as we approach the end of the year.In this episode, we're focusing on three key areas:Prepaying State Income Taxes: Dan addresses the strategy of prepaying state income taxes before December 31st. He elaborates on how this can be a smart move for some taxpayers, while also cautioning about potential downsides. It's a nuanced discussion that can help you decide if this strategy works for your situation.Wage Withholding and Estimated Payments Review: Next, we delve into the often-overlooked aspect of wage withholding and estimated tax payments. Dan guides us through the process of reviewing these payments and identifies common errors that taxpayers should avoid. This segment is essential for anyone looking to optimize their tax situation and possibly increase their take-home pay.Financial Review and Tax Liability Forecast: Finally, Dan emphasizes the importance of reviewing your financial situation before the year ends. He explains how this proactive step can be crucial in managing unexpected tax liabilities and avoiding unpleasant surprises during tax season.This episode is packed with expert advice and practical tips for both individual taxpayers and small business owners. Whether you're seeking ways to minimize your tax liability or just looking to better understand the end-of-year tax landscape, this podcast is for you.Tune in now and step into the new year with confidence, equipped with the knowledge to make informed tax decisions.Remember to like, share, and subscribe to the Pilla Tax Podcast for more expert insights from Dan Pilla.Be sure to check out the Pilla Tax Academy website for all your tax resources at:www.PillaTaxAcademy.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pillataxacademyFaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pillataxacademyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillataxacademy#DanPilla #TaxExpert #PillaTaxPodcast #EndOfYearTaxPlanning #TaxStrategies #StateIncomeTax #TaxWithholding #FinancialReview #TaxLiability #TaxTips #FinancialPlanning #TaxAdvice #SmallBusiness #PersonalFinance #IRS #TaxSeasonPrep

Welcome to a new episode of the Pilla Tax Podcast, where we dive deep into one of the most talked-about topics in the tax world today: the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). With his unparalleled expertise in tax law and a knack for simplifying complex issues, Dan Pilla, America's leading tax authority, breaks down everything you need to know about the ERC. In this episode, Dan addresses the core questions surrounding this hot topic: What is the Employee Retention Credit? - Dan starts with the basics, explaining what the ERC is and its significance for businesses navigating the challenging economic landscape. Why is the IRS Concerned? - We then shift focus to understand why the IRS is paying close attention to the ERC. Dan delves into the reasons behind the IRS's concern and what it means for businesses. Safely Benefiting from the ERC - The most crucial part of our discussion revolves around how small businesses can maximize the benefits of the ERC while minimizing risks. Dan provides actionable strategies and compliance tips to ensure businesses can confidently claim the credit without fear of repercussions. Whether you're a small business owner, a tax professional, or just interested in the dynamics of tax incentives, this episode is packed with invaluable insights. Dan's detailed breakdown not only clarifies the concept and implications of the ERC but also offers practical guidance on navigating it effectively. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to the Pilla Tax Podcast for more expert insights from Dan Pilla. Stay informed and stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of taxation! Be sure to check out the Pilla Tax Academy website for all your tax resources at:www.PillaTaxAcademy.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pillataxacademy FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pillataxacademy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillataxacademy #DanPilla #TaxExpert #PillaTaxPodcast #EmployeeRetentionCredit #ERCTaxCredit #SmallBusiness #TaxAdvice #IRSGuidelines #TaxIncentives #BusinessFinance #TaxCompliance #TaxStrategy #BusinessGrowth #IRSConcerns #TaxBenefits #FinancialPlanningSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another enlightening episode of the Pilla Tax Podcast, where today's focus is on a subject that offers hope and relief to many: Forgiveness of Tax Debt. Join us as Dan Pilla, a renowned tax litigation expert with a wealth of experience, sheds light on this critical topic. In this episode, Dan answers some of the most pressing questions about tax debt forgiveness: Qualifying for Tax Debt Forgiveness - Dan begins by explaining the specific circumstances that can lead to the forgiveness of tax debt and who typically qualifies for such relief. This segment is particularly insightful for those who feel overwhelmed by their tax obligations. The Process and Timeline - Next, we delve into the procedural aspects. What does applying for tax debt forgiveness involve? How long does the process usually take? Dan's answers provide a clear roadmap for those considering this option. Long-Term Implications - Finally, an often-overlooked aspect: the long-term consequences and considerations. Dan discusses what taxpayers need to know about the future financial and legal implications of having their tax debts forgiven. This episode is not just about finding a way out of tax debt; it's about understanding the journey through it. Whether you're a taxpayer facing daunting debt, a tax professional seeking to guide clients, or simply interested in the complexities of tax law, this podcast offers valuable insights and guidance. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of tax debt forgiveness from one of the most knowledgeable minds in the field. Remember to like, share, and subscribe for more expert insights from Dan Pilla on the Pilla Tax Podcast. Be sure to check out the Pilla Tax Academy website for all your tax resources at:www.PillaTaxAcademy.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pillataxacademy FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pillataxacademy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillataxacademy #DanPilla #TaxExpert #PillaTaxPodcast #TaxDebtForgiveness #TaxRelief #FinancialFreedom #TaxLaw #DebtRelief #IRSDebt #TaxResolution #FinancialPlanning #TaxAdvice #TaxStrategy #TaxLitigation #TaxGuidance #DebtManagementSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the latest episode of the Pilla Tax Academy! As America's leading tax authority, Dan Pilla dives deep into a topic that has been causing ripples in the small business community: the increased frequency of IRS business audits. In today's episode, we tackle the pressing questions that have been on the minds of entrepreneurs and business owners: Why has the IRS been signaling an uptick in business audits for over the past year? As a small business owner, should you be alarmed? How does the IRS determine which businesses to scrutinize? Most importantly, what strategies and insights can you employ to emerge victorious in an IRS audit? With over 40 years of tax litigation expertise and a vast repository of knowledge on IRS problems, Dan Pilla unravels the nuances of the auditing process, offers preventative advice, and empowers businesses with the tools they need to face potential audits confidently. This episode of the Pilla Tax Academy is a listen to for every small business owner, tax professional, and anyone interested in understanding the inner workings of the IRS audit process. Equip yourself with knowledge straight from the industry's best, and ensure your business stands strong in the face of any IRS scrutiny. Know what to do, and if you don't Pilla Tax Academy is here to quickly help you. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more invaluable insights and guidance from the Pilla Tax Academy.     #DanPilla #TaxExpert #PillaTaxAcademy #IRS #BusinessAudits #AuditPrevention #TaxCompliance #TaxLitigation #SmallBusiness #IRSProcedures #AuditStrategies #TaxPlanning #AuditTips #IRSInsights #BusinessStrategy #TaxProtection #AuditDefenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the "Pilla Tax Podcast," where we bring you face-to-face with Dan Pilla, renowned as the USA's Top Tax Expert. With more than four decades of real-world tax resolution experience, Pilla's insights are your passport to an enlightened understanding of the complex tax system. As an innovator and the 'father' of the tax resolution industry, Dan has shaped the approach of tax resolution practitioners nationwide. Join us as we delve into the nitty-gritty of tax matters - from prevention to resolution. Regardless of your vocation - whether you're a taxpayer, enrolled agent, tax attorney, CPA, or business owner, Pilla Tax Podcast is your go-to platform for all things tax. Stay ahead of the IRS and understand the ever-evolving tax code with Dan Pilla as your guide. Let's beat taxes, one episode at a time!In this 1st Episode Dan discusses the IRS' release that they will no longer show up to a person's home unannounced. Dan covers this and goes into his incredible history of how he got started at the age of 18 in the Tax Resolution Business. Be sure to take advantage of all Dan's resources at www.PillaTaxAcademy.comFollow us on the Social Media channels:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pillataxacademy FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pillataxacademy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillataxacademy  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Dan Pilla covers the fact that last year Congress granted $80 billion additional funding to the IRS. Now we hear that money was cut. What's the deal? What can we expect from IRS enforcement going forward? Are they planning to spend any money on taxpayer assistance?Dan goes in deep on this topic and much more!Be sure to take advantage of all Dan's resources at www.PillaTaxAcademy.com Follow us on the Social Media channels: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pillataxacademy FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pillataxacademy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillataxacademy  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Steven is joined by Financial Advisor Aaron Erişkin, who has literally never paid a dime to the IRS. We are all for not "tipping the IRS", but typically we don't advocate for not paying anything at all. In Aaron's case though it makes a lot of sense as he is based on London and not subject to US Taxes. Jokes aside Steven and Aaron discuss why Aaron is such a huge fan of RTS content even though it is based on US Tax Code and they both share the processes, intentionality and approach that makes all the difference in tax planning being a value add to clients.   http://bit.ly/43pHgPe

The US tax code doesn't take race into consideration, but should it? In this episode of Talking Tax, Georgetown Law professor Dorothy Brown argues the case for why the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service should make race a factor in tax policy. Brown, author of the 2021 book, "Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans—and How We Can Fix it," sits down with Bloomberg Tax editor Yuri Nagano. Brown discusses how her book inspired a recent Stanford University study showing Black taxpayers are audited at higher rates, a topic at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of now-confirmed IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. She also touches on how Treasury's Greenbook of 2024 revenue proposals doesn't reflect data from the department's January report on tax impact by race and ethnicity, and grades efforts by the Biden administration, Treasury and IRS on their progress. Brown is a member of the recently formed Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Photo: No known restrictions on publication.england j lewis marks paper fiber product etching prints and drawing income tax 1832 @Batchelorshow #MrMarket: No one person can comprehend the 2600 page (75,000 page) US tax code & What is to be done? Veronique deRugy https://www.creators.com/read/veronique-de-rugy/01/23/trumps-tax-returns-spur-the-wrong-policy-debate

Sasha Mackler is the director of the Energy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center - a Washington, DC-based think tank. He has spent over 20 years in this field, including 10 years in the private sector working on carbon capture and biomass fuel supply. Mackler has managed a number of energy policy projects on topics such as tax incentives, federal RD&D, finance, workforce transition, carbon capture and storage, low carbon fuels, cap and trade, climate impacts and adaptation, and geoengineering research. Policies play a crucial role in defining the environment in which technologies, such as direct air capture (DAC), can thrive or struggle. Several policy measures have been implemented in the United States in recent years to support DAC. In this episode we cover the most important ones. First, we cover 45Q, which is a section of the US Tax Code that supports carbon capture and was enacted in 2008. The second is the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) which is a policy measure, initially implemented in California in 2007, which aims to drive the use of clean fuels and includes DAC as a qualifying pathway for decarbonizing fuels. Third we look at the Energy Act from 2020 that authorized new programs for the US Department of Energy to support the demonstration and commercialization of advanced energy technologies, including DAC. Fourth we cover the the Inflation Reduction Act, adopted in August 2022, which provides incentives for carbon capture, utilization, and storage projects. In this episode, Sasha and Julius discuss how current US policies support DAC, and consider how policymakers in other parts of the world can look to the US for guidance and inspiration. ___ The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

The Dawn of the New Order, like it or not.By FinalStand. Subscribe & Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” - Abraham Lincoln*Earned leadership is a blessing; assigned leadership is a burden*Editor's Note: This episode is a tale of the new vice chancellor's attempt to destroy Zane by empowering him. So this is how it's going to be.It started at 6:45 as we began filing out of the dorm toward the dining hall and breakfast. We received texts, or our dorm mothers received them if we didn’t have that function, assigning us a tribe we belonged to. What was a tribe? No one seemed to have a clue what this entailed for us.“So,” Iona was the first to ask me, “Which tribe are you part of?”“My tribe’s called the Mediator tribe,” I responded. “What lame-ass name does your tribe have?” Iona blinked at me, took my phone from my hands, and looked at it while we walked.“Mercy and I are in 17,” Rio sneered. “Why did your group merit a name and ours didn’t?”“Because Zane doesn’t have a tribe,” Iona figured. “He is not of the mediator tribe; he’s a mediator. The real question is, how many mediators are there and what is their responsibility?”“I’m in tribe three,” Vivian volunteered. “I do have a notation but no indication who to see about it.” The conversations around us were going in the same general direction, the girls trying to figure what sort of disruptions this would cause. The teachers put a kibosh on students walking around and finding out where their friends were placed so the text and phone messages being tossed around were obscene.The surprise going to breakfast had saved virtually all of the freshmen from Handmaiden’s Duty but they snapped us up heading for Assembly. I had Frederica Nicholas who decided to make a game of her giving me a word and me having to create a poetic verse. I rapidly learned the more risqué my verse, the more touchy-feely she became. (And she is a Rhaine supporter, huh?) I am a glutton for sexual foreplay no matter where it comes from.Entry into the Assembly Hall brought its own special form of confusion. All the seats had numbers for the tribes that could sit there. I didn’t find my group anywhere but I did catch the fact that Christina’s group had been broken up. I stopped by Heaven to put a comforting hand on her shoulder because she looked terribly unsettled before I approached Ms. Goodswell on the stage.My spiritual advisor stood up, walked to the edge of the stage, and knelt down so we could talk privately.“Hi, Teach. I can’t seem to find my groups/tribe’s area,” I said pleasantly. “Can you help me out? Hell, can you tell me what’s going on?”“Zane, your seat is right over there,” she said, pointing to a chair on the front row aisle seat. She smiled sadly. “All I can tell you about this program right now is that I trust you.” Oh crap, that didn’t sound good. Sitting on the front row, the region normally reserved for seniors, was just as disturbing. I sensed an epic boning in my future and I was sure I knew who the chick with the strap-on was.Chancellor Bass came to the podium and led us through the first ten minutes of the session. I could tell she was simmering with anger and resentment over whatever the upcoming fiasco was, and she showed it. She introduced Vice Chancellor Scarlett, then sat down abruptly. Her enthusiasm wasn’t muted; it was buried in the core of the earth.“Greetings, students of Freedom Fellowship University; I believe we stand at the first step to a great, glorious, and blessed experiment,” Vice Chancellor Dr. Victoria Scarlett began. Her plan did sound grandiose, was certainly going to be famous (or infamous), and whichever supernatural powers put their mark on this train wreck, I was sure we’d discover the Arch-angel Morningstar also had his sulfuric fingerprints on it when the CSI’s were finally brought in.The basics of the scheme: There would be eighteen tribes of fifty or more members. Each tribe had all four grades in it but was focused on declared majors so that the girls could support one another. Each tribe would internally determine how they would regulate themselves as well. Externally, relations would be overseen by the Mediator, yes, that was in the singular, as in one: me.At this point, I was wondering if jumping up, shooting Scarlett in the heart, and crying ‘Sic semper tyrannies’ was appropriate. I didn’t have a gun and realistically, Victoria didn’t deserve death for what she was putting all of us through. A few days in a pillory would suffice. No, she was making me be the 'Man’ of our academic community, our judge and arbitrator.As for my job qualifications, or lack thereof; I am considered morally loose, if not downright deviant. I’m an eighteen-year-old boy telling twenty-one-year-old women what to do, I have no legal experience, oh, yes, and half the campus hates my guts. I almost missed it when Dr. Scarlett added that Vivian would remain my guardian.Maybe Vivian would throw herself in the path of a sharpened pencil, pen, or stylus aimed at my heart by any number of the young ladies that wanted me dead, just like a Secret Service Agent.“You will be informed of the location of your first meetings. Each tribe will meet at eight o'clock tonight and tomorrow night to create the foundations of your group,” Dr. Scarlett informed us.“Tribes five and seventeen will be meeting in the Solarium of Alan Smithee dorm, if that is okay with Mr. Braxton.” Victoria looked my way. I stood up in case anyone missed my discomfort for being called out and actually asked by a lead educator for anything resembling permission on this campus.“Eight o'clock tonight?” I questioned. “I don’t know if that works for me. I have a Brazilian body wax at eight and have scheduled my eyebrows to be plucked at 8:45, plus there is a new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles at nine.”“How about they promise to keep the noise level down?” Victoria volleyed right back at me without missing a beat.“Very well, Dr. Scarlett, if you personally guarantee their behavior, I’m okay with them using my room,” I allowed. I couldn’t provoke Scarlett and I couldn’t embarrass her, so I was back to facing her rear-bound artificial cock catching up with my behind. I sat back down. Victoria quickly exited center stage and a bitter Chancellor ushered us through the last of the service.I waited outside the Assembly Hall for my friends and my Handmaiden for the moment, Theresa Yates. Christina and Chastity caught up with me first, both giving me a curious look.“Bro,” Rio sneered as she and Mercy joined us, “we need to discuss your future abuse of power, bribes and kick-backs you are going to get. Nice banter with ol’ Scarlett too.”“Yes,” Christina said sarcastically, “being flippant with the Vice Chancellor backfired so spectacularly the first time, it definitely needed repeating.” Her criticism really sucked because I always secretly wanted her to think well of me.“What’s your plan?” Chastity prodded me. She was always helping me out when she got the chance. As she finished, Iona, Hope, Faith, and Heaven showed up.“They split us up,” growled Heaven. “Do something, Zane.”“He just found out about this,” Iona responded before I could. “Give it time and combined, we will come up with a solution together.” I sighed with some relief at her assistance and then I blinked. The powerful kiss I planted on Iona’s lips caught everyone off-guard.“Freaking brilliant!” I complimented her gaily, giddy with glee. I didn’t have an actual plan yet but I had a direction to propel my thought toward. With my mind awhirl, I caught sight of Theresa moving past me on her way to class.“Hey, Theresa,” I called out. “What are you having me do today?” She looked a bit shocked.“Zane, we are no longer allowed to call on you for Handmaiden’s Duty,” she informed me.“Oh, Heck no,” I choked out. “Who says?”“The Vice-Chancellor declared you to be outside the tradition,” she stated sadly. I wasn’t going to stand for this. Victoria was building a wedge between me and the rest of the student body.“Iona, do that tech-thing that you do and inform the ladies that by the authority vested in me as mediator, I am reinstating myself as part of the Handmaiden’s duty until…over half of the tribal leaders petition that I do otherwise,” I announced.“By tech-thing, do you mean send a text message with an accompanying e-mail to all the students on the school registry?” Iona regarded me quizzically.“Zane,” Chastity worried, “are you sure you have the authority?”“Of course he has the authority,” Rio declared. “He’s the freaking mediator.” Sometimes I would really like to get a word in before the conversation runs away from me.I swatted Iona on the ass, she squawked.“Chastity, this is clearly a game of chicken, so why not see how far Scarlett is willing to go,” I replied. The look Christina gave me restored my faith in me; her eyes beamed at me, alight with an intellectual fire. I had one last thing to do while the chaos boiled one last time before the ebb: I hugged Rio.“I want you to break into Gabrielle’s place,” I whispered in her ear, “wait for her to come get you, and tell her this: There is no Cordelia Dresden.”“Back off, Joker,” Rio punched me. Rio trusted me not to put her in harm’s way if I had another choice and Gabrielle knew that Rio would be the last person any sane individual would trust to do this.She gave no hint of a reply to my request. The assumption was, if Cordelia didn’t know what we were up to, she couldn’t figure out a way to stop us, and right now I wanted a way for us out of her little game here at FFU. My current theory was that the girl I knew as Cordelia didn’t exist before she came here, she was an invented personality, and I wanted to know who the inventor was.Oh yeah, back to my actual life where my academic and social lives were in upheaval because my current nemesis (or one of them anyway) was a crusading idealist. I swear to God, if I survive this place, I will never forgive Aunt Jill for not sending me to the University of Hawaii, which was my first choice for college. All I had to worry about there was hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and the wrath of the island spirits for despoiling virgins, simple shit.“Zane, you will discuss the merits and sins of the concubines of King Solomon with me,” Theresa said, as she passed me her backpack to carry. Life rolled back to semi-normal and we separated to make our way to our first classes of the day. That illusion took another ill turn when I entered English class with Ms. Goodswell. She gestured for me to come to her desk before the lesson began.“Zane,” she informed me softly, “none of the female teachers or administrators at this school can give you orders, only suggestions. Only Dr. Jennings may truly compel you to do anything.”This bombshell was the reason she said she trusted me back in Assembly. The only one making me do the right thing was me. I had never considered me Mr. Responsibility before so I was in for a crash course in having authority over 900 students and 100 teachers. I told Virginia Goodswell about my decision concerning my Handmaiden’s Duty to get her input, then compelled her to treat me as any other student, because apparently, I’m in charge of students now.“There are old soldiers and there are bold soldiers, but there are very few old, bold soldiers,” she reminded me. “Never forget, no matter how dark it may seem, Zane, you are never alone.”“I could always use a picture of you in a white, low-cut bikini to inspire me,” I hinted.“Mr. Braxton, by the authority vested in me by the mediator, I order you to take your seat so we can begin classes,” she smirked. Oh, the irony: stymied by my own hubris.Celia Wanamaker snapped me up coming out of English class. Vivian was waiting for me and Raven was in tow, right up until Paige snapped her up. Celia had me name a biblical character for each letter of the alphabet. Paige had Raven quote bible verses, backwards. As if there was any doubt my day could get worse, it did so immediately.“Oh, the great Priest-King approaches!” screeched Rio on seeing me. “We all must genuflect, that’s kneel down until your head touches the ground for you stupid bitches, until the Mediator passes.” The horrible, horrible thing was that dozens of confused girls started doing just that.“Hold on,” I held up my hands for attention, “Hold on. Rio is mistaken. Genuflecting is only done during the Holy Days of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter.”Okay, I made that up off the fly and I figured that I wouldn’t be at school for Christmas, and Good Friday and Easter were next year and I’d worry about that then. For now:“Emily, Rebecca, Henrietta, and Magdalena, please carry Rio to her next class, by the legs and arms,” I instructed some of the closest students. “If a door or other object gets in the way, don’t hesitate to use her head as a battering ram.”“Damn, Bro, that’s harsh,” Rio giggled from the floor. I knelt beside her.“Yeah,” I whispered, “like being man-handled by four girls isn’t going to turn you on.”“Don’t tell them that,” she whispered back. I rose and continued on to class. A wiggling, squirming, cursing, and fighting Rio followed us.I went through the same rigmarole in Biblical Archeology. I told the teacher that using my authority over students, I was instructing her to instruct me as if I was any other student…because I was a student and this was the area of my authority; right? She bought into my reasoning with some relief.“How was it?” I mouthed to Rio once class was well on the way.“Two hands all the way up the thigh, one knows I forgot my undies and was thoroughly soaked, two titties grabbed,” Rio described what she’d been subjected to, “and I got to bite Magdalena’s ass. I love those soccer player asses. You are most likely the best friend I will ever know; thank you.”“Always willing to help a fellow pervert out,” I grinned back. Rio winked, then returned to work. I needed all the humor I could get because it was going to be a long damn day. By the time I made Marksmanship at three o'clock, I was damn happy to shoot something. I got some relief by having my best day ever, scoring a 53 (out of a possible 100) at the range. When I finished, I noticed a large number of my club mates standing close by.Women and the World At Large“Yes?” I questioned the ladies clustered behind me at the firing line.“Oh, we are huddling behind your manliness,” Daphne, one of the better shooters, joked.“Manliness? Daphne, you just shot an 87. Hell, if you ladies want to be safe, stand in front of me, because apparently that’s the one place my bullets don’t go,” I chided her.That was a slight exaggeration. I was a pretty good shot out to 50 meters, but when I have to use binoculars to even see the target some of these girls are nailing, I know I have a long way to go.“Zane, police your station,” Hope instructed me. “Everyone, it is time for field training.” This was the other part of marksmanship…sneaking around and spotting targets in the woods. We didn’t use live rounds but it was still fun stuff.“Gung-ho!” I responded to Hope. I’d heard that this was the battle cry of an Asian-American unit in World War II; Japanese I think.“I’m Korean, Zane,” Hope tried not to chuckle. “We are not exactly friends with the Japanese.”“If I stop saying it will you ask your Daddy not to come?” I inquired hopefully.“If you keep saying it, I’ll stop telling my Father I can’t live without you,” she countered.“You can’t live without me?” I questioned.“Of course I can live without you, but I had to think of something to stop him from parachuting here in the dead of night and slitting your throat,” she confided.“You are joking; right?” I worried. Hope was nonresponsive as we got our gear together for the hike. “Hope, tell me that was a joke.” Once we passed into the forest, Hope was quiet, business-like and nothing but. We were a mile into our trek when Hope settled down to study the environs. Per procedure, Hope watched to her front and left; I crouched at her back, facing away, and watched to our rear and Hope’s right.We would stay this way until Hope set up on the target, which was when I became her spotter. Since we weren’t there yet, I scanned my area one more time, then cupped my right hand and reached behind me until I touched Hope’s ass. I waited for a reaction of any kind but none came. Three seconds later I began to gently coast along her posterior, lightly squeezing her buttocks and rubbing along her cleft.With a careful ear, I caught Hope’s breath gaining in intensity. A few seconds later, she reached back and tapped my arm lightly so I stopped. Hope then rose carefully and we continued on our way. During the entire encounter, neither one of us had deviated from our watchfulness, which gave the whole situation a greater erotic appeal for me.“Zane,” Hope caught my attention as the last rifle and bullet was secured away, “I really wasn’t sure how you would deal with me…being better than you. How do you do it?”“All the training and skill in the world isn’t worth a damn if you won’t fight,” I tried to explain. “A willingness to fight without talent is a waste. Hope, you didn’t defeat me; you beat me.”She seemed to be searching for my definition of those two terms.“Let’s walk over to Orienteering before Heaven pops,” I suggested. “We can both pin Heaven down but short of killing her, I’m not sure how to stop her.” Hope chuckled at that assessment and nodded. “Hope, you put me on the mat and made me tap out, you beat me. You haven’t discouraged me from coming at you when I feel I’m more capable, you haven’t defeated me.”“Beating implies physical dominance but defeat is a state of mind,” Hope replied as she stripped my definitions bare. I swung back my hand to spank her ass. Hope flinched slightly as instinct recognized the incoming blow and dictated a menu of responses, most of which involved causing me pain. I spanked her left ass cheek; Hope yelped and glared over her shoulder at me in feigned annoyance.“You are a very verbose wench,” I shook my finger at her.“Do you want them to perform an extensive autopsy to figure out where I stuck that finger or are you going to remove it from my face right now?” she challenged me mirthfully. I stepped to her side, draped an arm around her waist; a second later she hesitantly echoed the gesture.When we got to Orienteering, Hope and I parted company and I joined my fellow students as Heaven stood before us. The silence dragged on…and on until I finally felt compelled to raise my hand.“Yes, Zane?” Heaven asked sweetly. You know; that 'sweetly’ that says, I have an iron skillet to the head in my immediate future.“Class? Are we going to have class today? Please?” I mumbled.“I don’t know, Zane,” Heaven glared at me with a vicious smile stitched to her face. “Do we have your permission to have class today? Apparently we need to.” Oh, fuck-buckets; Hope had probably had the same instructions and blown them off; Heaven was going a different way.“I understand,” I announced with dignity as I stood and walked up beside Heaven before facing the rest of the class. “As your appointed mediator, I think we should come forth and pray on the matter. All of you come to the front and kneel in a semi-circle; you too Heaven.” I put a hand on her shoulder and put pressure on her to kneel beside me, right beside me.The girls gathered around, Heaven was on her knees only inches from my crotch with her eyes flickering from my hard cock (I’m giving strong consideration to slamming that bastard in the middle of the US Tax Code to make it calm down) to my eyes. Soon I was in the center of a waist-level sea of slightly swaying female heads.“Let us pray,” I intoned. “Lord, guide us and give us strength to be true to ourselves, have faith in the gifts of insight, determination, and self-worth you have given us. Also, give us the vision to see what is wrong, the knowledge to understand when we hear things that are nonsense, and the will to forge past those words so that we find our own voice. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray; Amen.”“Amen,” the girls said, at varying volumes and with varying conviction. They were all there, on their knees, staring at me. I swear to God, if one of them had 'Baaa'ed, I’d have died on the spot.“Okay, who believes I’m more qualified to teach this class than Heaven?” I began. Two girls started to raise their hands then self-consciously reversed direction.“You are all correct; I am totally unqualified to teach this class. I am totally unqualified to tell any of you to do virtually anything. I don’t know more about life than any of the rest of you do. At eighteen, I’m younger than most of you. I’m a guy, nothing more. You ladies don’t need me. Really, do any of you have any need of me whatsoever?”“Sex,” blurted out of the mouth of Ruth, one of the senior club members. No one said anything for a few seconds. Okay, I could deal with this.“Fine, sex. With the Purity Pledge here, do any of you think you would need me for sex?” Twelve of the fourteen girls raised their hands; counting Heaven made it thirteen. I wanted to be anywhere else but in the deathtrap of my own creation. Screw that; I wanted to crawl into a deep, dark hole and pull the dirt in behind me.“We hear you are really good at it,” Benios tried to explain things to me.“Brandi told us all about blowjobs. Those seem safe enough with the Pledge,” Michelle added. Heaven started snickering at my expense.“All right, everyone,” Heaven raised her voice as she stood up, accidentally squeezing my dick through my pants as she did so, “let’s get started, and if no one screws up today, we can have Thursday’s class in Zane’s bedroom.”We finished the last class for the day and started leaving our outdoor classroom when Ruth put her hand on my lower arm.“Zane, does a blowjob violate the Purity Pledge?” she asked. That wasn’t really what she was asking. Why would I know the specifics of a pledge that everyone knew I hadn’t taken? No, what she was asking was if she could experiment with oral sex with me.The other girls were not so surreptitiously hanging around for the answer.“Honestly, I don’t believe that fellatio is an acceptable alternative to vaginal sex unless it includes cunnilingus,” I bullshitted. I believed that, but I was hoping the lingo would buy me an exit.“What?” Ruth stammered.“Oh, I know that,” Michelle giggled. “Fellatio is when you take a man’s phallus and put it in your mouth, and cunnilingus is when a man puts his mouth…down there,” she pointed at her crotch.“Zane, do you do that too? Put your mouth, ” Ruth hounded me.“Sure,” I confessed. “Every man should, but in reality, it is more than tongue work”, I wiggled my tongue, “but finger work too. All you have to do is think how your fingers feel down there, except this time they are under someone else’s control and you have a strong, flexible muscle added to the mix.” I instantly knew I was missing something with this audience.“You touch yourself; right?” I questioned. By many of the guilty looks, I could tell that most of the class had, but a surprising number hadn’t, Ruth included.“I never have,” Ruth replied. “I was afraid I’d stop being a virgin.” I nodded, walked over to the closest tree, and banged my head against it.“That’s enough for today,” Heaven intervened. “We can pick up this wonderful, non-orienteering discussion next time.” She ushered me away. I was rather thankful to get away and into the company of someone I trusted. “Are you ready for tonight?”“You mean am I waiting to pack your tight ass and drag my fingernails over your back until I draw blood? Yes,” I grinned down at her.“Evil!” she giggled. “You are sinister, vile, and an aberration to all that is pure in the world.”“Well, you are purely wonderful,” I countered. “So is this a case of opposites attract?”“Do you like to see me that way?” my transvestite lover teased.“Your legs on my shoulders as I drive into you; on your hands and knees; you looking down at me as you slide down that first time, your ass cheeks bouncing, with my hands kneading them as you face away, but most of all…with your head on my chest, asleep, your hair spilling over your eyes as you lay there, that’s the best,” I related.“How can you be lusty and sweet at the same time?” she murmured.“It’s how you make me feel, Heaven,” I explained. “It is no mystery, you are that good to me.”“Best boyfriend ever,” she whispered, as she hugged my arm tight. On the final approach to Heaven’s dorm, she gave me a nudge.“So, how did you beat the ten-second rule?” Heaven prodded me.“We have a ten-second rule?” I questioned.“We don’t, silly; it’s Hope’s rule,” Heaven grinned. “No one holds her for more than ten seconds. She has, had proximity issues.”“We were intimate,” I pointed out. “That probably helps.”“I hope so,” Heaven laughed. “The first time Christina and I barged into her room, we found ourselves staring down the barrel of a gun. Chastity was her roommate and she nearly freaked because she didn’t know Hope had an automatic, much less slept with one under her pillow.”“Note to self: never climb in Hope’s window looking for a midnight hook-up,” I sighed.“Hey,” Heaven playfully grumbled, “if you are crawling in anyone’s window for some late-night booty, it had better be my window and my booty you are after, Mister.”“Or what?” I teased. “Are we back to me being in a deep, dark hole, you with the only key, dressed up for me in black strips of leather?”That description dated back to our first day on campus together when she hated my very existence.“Bitch,” Heaven growled with frustrated desire.“I’ll see you at the car in ten minutes, then.” I gave a double pump of the eyebrows and left. We had been invited by Officer Danica Campbell of the Lancaster PD for a barbeque so we could get reacquainted. It was something Heaven was really looking forward to (not that I minded).Danica’s house needed a little yard work but was otherwise an unremarkable ranch style house with an attached carport. Heaven’s hands kept fluttering at her sides and straightening out her skirt. Me; I was in a long-sleeved pull-over and jeans and was having a much easier time of it emotionally. My only problem was our timetable; I had to be back before nine.We could smell the burning charcoal from the front yard but I indicated to Heaven that we weren’t friends enough to simply walk around back unannounced. We rang the doorbell, then rang it again. Heaven was going for a third, nervous try when Danica opened the door.“Hey, you two, come on in,” she greeted us, and stepped aside so we could enter.The first aura I detected in Danica’s home was of benign neglect; the house was inhabited but no one actually lived here. Everything looked old but not worn, except for one chair and the cabinet around the TV which had VHS tapes (?) and scores of DVDs from the past ten years. Danica was in a lumberjack shirt, jeans, and deck shoes with a noticeable lack of bra, panties, and socks.“I’m glad you two showed up,” Danica said, talking to us as we followed her through the living room to the kitchen. We could see the grill cooking away on a concrete patio through a sliding glass door.“I almost showed up last night,” Heaven blurted out, then looked mortified.“You would have had to wait a while,” Danica joked. “I worked last night.”“I would have put her to sleep on the doorstep, covered her in a blanket, and given her a garden gnome to use as a pillow,” I joked. Heaven blushed furiously and punched me in the arm.“Be careful, Mister Braxton,” Danica threatened me with a wink, “I have handcuffs, pepper spray, and a taser, behave.”I was hoping that comical exchange would have reduced the tension. It almost worked. As Danica opened the sliding glass door, she turned to say something. I have no idea what it was that got into her but at that point, Heaven threw herself at our hostess, wrapped her arms around Danica’s neck, and kissed the lady cop. Danica staggered out the door onto the patio, grabbed the doorsill before they toppled over, and after her obvious moment of panic, put her other arm around Heaven’s waist.Third Wheel Syndrome was kicking in for a while as the two kept tickling each other’s tonsils and rubbing their bodies together.“I, ah…wanted to kiss you since I talked to you on the phone,” Heaven finally said. Danica stroked a finger along Heaven’s left earlobe, wiggling it back and forth.“Mission accomplished,” Danica smiled. “You don’t date much, do you? That’s not a condemnation; it’s just, you have a raw intensity I haven’t seen in a while. I like it.” Heaven looked ready to dive into another lip frenzy when our hostess held her up. “Let’s check on the grill, unless you like your pork chops and chicken burnt as hard as the coals that made 'em.”Heaven gave Danica enough lead to make it to the grill and open it up. My friend coughed and choked as the smoke billowed out; it was Heaven’s first outdoor barbeque, or at least the first that didn’t involve a professional pit master and a whole steer.“Give her some room,” I cautioned Heaven. “I hear those things are hot.” It was my first time too, but they had similar things in Thailand so I wasn’t totally lost.Eventually, I was forced to wrap my arms around Heaven from behind to keep her from bouncing all over the place. Her enthusiasm didn’t bother me; she was fun and felt she had a lot of catching up to do. We chatted about her work and our school machinations. Danica made a crack about me and women putting me on my back, funny like a crutch.We gathered in her living room; it was the only room that had the seats to meet our needs with the meat, coleslaw, hush puppies, and lima beans to eat. There was the promise of sherbet if dinner didn’t fill us up. Things were going so smoothly that I almost missed Danica’s little ploy.“Heaven, since you are getting a beer, would you get me one too,” Danica off-handedly mentioned. We were finishing up the meal and washing it down with the appropriate beverage, lemonade in my case and beer in theirs.“Sure,” Heaven smiled warmly, and off she went. She didn’t hear Danica get up and follow her into the kitchen, though Danica did give me a wink.The moment Heaven pulled the two lagers out of the refrigerator, Danica slipped up behind her and pressed her body into Heaven’s. For a second, Heaven thought it was me and was looking over her shoulder to chastise me. I was following but was hanging back.“Zane, ” then she noticed it was Danica, “Huh?”“Hey, Precious,” Danica purred to her, “it seems your hands are occupied;” gesturing to the beer in each. Danica stretched her arms around and cupped Heaven’s breasts and began massaging them. Heaven tried to twist around but Danica didn’t let her. She bit into Heaven’s neck instead, sucking up and down from ear to shoulder.“The last time you snuck up on me; now it is my turn. How does it feel?” Danica continued. She pressed Heaven up against the refrigerator door, grinding her there for a while before letting Heaven turn and faced her.“It feels good,” Heaven gulped, “but I know some other things I want to do to you that are better.”Danica answered that by sensually sliding down Heaven’s body until she was kneeling. From there she lifted Heaven’s skirt, pulled down her double panties and started making kissing/slurping noises that made Heaven shudder in anticipation. Danica was bobbing in a slow, languid style that was pushing the tranny toward her own internal blaze. I saw the opportunity to come up and relieve Heaven of her beers before she dropped them.Heaven’s hands dropped immediately to Danica’s head and trembled with the desire to push Danica farther and farther down her cock. Danica held her off, having more blowjob experience than Heaven and I combined. I took the time offered to remove all our shirts and Heaven’s bra before alternating kissing Danica’s neck and back while playing with her tits, and going to Heaven and kissing her and teasing her nipples with my teeth.She was over-eager and was tapping Danica’s crown inside a minute, indicating the shortness of her fuse. Heaven gave a muted squeak followed by,“Oh, God, that’s so fucking good, take it, oh, God, take it!” Danica did a masterful job of soaking up everything Heaven had to give and draining her dry afterwards.Danica had to hold Heaven’s hips to stop my lover from sliding to the ground on her ass.“I think we will all be passing on the sherbet,” Danica grinned while licking her lips. Heaven nodded, first shakily but soon with much more assurance. I kicked off my shoes in my own endorsement of this plan and we were soon all migrating to Danica’s bedroom.Heaven, new to the romantic aspects of sexuality, dove straight onto the bed and shimmied out of her skirt. Danica and I stopped at the foot of said bed and shed our pants (and underwear for me). As Heaven looked at us, I pulled Danica’s hair aside and began kissing her from right beneath her ear down to the nape of her neck. Danica responded by pressing her backside into me and gyrating her ass on my crotch.Danica ran her left hand behind her back and began moving it sensually along my stomach to the base of my cock and up again. Her right hand stroked my thigh and hip on the other side. I countered by moving my left to her left breast, mauling it but leaving the nipple unmolested for now. My right hand went in a serpentine fashion to her crotch and hovered right above her clitoris.We played tag with our intimate parts long enough for Danica to start sweating and moaning against me.“Why aren’t you married, again?” she snickered. “Oh, yeah, you being eighteen and all.”“Are you too much woman for one man?” I countered.“Actually, I’ve been looking for someone special,” she confessed, but she wasn’t looking at me when she said it. That wasn’t lost on Heaven either; her jaw dropped. “Don’t freak,” Danica reassured her. “I know we don’t have much in common, I’m a townie and you’re a rich girl from somewhere else, but we have until spring if you want to hang out.”It took Heaven a few moments to digest that.“I’d like that, Danica; I’d like that a lot,” she smiled.“Well, I’d like it if you came over here and kissed me before your boyfriend drives me totally nuts,” Danica teased her. Heaven got on her knees and waddled to the end of the bed to join us.“Wait,” Heaven said at the last second, eyes wide with surprise. “I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend, I rock!” and then she dove into Danica’s lips. Danica was propelled into me by Heaven’s passionate embrace. She reciprocated by moving her hand off my hip and onto Heaven’s semi-rigid cock.Heaven’s phallus hardened quickly enough and she upped the tempo by buoying up her breasts and initiating a nipple fight between her tits and Danica’s, wow, a freaking advantage I hadn’t thought of.“Lets, ” Danica gulped for air “– get on…the bed. I want some…of this…in me,” she pulled on Heaven’s cock.Oh, yeah, this was the Heaven-Danica show and I was second fiddle…and I felt it was glorious. 'You are known not by what you do but by what you leave behind,’ or so yet another saying goes. Danica and Heaven were happy with one another, even if only for a little while. That 'while’ included Heaven retreating up the bed as Danica followed and I pursued her.“Have you been a good girl?” Danica quizzed Heaven. “Do we need a condom?” clarified the issue.“No, no, I’ve only been with Zane,” Heaven answered.“That’s hardly a ringing endorsement for safe sex,” Danica chuckled.“Damn, that’s just cold,” I groaned. “For your information, if my partner wasn’t a virgin, she was someone I know intimately.”“So you are not doing it with that Warlord chick living in your house now?” Danica persisted.“How do you even know about that? It happened Sunday,” I wondered.“Zane,” Danica sighed patiently, “I’m a cop and your house is like two miles away.”“Can we get back to concentrating on the sex?” Heaven grumbled. “I’ll wear a condom if you want. I’ll wear a harem girl outfit if you want, as long as it leads to sex with you.”“That won’t be…necessary,” Danica murmured as she positioned Heaven’s cock between her labia then began to push down.I was working out what my place in this could be when I spotted the bottle of lubricant (generic) boldly sitting on Danica’s nightstand, not very subtle at all. I shifted over, got the bottle, then got around behind them once more.“Can I join in?” I asked.“I trust you,” Danica purred. Silly her; I’m behind her with a source of lube and a passion to use it. I poured some out on Danica’s cleft and let it ooze down toward her pussy. I let it cascade over three fingers before sealing it up again. With my left hand, I began working a finger into Danica’s anus, and with my right, I worked another into Heaven’s.“Oh,” Danica grunted, as I slipped past her sphincter. Heaven’s response was to moan sensually. It took me a little while to not only work a finger in but a second one in as well; then the fun began. With Heaven, I began both pumping and making a series of circular motions; with Danica, though, I pressed down until I was counter-massaging Heaven’s cock through the walls of her rectum and vagina.“Oh, my fucking God!” shouted Danica. “That feels great; she’s really grinding against me.”“Keep that up,” gasped Heaven. “I, I can feel your fingers.” Okay, I got this one right. I could also feel the sympathetic impulses growing between Danica’s vaginal walls and Heaven’s penis; they weren’t going to last long. Drilling Heaven’s butthole in rapid-fire fashion sent her crashing ahead of the wave.“Dan, Dan, Danica, Hell, yeah!” Heaven screamed as she slammed upward into the lady cop. Danica’s back bowed and a low growling noise reverberated through her body. Both tried to use their anal muscles to grind my finger bones together; for the orgasms they were riding through, it was worth it.Danica shivered through one last orgasmic burst then settled gently down on Heaven. Heaven reached around with her arms and ran them up and down Danica’s back. Our hostess pushed off her lover’s body with her elbows on the mattress and kissed her nose.“That felt wonderful,” she smiled down at Heaven. Heaven didn’t immediately respond. “Is something wrong?” Danica worried.“I, um, it was really nice, Danica, but –” Heaven worked through the words.“But?” Danica asked.“But I think I’m into guys,” Heaven gave her worried confession. “I’m sorry; what we did felt good but what sent me over the top was –”“Oh,” Danica seemed to deflate.“Hold on,” I intervened, even as my fingers were still slowly working them both. “Heaven, you liked Danica’s blowjob; right?”“Yes. It was wonderful,” Heaven brightened up. “She’s, you are –” she looked into Danica’s eyes “– the best I’ve ever had.”“Still, you like it up your ass, don’t you?” I prodded. Heaven bit her lip and rolled her head to the side. Danica pushed herself onto all fours and sighed.“Well, damn,” she sighed, “I was sort of hoping –”“Danica, would you consider screwing Heaven’s ass? Giving it a chance?” I hazarded.“I’d give it a shot,” Danica replied after a moment’s hesitation. Being with a girl was new; being with a transgender was new; and now being the driving force in anal sex was going to be new too.“I’ll get dressed and go out to the car,” I winked. “Surprise, surprise; I worried something like this would happen so I brought a few things along.”I was afraid that when I got back from the car with my backpack holding the strap-on, that a chill would have set in. I shouldn’t have worried; Danica was surprisingly passionate and Heaven was sheer surprise itself. They were cuddled face to face exchanging small kisses and stroking each other’s hair.“I just want you both to know,” Danica held up a warding hand, “if that thing is longer than my arm, I’m calling this off.” I presented the device for her approval and while it could be intimidating, it wasn’t scarier than Heaven’s normal equipment. “I’m glad that’s going into you and not me,” Danica ended up teasing Heaven. Not to be outdone, Heaven rolled onto her stomach and wiggled her upraised ass in the air.“Oh, she’s begging for it,” Danica laughed.“Yes, she does, and if you think that’s sweet, imagine how nice it is to wake up with her ramming that pole in while riding you,” I painted the picture.“Is there any position she doesn’t like?” Danica inquired.“I’m right here, my ass up in the air. Please, somebody do something,” Heaven whined.“Not that I know of,” I ignored Heaven’s plea. “You could try it in the shower, bent over the sofa, heels up in the La-Z-boy, or hanging from the pull-up bar, she’s quite strong.”“Oh, um, thanks, Zane; I’ll explore those opportunities,” Danica grinned.“Hello, ass here…needs stuffing,” Heaven became more insistent.“She’s shameless,” Danica teased happily.“Absolutely,” I laughed, “but if one of us doesn’t fulfill her needs real soon, violence will ensue.”“Zane, you warm her up and I’ll figure out how to put this thing on,” Danica instructed me as she took hold of her sexual toy.“About damn time,” Heaven panted as I worked my first finger in again. I’d oiled up several fingers before handing the lube to Danica to prepare her artificial cock with. Heaven’s anus was already pliable from our activity so it took only two minutes to work the second and third finger in. By that time, both Danica and Heaven were ready.“This is weird,” Danica mumbled, as she placed her phallic head against Heaven’s sphincter. “Let me know if this, ” she got out before Heaven pushed back and gasped. “Doesn’t that hurt?”“Makes me feel full,” Heaven gasped. “Push.” Danica did indeed push, and spanked Heaven for good measure.Now that I was freed up again, I elected to recline beside Heaven and watch her get fucked by Danica. Heaven and I made eye contact; that totally free, blissful look was exceptionally special for me. I’d seen Heaven afraid far too often. I’d seen her furious far too often as well.“Zane,” Heaven perked up, “get over here. I want your cock. I want it coming and going.”“Revenge,” taunted Danica. Heaven and I had given Officer Campbell simultaneous oral and anal sex, and now Heaven was getting the same treatment. I sat my ass on the pillow in front of Heaven’s face, legs spread wide. She grabbed my cock in both hands (my penis is so massive, its ability to block out the Sun often cows primitive tribes, or maybe Heaven has small hands) and yanked it forward somewhat painfully until she could lick the tip.“Come on, Zane,” Danica egged me on, “take hold of her head and fuck her like a cheap slut.” A shudder passed head to foot through Heaven’s body and she gave out a small sob.“Heaven,” I asked cautiously, “do you want to stop?”“I’m being fucked like a slut, Zane,” she replied tearfully. “I’m being fucked like a slut.”You never know with some people. Danica gave me a worried look so I gave her a quick smile and a nod. Heaven wanted to be a woman, but almost as important was that she wanted to be seen and treated like a woman. It may have played out in Heaven’s imagination that she had gone to some seedy bar looking all hot and sexy, then a couple had picked her up so they could treat her like a bad little girl.I raised my hips, feeding more of my cock into Heaven’s mouth.“Spank your bitch’s ass,” I teased Danica. She responded by alternating noisy but not very painful slaps to our tranny’s buttocks. Heaven wanted the tease, not the real pain, and Danica was right there for her.Once we had a good rhythm going, I could feel Danica’s cock slamming at its deepest impact, Heaven squirming and squealing with the pleasure and her tongue and throat swirling around my oral intrusion. She slurped and sucked desperately while a small amount of drool marked her cheek and jaw. Heaven began making whimpering noises along with the grunts when Danica drove in deeper.All the sizzling sex I’d been forced (yeah, right) to watch sent me over the edge first.“Heaven…babe, here it comes,” I chanted several times before I finally did shoot gobs and gobs, so much it shot out her nose and mouth. Okay, not really that much, but I certainly felt some relief.Heaven swallowed with some degree of urgency because she was at her tipping point as well.“Oh, God; oh, God; oh, God, Danica…FUCK!” she cried out, then bucked up hard against Danica. On the second buck, Danica took hold of Heaven by her elbows. Heaven rocked a few more feeble times onto the strap-on but her energy was temporarily spent.Danica wrapped her right and then her left arm around Heaven, pulling her into an upright, kneeling embrace, her breasts squished against Heaven’s back.“Are you okay, Precious?” Danica panted next to her lover’s ear.“I, oh, yeah, I feel great,” Heaven wheezed. “I also…seem to have…made a mess…on the bed.”“I planned for that,” Danica answered with a kiss to Heaven’s neck. “I was hoping we’d end up here. By the way, do you want me to pull this out now?”“Yeah, my ass is getting a bit sore, muscles stretched,” Heaven shivered. I wiggled forward so that Danica could push Heaven against me as she withdrew the artificial phallus from its resting place up Heaven’s back door.When the last of it slipped free, Heaven gave a brief little hiccup, then melted into my arms.“Damn, I’m so glad I met you,” she murmured.“Thanks,” Danica and I said together, then laughed at the confusion. Heaven gingerly curled into my lap while Danica sat back and worked off the sexual aid that had brought so much pleasure.“Well, that was different,” Danica mused. “I’m not sure how much I enjoyed it but I can’t say it turned me off.”“Um…that was good sex,” Heaven smiled at us both. “I like good sex.” I gave her a little nudge and communicated as best I could by eye contact alone. “Thank you, Danica,” she added. “I really liked that, what you did for me.”“In that case, we really should do it again,” Danica said nonchalantly. Heaven perked up right away.“Right now?” she hoped.“No,” I cut that conversation right off. “I need to get back to campus, and that means you have to get back as well.”“But, ” Heaven sounded hurt,“ Danica…that means we can’t…”“I know,” Danica interrupted. “Zane has church work tomorrow and then I’m at work for the next five nights, so…maybe next Tuesday?”“I’d like that,” Heaven became excited once more. She crawled over to Danica and began kissing the cop and running her hands all over her body.“Bathroom, clothes, kisses goodbye, and then we have to go,” I prodded Heaven. She looked over her shoulder at me with deep disappointment. Finally, she sighed and nodded. The rest of our visit passed quickly enough. Heaven behaved, I cleaned up the strap-on and myself, and we left Danica with some thank-you’s and a bemused look on her face. I knew that expression; people had described me as having it after my second date with Heaven too.The Birth of the JanissariesWhen we returned to campus, I felt my stress level rise once more. This time I was reasonably sure I had a plan but I needed some help. I sent out some messages for people to gather, and for a special few, I sent people to get the girls I wasn’t sure would come otherwise. I barely got back to my dorm room before the fire tribal meetings that had taken place there broke up.I wasn’t there to say much but I did impress upon the students that this was my turf and I wasn’t ceding one inch to Ms. Scarlett’s scheme or to any one tribe.The group that I’d assembled was very eclectic, some by force and a few of them I barely knew at all. Of the staff, I brought in Dana Gorman, because she was the prior Head of Security and our current Physical Education Coach, and Gabrielle Black, because she was the current Head of Security and I didn’t want to build an internal police force without her advice and consent.On the justice side of things, I brought in Dr. Bryce Kennedy [FYI: she is a woman], the head of the Pre-Law program, Ms. Hudson Lane, our school lawyer, and Ms. Virginia Goodswell, because I trusted her judgment where teachers and teaching were involved. Despite the oddity of the situation, they all answered my summons and didn’t look frighteningly pissed at my request.Student-wise, there was a sea of familiar faces, if not friendly ones. Only Mhain Reynard had been brought here under threat of force by Hope and Chastity. When most of the two visiting tribes had cleared out, I began my meeting.“What I have to say may ramble a bit but please be patient; we are creating something new here,” I began. “Has anyone heard of the janissaries?”Iona raised her hand, as did Hope, Christina, and Simone Brady (former Junior Class President).“For the rest of you, there was a Muslim empire of Turks who ruled much of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. They would levy a tax against their Christian subjects of young sons, and they would take these boys, force their conversion to Islam, and then use them as elite soldiers and palace guards for the Sultans.”“No, I’m not asking anyone to convert,” I warded off some of the more hateful looks, “but the principle elements of what I say will make sense, I promise. These Janissaries soon rose up to become the chief officials of the Turkish government, the most loyal and trusted of all the Sultan’s men. They were both the military and the civil authority of the Empire.” I let that sink into the crowd of bright young women I’d assembled.“So you want us as your personal guard?” Kylie Frik, a sophomore candidate for Class President, sneered. Clearly, she was thinking harem, not what I had planned. Hannah Cartwright, her opposite in the sophomore camp, figured it out.“You want us to be a police force and, I’m guessing by the presence of a few Law types, to be judges as well. You want a shield between you and direct involvement of things you might do.”“Close, but no cigar,” I grinned to Hannah. She liked me well enough but she didn’t really know me or the twisted way my mind worked. “You wouldn’t be my shield; I would be yours. The Janissaries get together and decide policy and how to best enact it; I give it my blessing; and you go do what you want to do while I take the heat for things when they go wrong.”Temperance(Note: introduced in Chapter 7) and Dana both laughed. Christina and company knew better than to judge my madness before hearing the whole story.“The Janissaries ended up ruling the Ottoman Turk Empire in the name of their Sultan, who they kept as a virtual prisoner in his own palace –” Simone Brady insightfully pointed out “– for almost 200 years.”“Wait. Are we going to imprison Zane?” Millicent interrupted. “That’s more than a little odd.”“No. I’m going to select ten Advocates an